Hi
I just wondered how many of you allow your dogs on your bed or on the sofa?  We have tried very hard to keep our lab off the bed and out of our bedroom but I have often had trouble stopping her from making herself comfy on the bed and likewise on the sofa.  I have heard that if you allow your dog on the bed or on the sofa with you this can mean that they see themselves as equals in the pack so to speak and that means that you can lose your authority over them.  Is this true???? I would love to hear from others on the forum about this topic
Van

Glazby our boxer is allowed on the sofa and on the bed.  We do sometimes have to drag him off of the bed in order for us to get in ourselves!!

However, I don't think that he has any issues as to where he is in the pack/household - he's still a very good boy but just with a cute and cheeky streak which we like!!

I don't allow my dogs upstairs at all as I have enough mud and hair downstairs without spreading it further :)  I do allow them on the sofa though, which is leather and easy to clean.  I don't think they ever thought they were equal to me as I do maintain a reasonable level of discipline about the place but I must admit privileges do seem to go to my cocker's head sometimes, when we had Nellie, Amber would sometimes issue a warning from the sofa as Nell walked past in which case she would be turfed off and kept off for a few days and I always found this settled things down again for a good period of time.  I like a dog or two cuddled up when we settle for the evening but I would not do it if it created problems with a more bossy dog for instance.

Apart from the fact I don't like dogs on furniture anyway I don't let my dogs on furniture or upstairs since the stress on the joints fo climbing stairs and jumping on and off furniture  for a growing dog is IMO not good ...when they are adult they have learnt that these are places they are not allowed and so see no point in changing things
Archer

I also don't allow my dogs on the furniture or bed. They are too big, hairy, muddy, and flatulent :D I also apply this theory to my OH but unfortunately he doesn't listen to me and is no where near as obedient as the dogs ;)

I always work on the rule of, don't allow today what you won't allow tommorrow. A friend of mine lets her GSD's all over the furniture one minute and then she gets the cleaning bug and kicks them off the next, no wonder they are confused  The only place I do allow them is in my office, as I spend so much time in here, but they are clear as to where their parameters are :)

Both of mine are allowed on the bed (but not to sleep on at night - unless OH is away :p) and are allowed on the sofa - which one of them does sleep on at night :rolleyes:  In fact if you tell Fagan to "lay-down" instead of going down he jumps up on the sofa and then lays down "see I did what you wanted mum - you didnt tell me *where* to lay down"  I dont see this as causing a dominance problem because if I tell them to get off they do so with no arguing (unless its my OH asking Fagan to get off the bed, he just blantantly ignores him :D :D ) The only problem it does cause is when you are visiting people who do not allow dogs on furniture, at the weekend we went to dinner at a friends - Fagan went straight upstairs and got on the beds and then whilst we were eating he made himself quite comfy on the sofa :D :D :D

You don't have to let them on other peoples furniture just because they do at home.  In our weekend cottage the sofa is fabric so mine are not allowed on it and they have never had any difficulty in understanding that although I do shut them in the kitchen if I go out as that would be tempting it a bit far :)

None of the dogs are allowed upstairs, and only the older ones are allowed (reluctantly) on the furniture. When they've passed on we'll have dog-free chairs again!

Bosun is not allowed on the furniture, the suite was there before the dog and its a cream fabric :(  not very practical,  but he loves laying on our feet.  My mums dog is allowed on the furniture and it does make it smell doggie - especially when she has been for a walk!

Hairypooch you made me laugh that is very funny about being hairy, flatulent etc. 
I just can't decide to allow or not to allow.  I love it when Desi is on the sofa with us as she certainly keeps us nice and warm and curls up and watches tv with us but I am not happy about her going on the bed. I think I will allow the sofa and not the bed and that is it.  I have found that it is a problem when we have people over though as she wants to be on the sofa with them and a lot of my friends are sadly not dog lovers this often poses a problem.
Van

Fagan is sent to his bed when I have people over - which although difficult for him because he loves everyone he does go eventually.  I combat the doggy smell on furniture by covering the throws with sheets as these can be washed easily and they dry really fast (and no it doesnt look as naff as it sounds, I have a cream and terracota living room so my throws are cream and the sheets are terracota ;) )

Lily has her own settees in the front room and our bedroom but Maud is allowed on the bed but only on my husband's side :D

I never really had a problem with dogs being allowed on sofas, etc, although I don't allow Saffy to do this.  The only thing I don't like is when a dog had been outside in the rain or in mud and comes straight in and jumps on the furniture.  Furniture gets very dirty and smelly like that I think.

