Should You Allow Dogs On Furniture?

Many pet parents allow their dogs to sleep with them in their bed. While on the other hand, many believe it’s not healthy or hygienic at all to let them be on your bed or any furniture items. No one is wrong here as there’s not a distinctive answer to that question. It really depends on you and how you see it. In this article, I’m going to tell you what you can expect in both conditions, and then you can form rules for your pets and stick to it.

Why Some People Believe Dogs Shouldn’t Be on Couch

There are old stories about dogs being possessive over their belongings. A dog believes that the people he lives with are members of his pack. When you let him be on the couch and sit beside you, he thinks he’s in an equal or higher position in the pack hierarchy.

This may further bring territorial behavior in your pet. As a result of that, your dog may snarl at you when you try to remove them from the couch or just want to sit beside them. So, the stories have been popular and some people strongly believe in this theory. However, this isn’t the case always.

What It’s Like To Let Them Be On Your Furniture

The pack dominance story is not applicable to every dog. Also, there’s no sudden dominance behavior that can go out of control immediately when you allow your dog to sit next to you. Dogs like soft, comfortable places to lay down and your furniture cushions are just perfect for them.

Things start going wrong when you inadvertently begin reinforcing their dominance behavior. Here’s a case you can consider as its example. If your dog snaps at you or snarls when you try to sit down on the couch, that’s the behavior you should never ignore. Also, if your dog hogs up on the couch and doesn’t make space for you that too is bad news.

In that case, you immediately need to remove your dog from the couch or your bed and start correcting the behavior. If you’re not sure how to help your pooch, consult a canine behavior expert.

Apart from that, you can also let them allow on furniture items after your permission. But that works as long as you’re present in the house. When you leave him alone at home and go to work, your dog is in charge of himself and will use the sofa on his own will.

You can also limit the furniture items your dog can get on. However, training is crucial when you teach your dog to obey your commands. This will even help to develop territorial behavior as well.

The next thing you will want to consider is the debris your dog will bring on the couch. If you’re fine with your dog’s drool, dirt, hair, and other dust particles and can clean it later, it’s okay to let them be on the sofa. All you will need to take care of is to keep the furniture clean, stay focused on training your pooch, and groom him well.

What You Can Do If You Don’t Want Your Dog to Be on Furniture

Apart from what concerns we have discussed so far, there’s one more reason why you wouldn’t allow your dog to be on the furniture. And the reason is your dog doing damage to your precious furniture items.

Dogs with long and sharp nails can scratch the surface of your couch or bed unintentionally. Moreover, some dogs like to burrow on surfaces and a dog can really ruin a piece of furniture just by digging into it. Also, if you’re still working on your dog’s destructive behavior, it’s not advisable to let your pooch on your couch.

In that case, you can get an extra dog bed for your buddy and let him lay down there while everybody’s in the drawing room and binge-watching. Your dog won’t feel alone and will get a comfortable space to lay down. Make sure you have a large enough bed for your big dog.

If the only thing you’re concerned about is your health because your dog will be on the couch, then you can just stay relaxed. A well-groomed, healthy, and trained dog won’t affect your health if he is allowed on the furniture. The risk of catching any zoonotic disease is trivial.

If at all you decide your dogs should stay away from any furniture items, train them well, and make sure they obey your commands at once. You will also need to immediately remove your dog if he crosses the boundary.

Also, when you will be away, your dog will still have a chance to enjoy the comfy cushions of the sofa and that can be problematic. But that’s where the crate training is helpful. You can keep your pet dog when you’re away.

The EndNote

Whatever you decide, you should stick to the rules and also let your family members know clearly what’s allowed and what’s not. Once you have firm rules, it will be easier to understand for dogs what you’re expecting of them. We all are dog lovers no matter what if we let them be on furniture items or not, there’s nothing inhumane in it. Make sure you don’t inadvertently trigger and reinforce territorial behavior and act immediately when you observe your dog is crossing the boundary you’ve set for him. Do you allow your dog to be on your bed or the couch? And Why? Let us know in the comment section below.