Conquer Club

She insists on getting on the furniture (couch, loveseat, futon, chair) when we're not watching her. She knows she isn't supposed to and will never do it while we're around, but we have a family room and a living room and she'll go into the living room when we're not to get on the furniture there. We've been putting toys/etc on the furniture to keep her off, but she'll push them out of the way or just get on one when it's uncovered. With 3.75 kids it's pretty much impossible to always have the furniture covered, as there's usually somebody one one of the pieces. We can crate her when we're gone (which will be a pain in the ass in itself) but what other ideas do people have to keep her off the furniture? She knows she's not supposed to be up there, because she gets a guilty look and gets down when we get near her, but just won't stop.

I'm all for smacking her when we catch her, but my wife won't go for that.

Jake

jakewilliams wrote:She insists on getting on the furniture (couch, loveseat, futon, chair) when we're not watching her. She knows she isn't supposed to and will never do it while we're around, but we have a family room and a living room and she'll go into the living room when we're not to get on the furniture there. We've been putting toys/etc on the furniture to keep her off, but she'll push them out of the way or just get on one when it's uncovered. With 3.75 kids it's pretty much impossible to always have the furniture covered, as there's usually somebody one one of the pieces. We can crate her when we're gone (which will be a pain in the ass in itself) but what other ideas do people have to keep her off the furniture? She knows she's not supposed to be up there, because she gets a guilty look and gets down when we get near her, but just won't stop.

I'm all for smacking her when we catch her, but my wife won't go for that.

Jake

make her think you are not watching but watch and wait for her to get on the furniture then yell at here like you can see her while she cant see you. It will make her think you are always watching/you can always see her. You could also give her a different kind of punishment when you catch her on the furniture like 30 minutes in her cage or 30 min outside.

ljex wrote:

jakewilliams wrote:She insists on getting on the furniture (couch, loveseat, futon, chair) when we're not watching her. She knows she isn't supposed to and will never do it while we're around, but we have a family room and a living room and she'll go into the living room when we're not to get on the furniture there. We've been putting toys/etc on the furniture to keep her off, but she'll push them out of the way or just get on one when it's uncovered. With 3.75 kids it's pretty much impossible to always have the furniture covered, as there's usually somebody one one of the pieces. We can crate her when we're gone (which will be a pain in the ass in itself) but what other ideas do people have to keep her off the furniture? She knows she's not supposed to be up there, because she gets a guilty look and gets down when we get near her, but just won't stop.

I'm all for smacking her when we catch her, but my wife won't go for that.

Jake

make her think you are not watching but watch and wait for her to get on the furniture then yell at here like you can see her while she cant see you. It will make her think you are always watching/you can always see her. You could also give her a different kind of punishment when you catch her on the furniture like 30 minutes in her cage or 30 min outside.

Watching her is not gonna happen, my wife has her hands full with the kids, much less the stupid dog. Will the caging punishment work if we use it when we're not home, or will it confuse her? We don't want it to seem like punishing her when we put her in it when we leave.

it will confuse her.

just beat her.

show her who the boss is.

#1, my wife or my dog?

jakewilliams wrote:#1, my wife or my dog?

aww, see, when you have to explicitly state the pun out loud, it's not funny anymore.

Well, I know what Shakespeare would do in this situation.

Slap the dog, won't learn otherwise.

edocsil wrote:Slap the dog, won't learn otherwise.

Just because you're unable to learn unless you're slapped silly doesn't mean the same applies to dogs.

have sex with it. That always works

Tell that bitch to be coo

Is one of your children missing a limb or something, or did i misunderstand the "3.75 kids" part?

And while my dogs are on the furniture all the time (as i really dont care), physical consequences usually does work best. Not beating your dog, as some of these inhumane pricks suggest , but dogs get the point pretty quick that way, similar to training to housetraining. Worst case, find something the dogs are scared of and put that near the furniture. My dogs hate the vacuum and balloons, and wont go anywhere near them. But this would be kind of a pain to consistently putting a vacuum cleaner on your couch...

Best of luck.

natty_dread wrote:

edocsil wrote:Slap the dog, won't learn otherwise.

Just because you're unable to learn unless you're slapped silly doesn't mean the same applies to dogs.

