Dog People

[smokin5s]

I have a 7 year old Yellow Lab... she's a great dog, but has a horrible habit of jumping on all the furnature. Does anyone have any experience with breaking them of this habit? She will never do it when we are around because she knows that she will get yelled at, but when no one is home, she jumps up there and gets hair everywhere.

 

Any ideas on how to break her of this?

 

Thanks!

[TTQ B4U]

Good luck. We have two boxers and finally gave up and put some nice dog blankets down on them when we leave. We tried the noise makers out there, but no go. Our one dog just chewed it up after likely getting pissed off / freaked out by it.

 

We then used to put several laundry baskets on them. The dogs then just went upstairs to the beds

 

We then put a gate up at the bottom of the stairs to keep them out of the bedrooms but they wised up and just ended up knocking the baskets off the couches.

 

I suppose we could have kept going but eventually one of them would end up likely doing something much worse so we bought blankets.

 

I have a 7 year old Yellow Lab... she's a great dog, but has a horrible habit of jumping on all the furnature. Does anyone have any experience with breaking them of this habit? She will never do it when we are around because she knows that she will get yelled at, but when no one is home, she jumps up there and gets hair everywhere.

 

Any ideas on how to break her of this?

 

Thanks!

[smokin5s]

do the blanket's have tasers built into them?

 

Maybe a shock colar would do the trick. j/k

[thorne]

Well all but 1 of my boys are caged when I'm not home. I know before my parents would put mice traps on the back of the couch and the snap would scare my dog off ( I was a kid). But honestly I could not do that to Big Joe. I would be worried he would get snapped or something.

[ImUrOBGYN]

First thing is why does he get up there? Does it allow a better viewpoint/vantage? Is it an older dog who gets sore from lying on the floor?

 

Once your dog is accustomed to getting on a piece of furniture, it can be very hard to get them to stop. You can try getting a couch cover, you can try plastic on the couch or that plastic carpet protector with the little plastic pointy things on the bottom that'll deter the dog from lying on the couch. They make scat mats that produce a light electrical shock when you sit on them, but I just don't like those kinda things.

 

There's also a spray that keeps animals from chewing on shit, that may or may not work. It's called bitter apple but I dunno for keeping him off the couch, though. Same for other stuff to spray, dunno if you wanna it on your couch.

 

Another thing you may try is getting the dog it's own piece of furniture. For my male, he's had his own chair for years now. It's big enough for him to lay different ways comfortably (and heavy enough not to move when he jumps in and out of it - important) and it's right beside the couch so he always feels part of the pack. I have a nice blanket he's been using forever on the chair and he knows that's his spot. It will take time to train your dog to understand he can only use the chair or whatever. The easiest way to change an animals mind is to offer them an alternative. Remember, the offering a new piece of furniture wont' make a difference if you put it in a crappy place.

 

Another thing is called a Tattletale, I believe. It beeps and vibrates when the dog jumps on the couch hopefully scaring off the dog. Again, this doesn't actually solve the reasons why the dog gets up there which could be as simple as it's more fucking comfortable than the floor! So, again, be sure to provide an alternative. And remember, location, location, location.

 

I'm sure there are other tips I've forgotten. I'll post them later if and when I think of them. Otherwise, hopefully someone will add to this. Good luck. Let me know if you have any ?'s. I don't feel like rereading what I just typed. lol

[thorne]

Titan is a pimp.

[smokin5s]

She gets up there because she was never condoned to do so before I came around (dog is my wife's dog that she had before I came around) Now we get on her about it because she SHEDS like crazy and I don't want the hair all over the place. I think she also feels that they are more comfortable to lay on than the floor. It has always annoyed me, but is more important right now because we are in the process of selling our house and we don't want dog hair all over the furnature. I have heard about using the pointy mats from a co-worker or mine and he said he had pretty good success with those as well. I might have to stop by Office Depot and pick up a few and cut them to fit.

[starkmaster03]

I got this trick from my sister and it works for our big dogs, hers is a great dane and I have a germain shepard. We just put a sheet of aluminum foil across the seating area of the couch and it keeps them off. I'm not saying that it will work for all dogs but it works for ours.

[smokin5s]

how long do you need to leave the sheet on there? Like do it for a month and they will stop or are we going to have to do this for the rest of the dogs life?

[T Rex]

Crate train her. They have big octagonal pens too!

[TTQ B4U]

May work....our dogs would use their paws and noses and move something like that off. Smart little buggers. My only thought would be how effective would those mats be on your dog that has long hair and an undercoat. On our boxers, that might work, but I know deep down the one would knock it off and even chew it up as his way of saying "fuck you dad"

 

She gets up there because she was never condoned to do so before I came around (dog is my wife's dog that she had before I came around) Now we get on her about it because she SHEDS like crazy and I don't want the hair all over the place. I think she also feels that they are more comfortable to lay on than the floor. It has always annoyed me, but is more important right now because we are in the process of selling our house and we don't want dog hair all over the furnature. I have heard about using the pointy mats from a co-worker or mine and he said he had pretty good success with those as well. I might have to stop by Office Depot and pick up a few and cut them to fit.

