Is your dog allowed on furniture? Why or why not?

All the dogs I've had as an adult have been allowed on the furniture, but none of them were destructive or chewed on the cushions. Max sheds non-stop year round so I guess I need either a navy blue or burgundy red dog or a yellow sofa and chairs.

Joyce

I have always allowed my pet's on the furniture. My DH does not. Since we moved in and got our dane we came to an agreement she is allowed on the furniture if her blankets are down. When guests come we fold up the blankets and tuck them into our storage ottoman. I guess he figued he would choose his battles :)  

Willow is allowed on the couch or bed if we invite her.  My reasons are mainly her temperment.  However, I'm not a fan of dogs just hopping up like they own the place.  I much prefer her to "ask" by coming over and looking at the couch and wagging. That way we can decide if we want her up at that time.  If we don't want her up we just tell her "no, you've got to go on your own bed now" 

If she happens to get up without us noticing, we tell her "gotta get up, Will" and she does with no trouble.

Of course, if we aren't home and she has access she's on that couch before we even leave the driveway.  We realize this but not much can be done.  She rarely will go into our bedroom if we aren't home. 

We've always allowed the dogs on the furniture. I value that snuggle time with them over not having hair all over my furniture (though we do put sheets and throws over our furniture and most of what we've got have washable cushion covers anyway). All that I require is that the dogs sit and "ask" to be invited up and they get off when I want them to. Conrad has an incredible "off" command. Marlowe's a bit more oblivious (and he sleeps harder than any dog I've ever encountered) but he's a lot smaller than Conrad and he doesn't at all object to just being unceremoniously booted off. If either dog ever had a location-guarding problem, I'd be singing a different tune, but neither does so I have no problem with them on the furniture. Our house is really small and if we had dog beds of appropriate sizes for both of these largish dogs  in addition to the human furniture, there wouldn't be room to walk!

Having said all that though I am kind of trying to wean Marlowe off having to be on the futon with us all the time.  If for whatever reason he's not allowed up, he just doesn't know what to do with himself. I asked for a big squishy dog bed for the holidays and I think that will solve his issue. He doesn't have much body fat or hair and he likes to be cozy and the floor is just not comfortable for him.

Yup, mine are allowed on the furniture. I enjoy having them sleep in bed with me or sit on the couch with me...it's one of the reasons I got dogs, for companionship, so they go where I go.

Nikki is allowed anywhere.  She's a good girl and usually doesn't abuse her priviledges, she's also small... so, it was an easy decision to make.

Logan however has just started being allowed on the furniture and it's only because he's too cute to refuse, and he's an amazing snuggler (and it's COLD!)  But, I'm training him to ask permission and to have manners, otherwise he'd not be allowed.

i'm like willows mom. they are only allowed up when invited. the reason: well, i like snuggling with my dogs and it's just not as comfy on the floor, since i dont have carpet. but there are also times i need my space (in summer, when it's hot, the last thing i want is a hot dog body next to me...). plus it just supports good manners..

The cats are allowed on the furniture; Gypsy is NOT. She is a digger and DH would have a screaming fit if the leather couches were shredded (so would I, for that matter). She is pretty much fine with that although DSs sneak her up there occasionally.  Also the furniture in the living room is fabric--white with lilac flowers on it. No dogs there either!

 Kirby is only allowed on the furniture when he is invited on.  One of the big reasons I did this is studies have shown that little dogs who are constantly jumping up and off furniture are more prone to arthritis in their later years.  Thus he has to wait to be lifted up or placed down when given permission rather than inviting himself up.  It also means I can set stuff on my couch I don't want him fusing with, without him pillaging it immediately.  Another reason is I like having my space.  He is a little velcro baby as it is without constantly sitting squished next to me.  I also like how when I take him places/visiting with friends, he knows enough not to go rudely jumping on other people's furniture without permission. 

they are allowed up on couches and chairs (not beds), but they seem to prefer the floor and/or their dog beds. Rarely do any of them actually get on the furniture.

 Mine are allowed as long as they don't have dirty feet.

Edited to add: I have microsuede furniture which I found is super easy to clean (which is why I don't mind them on the furniture). I use micro-fiber rags and just wipe them down every week to get hair, dirt, etc. off the couches and chairs. It works really well. 

Krissim Klaw

 Kirby is only allowed on the furniture when he is invited on.  One of the big reasons I did this is studies have shown that little dogs who are constantly jumping up and off furniture are more prone to arthritis in their later years. 

Prancer is allowed on any of the furniture, but she can't reach the bed (she's too small and the bed is too high).  In hindsight I wish I had had trained her to wait to be picked up and put down off the furniture.  She has a partially torn cruciate and her activity is severly restricted .... I can't even have her out of the crate most of the time because the first thing she wants to do is RUN and JUMP and PLAY .... I have to watch her very carefully.  She's always on leash but even so managed to hop over me and onto the sofa last night --- she seems to be fine --- my heart is still trying to find its way back into my chest instead of my throat !

Indy05

Anyway my DH does not approve of dogs on furniture.  He was raised on a farm and animals were never allowed inside.  Thankfully he is OK with our cairn being inside. He just did not want to share chairs, bed, etc. with a dog.  Our current cairn and our cairn before never ever tried to get on furniture.  We got them as pups and never held them as we sat on furniture.  We always sat on the floor to hold them and play with them.  They just learned that the floor was their place to be.  Is it that easy or was it a fluke that neither tried to jump up on sofas, etc.?

Same here, no dogs on inside furniture. It worked out just the same way; they were never encouraged to get there so we never really had to discourage them either. Why are they not allowed ? Well, hair is part of the reason, space is another (two dogs and two humans would just not fit on the sofa) and also the "it is just not their place" way of thinking. As of now, I doubt they would get on it, even if invited; they would probably look at me as if I had gone totally out of my mind.

Outside is different, they can get on the outside lawn chair longue in summer (Spip does it only if the cushion is there, Flem with or without cushion) and on the covered patio wicker sofa which we rarely use. Those two spots are allowed on the conditions that they lay down and that they move on request. That sofa is Flem winter evening favorite spot; Spip only got on it once.