Dogs on furniture ~ yay or nay?

I asked our puppy owners for a few photos of their 4-legged family members on the furniture. They didn’t disappoint. *sigh

I received a message from a puppy buyer with a question… “What are your thoughts about dogs on couches?” I thought, rather than just answering her directly, it would make a great blog post. I hope you agree.

Our puppy buyers know a sure way to ‘poke the bear’, is to post photos of their dogs on the furniture. Not everyone allows their dogs on the furniture, but some do, and I’ve come to accept that. Some dogs have cart blanche to everything in the house, while others have their chair, or couch, or place on a bed. Personally, I have enough dog hair and mud on my floors, I certainly don’t want it on my couch, and especially NOT in my bed! Ewwww!  Insert Princess and the Pea story here: a single grain of sand in my bed has me sweeping the sheets.

All that aside, I don’t think folks really understand our perspective. Having dealt with so very many problem dogs over the history of offering dog training classes, and private lessons, the NUMBER ONE common denominator, is pack hierarchy.

Pack Hierarchy

Dogs are naturally pack animals. Just because their pack now consists of one or more humans, doesn’t make it less true. If you have an easy going, docile dog, happy to tow the line, you probably wont have any issues. On the other hand, if you have a dog that has a certain level of confidence coupled with dominance, this can be a recipe for disaster.

A wonderful case in point; a student of ours with a beautiful Golden Retriever, (cue the awes) yes, a Golden, full male, between 15-18 months old. We’ll call him Max. His human pack consisted of husband and wife, we’ll call them Rick and Karen.

As a young puppy, Max was coddled and adored, and yes, allowed to sleep in the bed, possibly other furniture as well, I don’t remember. The problem began without notice, Max would quietly grumble when told to get off the bed. They didn’t think much of it at first, but as they tested the now well-established pecking order, they quickly learned that Max would move for Rick, but not for Karen. In fact, as they began training in classes, it was clear that Max thought HE was 2^nd in line in the pack.

Karen’s routine was to come home from work, and go into the bedroom to change out of work clothes to comfy clothes. While training in classes, she learned she had to begin to assert herself in the pack order. Max must learn to respect her. They were working on things and gradually Karen grew more confident about getting Max to listen to her.

On this particular day that Karen came home from work, Max was sound asleep on their bed. Karen came into the room, and got undressed, she hadn’t noticed Max in the room. When she noticed him, she used her most authoritative voice to command Max to get off the bed. He growled. She commanded him again, more assertively; Max leaped off the bed, all 100+ pounds of him, and flattened Karen to the floor. Fortunately, Rick was in the house and was able to help her without anyone getting more than a few scratches.

That’s when extra private training began for Max, and he learned about tough love.

Now granted, Max is an EXTREME case. BUT his case illustrates how easily the dog with the right combination of dominance, confidence, AND a “soft” environment can cause him/her to assume pack leadership.

If you wish to let your dog on your furniture, and many do, make sure you incorporate some structure into the agreement between the two of you. If your child wishes to take the space you’re dog is currently occupying, can he or she safely tell the dog to “get off” without argument? Practice it with all members of the family, because no matter how much we love our 4-legged family members, our 2-legged members, regardless of age and size, must always be above the 4’s in the pack hierarchy.

Happy schnuggling!