My German Shorthaired Pointer is going through some of the stubborn toddler years and breaking rules and testing us lately. I should have known better, but I relented on one point and allowed her to lay on one of our couches.
It was in the living room and we rarely go in there. She looked so comfy and could sit up and look out the window to the street. What could go wrong??
She literally almost destroyed the couch after one month of laying on it! After awhile that's all she wanted to do! Day and night, laying on the couch! Those little short hairs wouldn't come out, the fabric was getting fuzzy from her scratching to make her bed, the drool...
One thing I learned.... It's much harder to train a dog to STOP doing something than it was to train her to never start something. I could not keep her off that damn couch after I had allowed her on it!!!
I looked up various techniques and found everything from laying mouse traps all over it to buying alarm systems. All ridiculous.
I finally read something that said just making the couch uncomfortable for her will curb her desire to climb up there. The article recommended laying strips of the plastic you put under your desk chair on the couch. I guess it has little bumps over the bottom that are not comfy to lay on.
I was just about to head off to Staples to buy some when I noticed a stack of lids leftover from my garage cleaning project. I bought all these bins at Costco, but wanted to keep the kids toys open so they would put their balls and airsoft guns away after use.
I laid the lids, ridged side up, over the cushions and she has never stepped foot on the couch from day one! When company comes over I just stack them up and slide under the couch and return them when company leaves! Easy and free!
That's a great solution. My old housemate used to put all of the couch cushions up every day so that his fantastic but determined dog would stay off of his sofa. Your solution is much easier to do and undo, and putting them under the couch is a great solution.
ReplyDeleteWhen we leave the house, we see our dog (not allowed on the couch) in the window immediately, my fix was just to put a blanket over the end of the couch near the window until we get home. Your solution is much less annoying and involves much less blanket washing too!