If you are losing the battle to keep your dog off your lounge furniture, ‘YOUR’ chair, bed, or other furniture, you are not alone!
Many if not all dog owners face this issue at some stage, with some just giving in (not caring) and letting their dog take ownership of whatever piece of furniture they want.
Any Dog Can Be Trained To Stay Off the Furniture
If you want to keep your dog off the furniture, a lounge chair or bed, the good news is that it doesn’t matter if you:
- are introducing a new dog/puppy to your home
- need to retrain an existing resident dog
- only want your dog on the furniture with your permission
- do not want your dog on the furniture at any time
Any dog, young or old, can be trained to stay off any piece of furniture you don’t want them on.
A True Story
Arthur and Grace had just received their much-desired new furniture, and they were still in the process of arranging the last few ornaments when in ran Ted.
Ted, their 3-year-old Golden Labrador, was, as you’d expect, a very lively three-year-old lab. And it had been raining that morning. I am sure you can see where this is heading.
You are right, of course. Straight for the corner chair in the afternoon sun, wet, muddy paws leaving an immediate mark on the new lounge chair.
However, as Arthur and Grace had owned dogs for many years, they had the foresight to have the store apply Scotch Guard water repellant before delivery.
Nonetheless, the chair was now wet and muddy. Imagine not noticing this and sitting down once Ted had left the chair. How frustrating.
Arthur and Grace now had a choice to make.
Let Ted come and go as he always had, or train him otherwise. In this case, being big softies as they are, they assigned one chair for Ted and put a dog blanket over it to protect it.
It will be interesting to see how that works out. I will contact Arthur in six months and see how well that arrangement worked.
Before You Begin Training Your Dog
In a moment, we will look at how to keep your dog off the furniture, or if you prefer, teach your dog to look to you for approval before jumping up to settle on their allocated chair.
However, before you begin training your dog to stay off the furniture, you need to establish yourself as the pack leader – if you haven’t already – the dog needs to understand who the boss is.
If your dog thinks s/he is the boss, they will continue to ignore any training or discipline and jump up on the furniture any time they like.
So if you haven’t already established yourself as the pack leader, any attempt to follow the rest of this article will be a waste of time.
See my article Leader of the Pack Dog Training
Once your dog accepts that you are the boss, the pack leader, they will usually calm down and look to you for instructions.
However, if your dog is not settling down and taking instructions from you, I highly recommend taking a look at this Dog Calming program before going any further.
Establish the House Rules
Assuming your dog knows who’s boss, let’s continue.
You may have already thought about this and know which of the following options you want to set as your house rules. Before training your dog to stay off the furniture, you need to decide whether you want to:
- keep your dog off all furniture at all times
- allow them up with permission
- assign your dog their chair or place on the couch
- allow your dog on the couch if there is a blanket underneath them
- your dog is allowed on your bed and not others etc
Let us be clear here; it can only be one of the above options. If you decide that you don’t want your dog on the lounge furniture at any time, then NEVER EVER let them up for any reason.
Your dog will not know why it is allowed up sometimes and not others. So be consistent, and the dog will be much happier knowing what s/he can and can’t do. So will you!
Having said that, it is possible to train your dog to stay off the couch but they are allowed on your bed – or visa versa. Just be clear and consistent so your dog knows what is acceptable.
And to take this one step further, you may want to teach your dog that it is okay to jump up onto the master bed but not on the children’s bed – as we did with our Newfoundland. We didn’t want a 154-pound dog jumping on our kid’s beds and pinning them down – or causing harm.
Keep Your Dog Off the Furniture for Good
Once you have decided on ONE of the above options, you need to establish it as a house rule. A house rule that EVERY family member knows, canine and human, understands and obeys.
In my experience, every household has an “old softie,” someone who lets – even encourages – their dog up onto the furniture, even when they know, if caught, the dog will get in trouble – and confused.
Remember, it’s much easier to keep a dog off the furniture if, as a puppy, they were never allowed on the furniture in the first place.
It is the same with rescue dogs. When introducing a rescue dog to your home, establish, enforce and reward the house rules from day one.
Dog Training Tip: the simpler the rules, the better.
For example, the dog is never allowed on the lounge furniture EVER is a much easier rule that everyone, including the dog, understands.
Whereas if the house rule allows the dog on the couch when the family is watching TV, but not at other times, it’s confusing. Get the picture?
Some practical considerations:
If you live in a cold climate, or it’s winter, and you have concrete or marble floors, AND your dog has thin fur, then provide them with a dog bed, warm blanket, or electric heating pad.
Consistency, Repetition, and Patience
Consistency, repetition, and patience are critical when training your dog to stay off the furniture.
I know from experience that it’s easier said than done, but you must remain calm and patient – resist yelling with an angry voice at your dog when you find them on the furniture.
Instead, quietly pick the dog up and place them on their bed or blanket on the floor. Don’t say anything. Usually, after two or three repetitions, the dog begins to get it.
Reward your dog with a treat – works best at the start – or a pat on the head and say ” Good boy/girl” when they stay where you put them. Also at other times that your dog wanders over and sits or lays down in their place.
However, if this doesn’t work and your dog persists in jumping up on the furniture, they need some time-out.