Nice natty. As you well know I do not mean to suggest beating the thing.

jakewilliams wrote:

ljex wrote:

jakewilliams wrote:She insists on getting on the furniture (couch, loveseat, futon, chair) when we're not watching her. She knows she isn't supposed to and will never do it while we're around, but we have a family room and a living room and she'll go into the living room when we're not to get on the furniture there. We've been putting toys/etc on the furniture to keep her off, but she'll push them out of the way or just get on one when it's uncovered. With 3.75 kids it's pretty much impossible to always have the furniture covered, as there's usually somebody one one of the pieces. We can crate her when we're gone (which will be a pain in the ass in itself) but what other ideas do people have to keep her off the furniture? She knows she's not supposed to be up there, because she gets a guilty look and gets down when we get near her, but just won't stop.

I'm all for smacking her when we catch her, but my wife won't go for that.

Jake

make her think you are not watching but watch and wait for her to get on the furniture then yell at here like you can see her while she cant see you. It will make her think you are always watching/you can always see her. You could also give her a different kind of punishment when you catch her on the furniture like 30 minutes in her cage or 30 min outside.

Watching her is not gonna happen, my wife has her hands full with the kids, much less the stupid dog. Will the caging punishment work if we use it when we're not home, or will it confuse her? We don't want it to seem like punishing her when we put her in it when we leave.

cage her after you catch her on the furniture along with scolding her

How about get her a comfortable little furniture thing of her own and reward her for getting on it?

Lionz wrote:How about get her a comfortable little furniture thing of her own and reward her for getting on it?

thats not fun though it could work

Never discipline a dog to a kennel. That should be there safe place, not a place for punishment. Mine loves her kennel almost to a point it's hard for her to leave it. This is a very good thing. You've let the dog be the controller in the house. You alone can not stop this, it'll take everybody to be on the same page including your 3.75 children. If everybody can't get on the same page just get over it. A simple trick is to lay a single layer of newspaper on the cushions. They hate it and they will jump down ASAP. A very cheap way to keep things clean and teach them not to be there. Everybody in the house needs to be on the same page and not allow fido on the furniture.

That being said.....

You do realize that after posting such a question on this forum only confirms your a pussy with a capital P that wears a skirt and you have absolutely no control over what is going on in your household.



This advice is free......... and should be a deterrent to you about molesting ones wall.

My Boxer is allowed on the furniture in the family room (it's older) but is NOT allowed on the new furniture in the living room. So, what we did is got a portable gate to block off the living room so he can't go into the living room.





He's now 16 months old and a lot bigger!

He has you trained well.

Considering Jake's feelings, I'm almost afraid to ask what kind of dog.....

If it's a girly ankle bitter just don't answer Jake... FWIW

Gold Knight wrote:Is one of your children missing a limb or something, or did i misunderstand the "3.75 kids" part?

His wife is preggo, that number will be 4 in a bit over a month, I think.

The advice about not using the crate as punishment is good advise. So is the advice about everyone in the family needing to establish the same boundaries. Just calmly move the dog off the couch and tell it "No". Don't get excited or it will think you are playing. Reward the dog when it stays off the couch. It'll just take time.


On another note, don't you know that overpopulation is the underlying reason for many of the major problems we face as a species on this planet? Having 4 kids is irresponsible. In my most humble opinion, of course.

Using violence as a deterrent isnt affirmative of your dominance.
You are only encouraging the bitch to do it behind your back.
Keep slapping her around and she'll keep climbing on furniture, she'll do it when you're not watching anyway.
Besides, dogs dont understand gratuitous violence.

What you need is positive reinforcement.
Get her to understand that the good behavior is to NOT climb on furniture thru distraction and rewarding.

You should read about :

Canine pack behavior and natural dominance (alpha male)
Positive reinforcement in canines.
Clicker Training

This should help you understand and solve any behavioral issues with your friend.

It sounds like some of you have watched "It's Me or the Dog," on Animal Planet, as the hostess on there believes in the positive reinforcement idea along with having everyone in the household be on the same page.

Probably the one best solutions that I think would work;
Get the dog a bed or large pillow that can be in the living room, and the dog can lay down there. Use treats as a way of convincing the dog that it should be there, making it it's favorite place, while telling/getting her to lay down. As time goes on, the dog will go there on it's own more and more often. When the dog does it on it's own, reward it with a treat. Do it steadily like that for a few days to a week, and then cut back little by little on the treat. To the point where the dog will go to the pillow and lay down. While doing this, make sure to say "Good girl," everytime your dog does it right gets a treat. This will help to the point that when your dog is going to her pillow/bed, that all it will take is a "Good girl," as a reward.