This is the second post in a series looking back at the basics of obedience training. Although we have spoken about these topics before, it is always a good idea to review the basics! So let’s get started and review how to keep your dog off the furniture.
No matter how much you love your dog, there are many valid reasons to keep your pup off your furniture. Between the fur, the dirty paws, and any other accidents that may happen, limiting Fido’s access to your furniture will save you time and cleaning products. Some dogs may think they deserve TOO much space, and become possessive or aggressive when others try to share the furniture. In any of these cases, it would be beneficial to work with you dog to teach them boundaries and off-limits areas.
Unsure where to start this training? Try these simple steps.
- Stick with your decision. Whether you’ve resolved to keep your dogs off the furniture from the day you’ve adopted them or if you just made the choice now, be consistent. You want to provide strict rules that are easy for your pup to understand and follow. Make sure you and your family are all on the same page for when (if ever) it is acceptable for Fido to get on the furniture–if even one person caves into those puppy dog eyes, it makes training much more confusing for Fido. Once you’re all in agreement, you can move on to training.
- Provide an alternative. It wouldn’t be fair to take away your dog’s privileges to a comfy spot without providing them with a place where it is acceptable for them to lay. Get a dog bed and place it so that they can still be involved and hang out with your family without needing to be on the sofa. Give them treats and toys on the bed so they associate rewards with laying down on it. When they try to get up on a couch or chair, tell your pup “no” or “off” and point or lead them to their bed. Have them lie down there before returning to the couch. They’ll soon learn that it’s much better to have a whole comfy area to themselves!
- Watch out for sneaky pups! If you leave your dog uncrated while you are out, you need to make sure they don’t break the no-furniture rule while you aren’t home. Closing the doors to off-limits bedrooms is easy, but you may have to get creative in how you remove their access to chairs and sofas. For small dogs, set up baby gates around your couches, or simply lay the gates on top of the cushions. For dogs that could easily move a gate, you can remove the couch cushions, or lay car mats pointy-side up atop the sofa. Since it’s likely difficult to completely remove your dog’s access to your living room, the goal is to make it uncomfortable for them to attempt to lay on the furniture.
- Be careful how you reinforce the training. While teaching Fido the “no” or “off” command, you may be tempted to invite him onto the couch so that you can then practice commanding “off”. We don’t recommend this, because you may end up teaching the wrong lesson–your pup will begin purposefully jumping on then off the couch just to get a treat! It may take longer for your dog to pick up on the new command, but you should only use “off” when your dog has managed to sneak onto the couch themselves.
If you need some professional help in reinforcing your dog’s good behaviors, call Gulf Coast K9 Dog Trainers today for training class schedules and options.
