How do you keep your dogs off the sofas?!?

ernie-money

I have a bulldog, stubborn by nature, and he's just refusing to accept the fact that my new sofas aren't in fact his new comfy bed! I've been putting big boxes on them every time I go out, thinking that he'll eventually get the idea, but it's just not happening! When he hears me put the key in the door he usually jumps off (unless he's snooring too loudly to hear lol) and stands there looking sheepish as I walk in & I can feel how warm the sofa is, where he's just pushed the boxes out of the way.

I know what you're thinking - the dog's spoilt rotten, but he really isn't, bulldogs just aren't like any other dogs! I do love him to bits, but he just doesn't understand the words authority and obedience! Don't get me wrong, he would never in a million years do anyone any harm or anything, he's the softest dog ever & I'd trust him with my newborn baby, but he's just got that typical bulldog attitude that's neigh on impossible to wear down. Had another bulldog before him, and they're all like it, it's in their breed, so what I need is something to either physically stop him from jumping up, or something that makes the sofa's not seem as comfortable or tempting to him!
He does have a nice comfy bed, but obviously not quite as tempting as the settee...

Would be grateful for any tips anyone might have!

miamoo

Well personally I would just let him on the sofa! BUT if thats not an option, and he just wont listen what about putting his bed in the kitchen and putting a dog gate up, I find its better than shutting the door (because Mia can open it).

We let Mia up on the Sofa, but only on her cover (she has a blue fleece and she has to sit on that bit, which she is happy with as the sofa is leather and cold, and her fleece is cosy!)

But I never let her on the sofa if I'm out, she stays in the kitchen and goes to sleep.

Di

you say the sofa is new, so you dont want him up there. i take from this that he was allowed on the old one. a sofa is a sofa is a sofa to him. IF this is the case, he doesnt see it as wrong (him looking sheepish is him giving appeasement for your annoyance, not guilt at getting caught out). does he go up when youre there?

does it really matter? put a throw on it? if it does, can you restrict his access to that room while youre out?

mine is allowed up, but he needs to ask me first, and sometimes i allow and sometimes i dont. if i'm not around to ask, he doesnt go up because he's not had permission!

btw, he sounds lovely and not spoiled!

Kittendreich

As the earlier poster said - he doesn't know it is a new sofa... I think the only answer (other than shutting him out the room) is training and a stubborn dog will just take longer. You need to be consistent (as does everyone in the house) and never allow him. I don't think many dogs can understand human rules about when is and isn't ok (i.e. your not allowed on the sofa...but I fancy a snuggle now so you are...).

Ours is allowed on, but has to 'ask' if there is anyone sitting on it already. We bought a dog-friendly sofa and can't be too houseproud about all the hair!

PinkPeach

My friend had this same problem with her labrador when she got a new sofa - it took a l-o-n-g time for the dog to work out that she wasnt allowed on it anymore.

My dog is allowed on our sofas, we just put throws on them to protect from any hair. If however, we decided that he was no longer to sit on them then we'd have problems. He's a springer spaniel and is sneaky rather than stubborn so I can see I'd be in the same situation as you. Perhaps offer a treat as a reward for when he does sit on the floor or in his bed?

ernie-money

miamoo wrote: »

We let Mia up on the Sofa, but only on her cover (she has a blue fleece and she has to sit on that bit, which she is happy with as the sofa is leather and cold, and her fleece is cosy!)

Fortunately Mia's allowed in the sofa in our house too - cus that's my name!

ernie-money

Thanks for all your replies - bit of food for thought...
I really don't want him up on the sofa, cus the bulldog we had before him was allowed and he completely ruined it - hence the new sofas!
I do put throws on them, but both he and his predecessor seem to think they were there for him to make a bed of, so he systematically pulls it off and gathers it underneath him together with all the sofa cushions, to make a little "nest" for him - cute ha!
If it wasn't for that I'd love to let him up there, cus there's nothing nicer than snuggling up with a big fat snoring bulldog who takes up more room than you do... (only joking - he's lovely really!)
He wasn't really allowed on the old sofa either, but I didn't go to the same lengths to keep him off them, as I knew we were getting new ones, maybe that was a mistake in hindsight...
I never ever let him come up when I'm at home either, so I'm sure he knows he's not allowed, otherwise he wouldn't jump off them when he hears me coming in the door.
It would've been ideal if I could somehow "block access" to the front room, but we have open plan downstairs, and it's just a large arch between the front and dining rooms, so unfortunately no door, and the opening is too wide to put up a stairgate. The other thing is that he has a dog flap so he can go out in the garden in the daytime, and the back door with the flap is in the dining room, so if he was shut in the kitchen he wouldn't be able to get out...
Guess the only way forward is to move house hey!

newtoitall

Bought a sofa a few years ago (leather) and the salesman said that pets wouldn't go on it as they didn't like the smell of leather! ha ha

wilykit

Make the mistake of letting them up once and they think its their right to sit on there haha. A few time I have been demoted to the floor whilst my dogs lay on the sofa, I know I am a push over but I can't help it - I usually just snug with them whilst watching the telly

Zooxanthelle

Ohhhh your dogs are so scrummy!!! Look at their little faces!

We have throws on our (very worn) sofa so my doglet likes to sleep on there sometimes. She tends to move around the room from her bed to the sofa to the armchair.

tormentor40

My collie keeps jumping up on our new sofa too, she never did it on the old one and was not allowed to. What I do is stand the sofa cushions up so she can't get on it. Don't know if that will work for you or if you can do that with your sofa.