Val,

"I have heard that if you allow your dog on the bed or on the sofa with you this can mean that they see themselves as equals in the pack so to speak and that means that you can lose your authority over them.  Is this true???? "

Not true at all.  When you let dogs do whatever they want to do, even if you do not want them to do it, then you lose your authority over them (works the same way with people too!)   Bed and sofa privileges have nothing to do with it.

My two dogs are allowed on the furniture and sleep on the bed with me and my husband.   We recently got a second dog and I drew the line at sleeping *under* the duvet.   However, my husband does not feel the same so now the new dog (Rudi) sleeps on top of the duvet and when my husband goes to bed later makes an immediate dash under the sheets.   The dog I can control - my husband I cannot :-)

With regard to nondog loving friends - too bad.  If they come over my house than they put up with my dogs and that's the end of it.  If they do not like it, then we meet somewhere else.  I've reached that stage in life where I am only willing to bend so much for other people.  Life is too short to live it for anyone else.

I have two small, nonshedding dogs now.  I have to say that when I had GSDs they were not allowed on the furniture -- at least now while I was at home. (Which was why my sofas were covered with throws.)  They were too big and too hairy.  The small dogs I had at the same time were allowed, which I suppose was not fair but they all understood the rules. 

Stacey

Oh I'm pleased to hear someone else has a dog that sleeps under the covers!  I started out being really strict with Jaffa and not letting her into the bedroom, but things got disrupted when my house was flooded and I had to live with my parents for 6 months - she had to sleep in my room there and inevitably ended up in the bed by the morning.  She really likes to snuggle up and will sometimes go right down by my feet like a cat...  Now she starts off on her own bed but I quite often wake up and find I'm cuddling her like a teddy bear...  I also allow her on the sofa, but have a leather one which is easy to clean.  As for discipline problems, no doubt she is spoilt but I'm fairly sure she knows she's the dog and I'm the human (or should that be the other way around?:-) The first time I moved her out of the way on the bed she growled a bit so I put her on the floor and she's never done it again - and, by the way, if I do put her off the bed she doesn't get back up until I let her.

As a proviso to all this, I would say that she is a small border terrier.  If I had a bigger or more slobbery dog I might be a bit less keen on the idea.  Also I live alone, so can basically do what I want...

JG until the youngsters become the oldies :D

Lucy
xx

Oh no! No no no! I've had enough of hairy furniture - the boys are never going to be allowed on anything other than their window seat! The armchairs and sofa are completely out of bounds!
:)

Are you that strong ? :D

Lucy

xx

Oh yes! They know to leap off as soon as we go into the sitting room ... :rolleyes:

My older dog does go on the bed for a quick cuddle with hubby in the morning. Older dog is also allowed to go on the sofa for a cuddle in the evening but ONLY if the throw is on and he has to ask first. Younger one knows her place :) which is on the floor. Older one wouldn't dare jump up on any of the sofa without permission. Although I am not the most houseproud of people, I do like to have hair-free furniture for visitors to sit on :)

Daisy

At first Millie was allowed on the (leather) furniture but not on the bed and had to sleep downstairs.  Then at around 6 months old, we had a visitor sleeping on the settee so we had to bring Millie upstairs to sleep on the bed (as we had done once before during a storm with no problems) as she would have been barking every two hours to get out of her cage and disturbing the guest to play!

And that was it - wouldn't go back to sleeping downstairs in her cage after that, naturally! I got really annoyed with myself for the first few weeks, then I realised that when I stayed at my friends house when I was younger, I would share the bed with her two labradors.  When I stayed at my sisters I would share my bed with her two Yorkies, and then later her Westie.  When I stayed at my aunts I would have to share the bed with her cats - so why on earth was I having such a problem sharing my bed with my own little dumpling?!  After that realisation, I was fine and enjoyed having Millie on the bed keeping my feet warm - however the novelty soon wore off for her, she gets up now to lay on me when we first go to bed and then after about 5/10 minutes jumps down and sleeps on the cold floor all night, occasionally getting back up on the bed for a lay-in early in the morning, but very rarely, so I found by allowing her to do it, the novelty soon wore off.