Putting your dog into the bathroom or other room, for example, isn’t mean or harmful. Time-out removes the dog’s freedom and teaches the dog that there are consequences for breaking the house rules.
Start with ten minutes in time-out and increase to half an hour each time until they begin to get it – which they will.
NOTE: it is not a good habit to put your dog into their crate for a time-out because they will begin to associate the crate with punishment and not their safe, secure, happy place.
And remember to remain calm, no matter what damage they may have done to the furniture. Yelling at the dog will not speed up the learning process!
Everyone in your household must know the rules and be consistent in applying them.
Positive Reinforcement
As your dog begins to learn to stay off the furniture, reward them with positive reinforcement.
In the beginning, reward your dog with a chew toy on the floor or a homemade treat. Over time, a pat/rub on the head and a reassuring “Good Boy/Girl” will suffice when they get it right.
And remember to remain calm so that your dog remains calm. If they get too excited, a puppy will likely jump straight back onto the lounge chair.
But What About When You Are Not Home?
So you have done everything mentioned above with good results – your dog stays off the furniture, well done. Except…
Every time you come home, you find either your dog happily settled on the couch or evidence such as fur and a sheepish-looking dog peering up at you, almost expecting a telling-off.
But please don’t make the mistake of yelling at the dog now; it will have no idea what s/he has done wrong – s/he may think that jumping off the furniture and returning to their place when you got home was the wrong thing to do!
That sheepish look tells us that your dog knows it broke the house rule but did it anyway. So we need to look at why s/he did this.
It is more than likely that the alternative was/is uncomfortable. Let’s face it, we all prefer to sit or lay down where it is comfortable; why should we expect our dogs to be any different?
Check to see if the dog bed is soft, warm in winter, cool in summer, and comfortable. Also, check to see if there is a draft or breeze from a door or air conditioning that the dog finds annoying.
Once you have established that the dog should be comfortable in his/her place, then revert to training your dog to stay off the furniture by rewarding them each time they return to their place.
Homemade dog treats are a good reward for this, and say “Good Boy/Girl” in an encouraging tone.
Remember that if your house rule is no dogs on the furniture at any time, that includes the dog being picked up and sat on one’s lap for a cuddle. Please don’t do it!
If you want to cuddle the dog, get down on the floor or sit on a step outside, else you end up confusing the dog.
In essence the secret of how to keep your dog off the couch when you are not home is making sure that:
- the dog knows the house rules and
- their dog bed, mattress, blanket, or crate is warm and welcoming for your dog – so much so that it is their preferred place to be.
Good luck, and let me know if you found this article useful.
In Summary
First, decide on the house rules.
- Never on the lounge furniture
- Only with permission
- Assign your dog their chair
- Only when their blanket is under them
Ensure that every family member knows and understands the house rules and rewards the dog for not jumping on the furniture.
Be consistent in enforcing the rules, and remember to stay calm. Yelling at the dog and waving your arms around isn’t going to speed up the dog’s learning and understanding of the rules.
Remain calm, pick the dog up off the furniture, and place them on the floor – their bed, blanket, or assigned chair. Repeat and reward for getting it right.
Okay, so you followed the advice above, and your dog still jumps up on the lounge furniture. What do you do?
Firstly, ask yourself, “Who’s the boss, me or the dog” if you can answer with surety that you are the boss, but your dog doesn’t look to you for guidance, then I suggest you watch this short video.
If your dog thinks s/he is the boss, then head on over to my article titled Leader of the Pack Dog Training
If your dog is not settling down or taking instructions from you, I highly recommend that you watch this short video about the Dog Calming program before going any further.
And that is how to keep your dog off the furniture. Good luck!
UPDATE: June 02, 2022
I was contacted by a lady from Seatle who had read the above article and achieved partial success following my suggestions. However, I say partially because she wrote to ask me “how to keep dogs off couch at night.”
To be honest, I have not experienced this myself so it was a mystery to me. And that is because, if you can train your dog to stay off the couch during the daytime why are they climbing up during the night?
However, an easy option is to put the dog in a crate overnight, which takes away any chance of them getting on the furniture. The alternative involves a few sleepless nights.
Because the alternative is getting out of bed to catch your dog on the furniture during the night and correct that behavior.
But let’s backtrack for a moment and check off a few things.
Does your dog have somewhere comfortable to sleep, not just bedding?
- Is it clean, dry, warm in winter, cool in summer, and draft-free?
- Are there any noises or vibrations that are disturbing the dog’s ability to sleep – air conditioning, fridge/freezer, or neighbor?
- What about lighting – too light or too dark. I had a Jack Russell that hated moonless nights and an old labrador that was spooked by shadows created by moving curtains, or moving car lights from the street which took us months to work out.
- How about the hygiene of the bedding – does it smell, or have flies or lice?
If you are satisfied that your dog should be comfortable, then I suggest that your first option is a crate and if that is not possible, you need to resort to night patrols and catch your dog in the act.
Note: I have seen online that some people claim to have success keeping pets off the furniture by placing aluminum foil over it. I haven’t tried it, mostly because you’d have to do it every night, and while I am sure you can recycle the aluminum foil by using it multiple times, the long-term cost could get out of control.
Have you tried aluminum foil to keep pets off furniture? Let me know how it worked – via my Facebook page