[verse]

You have to make the dog more comfortable on the ground. When they jump up, just go sit on the floor and make them sit next to you. Then after a while of this they will learn that they get attention when they are on the floor and not on the couch.

[TurboRust]

Well, there are several things you could try. I have heard the mouse trap thing as well, only you put newspaper over them, so they will not injur the dog when they snap.

 

Secondly, in an effort to get our two bigs dogs off of the bed at night, I bought a big dog bed, like huge, and put it on the floor. The dogs love it. Dog beds have cedar chips in them that attract the dog to the bed. This keeps the dog off of the bed. You may try doing this by your couch. Look at http://www.petedge.com. Everything on there is wholesale.

 

Lastly, simply do not give the dog access to this room. Use a baby gate, a tall piece of plywood, anything to keep them from getting in there. I have a 96" long baby gate that keeps my dogs in the kitchen. They could easily jump it, but they recognize the boundary.

 

Keep in mind that it is an animal and it will adapt to it's surroundings. As soon as you start treating an animal like a human, that is when you will start having problems (the whole alpha dog thing).

 

After having said all of that, who wants to come and teach my dogs not to jump on the couch and bark out of the windows????

 

Dave?

 

By the way, this is Derek's wife.

[TheHaze]

Damn, you guys are evil! Your pets are family, let them bond with you!

 

If it's really important, though, teach your animals that it's your territory.

[Akula]

Crates work great for this. Feed them in the crate for a while, make the crate a fun place.

[zeitgeist57]

http://www.awesometools.com/scatmat-scat-mat.asp

[xlr8tn]

strategically placed mouse traps

[ImUrOBGYN]

Damn, you guys are evil! Your pets are family, let them bond with you!

 

If it's really important, though, teach your animals that it's your territory.

I feel pretty much the same way. I know I contributed to this thread, but I let my dogs on the couch. I make up for this by getting off my lazy ass and vacuuming and/or washing the cushion covers.

 

Wash and brush your dogs occasionally, for shit's sake. It'll help.

[mrs.cos]

I didnt notice this mentioned, but does your dog have a dog bed on the floor in the area you have the couch in? My dogs the only reason they get on teh couch is to be with us. One dog wont even come up, she hates teh couch.

 

both of my dogs have dog bed/pillows on the ground that they lay on, and are fed on. So its like thier soft comfy zone. They used to be crated when we left, but have been leaving them in our bedroom, for the past two years with no accidents or problems.

 

If you dont have a dog bed for them in there, try getting one and giving a good treat like a kong filled iwth doggie gooey goodness to munch on while on the pillow to show its a good thing.

[sol740]

Surely this race of half human/half dogs will destroy us all.

 

I for one submit to our new canine overlords, and will be a diligent laborer in their biscuit mines.

[TTQ B4U]

I went home for lunch today and should have grabbed my camera. Both dogs, one on each sofa, each had a toy in their paws. Like freaking teenagers laying around my house on their lazy asses. I want to be my dogs. Not sure I'd like my own balls though

[smokin5s]

I didnt notice this mentioned, but does your dog have a dog bed on the floor in the area you have the couch in? My dogs the only reason they get on teh couch is to be with us. One dog wont even come up, she hates teh couch.

 

both of my dogs have dog bed/pillows on the ground that they lay on, and are fed on. So its like thier soft comfy zone. They used to be crated when we left, but have been leaving them in our bedroom, for the past two years with no accidents or problems.

 

If you dont have a dog bed for them in there, try getting one and giving a good treat like a kong filled iwth doggie gooey goodness to munch on while on the pillow to show its a good thing.

she does... but never lays on it... she prefers the floor to it.

[starkmaster03]

how long do you need to leave the sheet on there? Like do it for a month and they will stop or are we going to have to do this for the rest of the dogs life?

 

Depends on the dog, we don't do it anymore and the germain shepard never gets on the couch any more. I don't know how long we had to do it but it was a while. Then again my second sister has a Rot and it never cared, it'd get up there no matter what. Needless to say the Rot gets caged and the shepard gets to roam when we leave.

[mrs.cos]

she does... but never lays on it... she prefers the floor to it.

it may sound silly, but maybe thats just no the the right pillow for your dog? Is it big enough? What kind of filler doe it have? Can she stretch out on it..Do you enourage her to use it?

 

Would you sleep in a bed that you didnt find comfy? Unfortuanatley for us, dogs cant tell us.. so i would say buy a new one (differnt style bedding maybe?) and keep the receipt if she doestn start enjoying it within a week, take it back and try another..

 

I would also try doing a reward system including the bed, to make it a comfort zone. (just like crating a dog, it has to be something that is "theirs")

[smokin5s]

it's the memory foam stuff... hell, I'd sleep on it!