Mind you, there's nothing funnier than opening your eyes on a Sunday morning and finding two big brown eyes staring back at you - every once in a while if we have a lay-in she does jump up on the bed and sneak up between us and lays with her head on my pillow looking at me - and I can't be angry as its too funny :-D

None of mine are ever allowed on beds or furniture. As I always have bitches and I don't believe bitches in season should be on beds I figure that it would almost be like punishment to stop them when they are. I have a dog gate on the stairs but when the dogs get older I do allow them upstairs sometimes when I go up stairs as a special treat.

Regards, John

My older dog was only allowed up on the bed/sofa once he knew that he wasn't allowed up :) Now he 'asks' first.

I don't know how people manage who allow their dogs to sleep on the bed, as I find that our bed gets quite dirty enough with just bits of dry dirt from Bramble's coat and he is only up there for about 30 minutes in the morning before he even goes out in the garden. As he only goes up when his coat is dry and he is short coated - how often do people have to change their beds if the dogs sleep on them all night ?????? We only have plain white/cream bedding and it has really opened my eyes as to how dirty it gets with just this :) :)

Daisy

These days I change my linen every week and sometimes more often (before I shared with Jaffa I used to change once a fortnight).  She gets up on the bed during the day sometimes especially when I'm out - but then on the outside of the duvet only thank goodness and most of my linen is coloured.  In terms of visible dirt, it's not too bad as by the time she comes into the bed any mud etc has rubbed off on her own bed/around the house, and she's not smelly, it's just the idea of it really!  :-)

Ours isn't allowed on furniture or upstairs.  Mainly because I really don't like the idea of sitting on the Sofa after a dogs been laying on it with all their hairs and dirt.  My point has been proved about this too because Alf has a favourite laying place - by the front door next to the door curtain and the curtain gets really grubby where he's rubbed against it when laying there.  I also have enough hairs and dirt to clear up downstairs without streading upstairs as well.  Plus I always worry about the stress it puts on joints when going up and down the stairs.  I do think that it does make them think that they're higher in the pack ranking if they are given 'privledges' that only a human has..................   No IMO a dogs place is on the floor, which is never more important as when the owner has children and the children should be higher in height than the dog.  So many kids get 'humped' when sitting on the floor watching TV and its because they're at the same height as the dog.

Training the dog not to hump children is a better idea.  Children are always sitting or laying on the floor or grass - it would be tough to find a dog that was lower in height.  Dogs humping children or adults has nothing to do with how big one is relative to the other.

I've been misunderstood I think - not hard because I ain't very good at explaining myself:-)   What I mean't was that when children are on the floor they are at a similar level to the dog and many dogs do get above themselves in those circumstances and try it on - I didn't mean the actual size of the dog in comparison to the human.  Nuff of that because that's not what this topic is about.

They don't 'try it on' if they've been taught not to.
:)

Danes do not sleep on the floor. Its not the done thing. Willis is also allowed on the bed - at lunchtime every day for his nap :D :D

Both of ours are allowed on sofa :0
Gus sleeps on the bed - Libs isnt allowed upstairs

Nor Phoebe... I have to admit that it might be a teeny bit of favouritism in Willis favour... :D :D

Oscar is allowed on the bed to kiss his Daddy in the morning.  I also succumbed to letting him on the sofa in the lounge if his blanket is on there.  I found my bottom was getting numb due to sitting on the floor with him. 

We do much the same as scattergood.  They are allowed on the sofa if their throw is on it otherwise they dont come up and dont bother trying.  The older one sleeps in our bedroom but never on the bed but he is allowed up for a cuddle on a saturday morning.  The youngest sleeps out on the landing with a stairgate in the doorway.  he tries to play with the cat all night if we let him in.

Claire

mine aren't allowed upstairs, and Dylan point blank refuses to get on the sofa if anyone is sitting in it, no matter how much cajoling you do. Trinity bounces about on them when our backs are turned, and has just learned today how to pull the cushions off :-D Both of them will curl up and go to sleep next to each other on the sofa, but as soon as they hear anyone coming they're all of a sudden found stretching in the doorway, whistling nonchalantly while the sofa cushions are suspicioulsy warm...

