[Amberbark]

Husband and I differ in our opinions as to whether pets should be allowed on the furniture (e.g., couch, bed). Our senior dog and Papillon have always been allowed on the furniture as they are only about 7 lbs. and it allows them to seek safe harbor from our GR puppy, Amber, as recommended by our dog trainer. All dogs are crated at night. Husband says his GR puppy not allowed on bed or couch.

What are your feelings about your GR puppy/dog being allowed on the couch/bed and how do you justify that? My Irish setters were allowed on the couches in the family room, but not allowed in the formal living room (my rule). Thanks :wavey:.

 

[LibertyME]

It is the one rule that I wish I had not broken...for many years...we didnt allow the dogs on the furniture...however we bent the rules and started allowing the dogs on the furniture several of years ago...and the furniture gets really, really dirty....
One of my senior girls 'leaks' a bit every now and again...it would be much easier if I only had to clean her dog bed and not the recliner... :-(

 

[Jamm]

I think if the little dog is allowed the golden should be too! If I had my own place Joey would be allowed up. Im still at home with my parents though so I have to respect their rules. I don't think its fair because the little dog is little he is allowed and your golden isnt just based on size. That just my opinion though

 

[Pumba19]

we decided before we got the dog, that she would not be allowed on any furniture, because of how big she would get. and we've stuck with it since we've had her. but i occasionally pet sit for family and all their dogs are allowed on furniture, so when they come here i also don't mind allowing them up on couches because they are smaller. but i have found now that Pumba sees this she thinks she's allowed up as well. she's fine when they go home, but when they are here she sees them up and thinks it's ok. so you guys might run into problems there.

 

[Elisabeth Kazup]

I think it's just a natural part of being dog that they want to be up high...a better vantage point. They still have a lot of 'wild' instincts despite being pets...like chasing squirrels, etc. That said, your little dog ALWAYS needs a safe place to go to.

For us, we decided it would be an endless battle. Penny started putting her paws up on the couch the first time she was in the family room. It was cute: she could reach only 1/2 way up the front and her little back legs were hopping in place.:smooch:

When she has to stay off the furniture, we have to block it with baskets or else it's fair game.

Have to admit that I never did say no to her and in the beginning I lifted her up until she could jump herself. She has a coverlet on the couch that is easily washed. PLUS, when it's in the washer/dryer she knows NOT to get on the couch. So you might want to train for one bed or one chair with a coverlet.

 

[MittaBear]

Personally, I think it's better to have the same rule for all. Either all of the dogs aren't allowed on the furniture, or all of them are allowed. If two of them are allowed on furniture while one is not, it will become confusing. Your golden won't understand why she's not allowed and the others are. It will be more difficult to train her to stay off when she constantly sees the others on the furniture.

We allow Chester on the couch and the bed. In my house, pets are family members too so if humans are allowed on the couch and the bed, then so are the dogs!

 

[goldensrbest]

We have in the past, allowed it, i found the furniture just did not last as long, so we then stopped it , almost 9 yrs ago, when i got two pups just 6 wks apart, that went great, as far as the couch, always been alowed on beds, then spencer was the only one we let get on the couch, he was special, but then after he passed, husband let all on couch, i really don't like them on couch, but it has been done!!!

 

[mayapaya]

I started off not allowing Maya on the couch--(we don't have an issue yet with the bed, because she's still crated at night, and is gated when she is out so she does not have access to the second floor)--and I wish I had stuck with it, but I was weak and gave in out of pure exhaustion from constnatly yelling "off". While I can live with the dog hair which is now everywhere (just a bit more vacuuming), she now thinks she can share the couch with every guest or human, and further likes to jump on the tops of the back of the cushions and sit like a cat behind your head, which at 50 pounds does not really work and is doing a number on my furniture. My other goldens only shared the couch when invited, or when we weren't looking!

 

[Bentley's Mom]

Bentley is not allowed on our furniture. That being said, and due to the fact that he is a family member, he has his own bed and doggy bed couch but he much prefers the tile floor anyway.

 

[Elisabeth Kazup]

I think Penny would have been just as happy without the furniture. During her TPLO recovery, she is not allowed to jump up...read: no furniture. She rests her chin longingly on the sofa so I just sit down on the floor with her. She is happy with that, too. Just to have somebody close.

Maybe it's more about access to the people than the furniture.

 

[sadiegold]

We have a two paw on the floor rule. She can join us (front two paws only) for some loving while we are on the sofa or bed but she is not allowed on them.

 

[Goldens R Great]

I've always allowed my dogs to be on the beds and the couches. I do need to teach little Mr. Finn he's not allowed on the lamp stands though!

 

[Wyatt's mommy]

My Cody and Wyatt are absolutely part of our family, however neither have been allowed on any of our furniture. If your little doggies have always been allowed on the furniture they should be able to have their own space up there......

 

[Lil_Burke]

Sawyer at first was not allowed on the furniture and I planned on sticking to this rule... but when he would get so hyper and then all of a sudden jump on the couch and lay down and be good, I would leave him there because he was being so well behaved. I guess I'm the sucker.

He is never encouraged to jump on the furniture and to be honest prefers to lay on the floor or his bed on the floor (I suppose I'm lucky that way). If he does on occasion jump up on the couch and lay down I will leave him there so I guess I've bended the rules a bit.

As for our bed, he isn't allowed to sleep on it but does do his morning ritual of waking us up by either pawing at us from the floor or jumping up and giving kisses... which I can't say I mind so much.

Maybe there is a happy medium?

 

[berggred]

We love snuggling with Shandy on the couches... but, two things, our couches are quite old and we will be getting new ones in the future after which I'm sure we won't like it as much. And two, she thinks that she's entitled to the couch even when we have guests over... which is kind of awkward when she jumps on their laps and expects them to move over!

 

[AlanK]

Mr. Tuff is allowed on the one couch I stretch out on to watch movies and football. The female human keeps an old sheet covering it. He will not attempt to get on any other furniture in the house.


However.....He insists on sitting on the leather couch at his vets office:doh:

 

[BriGuy]

I have to admit that I really treasure sitting quietly on the couch after everyone has gone to sleep with Cookie snoozing next to me (or half on my lap). After getting a couple of ticks on her, allegedly from Cookie, my wife was close to banning this though.
How could you not love this:

 

[ozzy'smom]

We don't let Ozzy on the couch. It's one less hairy thing in my house and though I might think it's OK I know that guests don't always want a huge hairy dog sitting with them.

We let him in our bed...sometimes. He lays with us at night until we turn off the light and then we kick him off. He often jumps back on in the morning about an hour before we get up. We probably should be more consistent but so far it's working OK. I don't care he's on the bed, but don't sleep well with all the space he takes up.

 

[Amberbark]

Great!

Really great answers and photos! I wouldn't mind Amber on the couch, but hubby had a friend who's small GR pup was always allowed on laps on the couch. When she grew, the owner didn't like this anymore and banned her from the house. I'm sure more to it than that, but my hubby (Amber is his first dog) said I will not let my dog sit on the couch on laps because I could never ban her from the house.....hmmmmmm. She is happy most of the time to sit on her warm living room bed or we sit on the floor with her.

 

[doggiedad]

our dog is allowed on the bed and sofa. our dog will
cuddle with you on the sofa. when it's bedtime i say
"it's sleepy time" and our dog will get up and go to the bedroom
and wait beside the bed for us to get in. once we're in bed he
hops up and curls up at the foot of the bed.