:-)

Hi Van

When I had one then yes Mars was allowed to do everything :D

Then she had pups and we kept Min. Yes they were both allowed all the time. I didn't mind as I was with my ex husband and anything to distract him from the nuptials was high priority for me :)

When I spilt up I was on my own and they were such a comfort for me and spend every night with me :)

Now with three and with my lovely forever husband we decided that it was too much and I must admit their sleeping arrangments are such that they prefer to sleep downstairs but every so often ( when we are changing the bed clothes) they are allowed up for a dog snuggle fest in the morning :) :)

With one is is so difficult to not allow them but with more it does get easier ;)

Lucy
xx

I also hae a lab,  she is 4 years old now, has always been allowed on the sofa, however when we bought a new one we todl her she was not allowed and with a lot of persivation she knows she is not allowed on it!  She does however still have a cuddle now and again on the bed weve bought a super size one now so she can fit on with us and not kick me out!!

My dogs are sometimes allowed on the sofa's but they're not allowed on the beds (not that it stops my youngest daughter!!)
With having 3 large breed dogs, I got fed up with being pinned to the matteress by the duvet because they had to lie as close as possible to me, or hanging on to the edge of the bed because they had the rest of it.

Now they sleep on the floor in my bedroom :)

Mine sleep on an old sofa in the garage, but they are not allowed on the furniture, and they are quite okay with that.

hi i have 5 dogs my eldest clide is a ddb he comes to bed with me at night and sleeps on the floor at the side of my bed,but hes not allowed on the furniture downstairs my girl ddb isnt allowed upstairs or in the livingroom shes not the cleanest of dogs and my bulldogs do get on the settee but are not allowed upstairs.

Hi,

My 4 Goldies are not allowed upstairs,or on our beds or sofas.

They all seem happy enough to sleep on the floor even on the kitchen tiles they make no attempt to getting on to furnature but then again they have been discourage to do so from puppies.
Makes life real easy when we go round other peoples houses as they just sleep on the floor and admired for their good behaviour :-)

Briony :-)

I have a one year old Tibetan Terrier and he always comes up to bed with me in the night. He only lays on the bed for a few minutes before going back downs stairs. It seams he just likes to have a 5 min cuddle before going to sleep. He to is very good boy and never goes on other peoples furniture when we take him with us. Just needs to know where is acceptable.

My dogs are also not allowed upstairs, but have been known to sleep on my bed if they've been a bit unwell, very rare but it does happen :d

They are not allowed on the furniture as a rule but do allow themselves the occasional creep up onto my knee etc.  Though to be truthful i tend to spend 90% of my time on the floor with them :d

Upstairs is a dog free zone for us, i wouldn't be able to sleep with a furry friend snoring and breaking wind all night, and we also don't let doggy sit on sofas, however a lot of the time we sit on the floor with the dog for cuddles and he seems quite happy with that. I think may if he was going to be a small lap dog i might think differently about him sitting on the settee. It's interesting to know what other people do.

I totally regret allowing our dog to jump on the sofa.  I am in the process of re-training him to keep to the floor but it is so difficult to reverse.  My reason for stopping him is that even though we have a leather sofa which is easy to clean, it constantly became filthy with the wet weather and the dog coming in with wet muddy feet and jumping up - who wants to clean a sofa every day??

I now think about a dog jumping on the sofa like us jumping on it with our shoes still on - we just wouldn't!

My reason exactly ussher for not letting my beasts on there in the first place :) Untraining is so much harder than training the behaviour that we want ;)

My dogs and cat sleep in bed and go on the sette,wouldnt have it any other way.
Sheila.

We have covers on our settee chairs etc, he seems to have his favourite chair by the window during the day , and at night the settee with hubby.
He actually watches the TV! and loves to watch football!.BUT upstairs in a no go zone, he does come up during the day but has his own bed at night.Our old dog used to sleep upstairs with us, (it got into a habit when hubby was working away), but not this time.
I think it all depends on how house proud you are. We all know you cant be when you have a pooch, but also know how many times can you keep cleaning.....:p