Couch question

Raika has recently discovered that she's big enough to jump onto the couch. When she does it on her own, I tell her "down" and push her back down. However, I do sometimes invite her up with me to have puppy snuggle time. Is it confusing to her that I do that? I want her to know that I'm the boss and she can only come up when I say, but if she's going to think that she can get up there anytime, I should just stop. Soon she'll be too big to get up on the couch with me anyway...
Maybe I should just have snuggle time on her puppy bed with her and leave the couch out of this? Any thoughts on this?

i think in my opinion...its either cuddles on the floor. or dog allowed on couch

I only allow my dogs on the couch when I say so. If they get up when I don't give them permission I take them off. They have to wait until I say ok before they are allowed up. Usually it is ok to allow your pup up on the couch, unless it starts acting dominant then take away bed and couch priviledges (if you allow your pup on the bed).

yea i guess you could train them that way too...it would just be harder not black and white..more gray..good advice julie...i knew there would be a way

yeah it sounds sort of confusing but it's a good way of establishing dominance with them. If one of them gets up on the couch without me saying ok then I know they aren't allowed on the couch or bed for awhile because they are starting to challenge me.

Yeah, I already feel like Raika and I are struggling for dominance so I'll make sure to stand my ground on the couch thing.

I think that a good idea LEA.

another good thing to do, if you don't already, is make her do something if she wants something. Like I make all my dogs sit to be petted, to get their food, to get their treats, to go outside, for anything. If she comes up and shoves her head in your lap ignore her tell her to sit and then pet her. Only do things on your own terms not hers!

Julie, when i got my border collie he was like that. He always sat for everything he wanted. Now he's always sitting. I can't get him to stand. lol. If i look at him he sits. Weird... but that's the way he got taught before i got him

our dogs no about the beds, the "ask" if they can come up by pushing their noses around on it. And wait for us to let them. Ofcourse, if we are out of site, they choose for themself.

Well shenzie is not allowed on the couch either but when we go to bed she sneeks up there. Then when she hears us come out of our room she gets down before we even see her. But we hear her getting off. So she knows, she is just a sneek...And the couch stays full of white hair Ohhhh i get so tired of cleaning it every day. We have tried putting things on the couch at night to keep her off, like toys, small tables, trays,all sorts of stuff so she has no room to get up there. But then i just have to put all that stuff up the next morning.Then when we forget to do it ....There's the hair again!!!!Grrrrrrr..What to do?

We allow ours on the couch... I think it would give mixed signals to allow them on sometimes and then not others. That is probably why they sneak on there when noone is around...LOL

I dont mind our's being on the sofa. The bed I've had to make off limits during the daytime because they will play on it. At night when I'm ready to go lay down to watch tv I tell them lets go to bed and they meet me on the bed. If they decide to get hyper and wrestle on the bed they are made to get down. Gracie will cuddle about a half hour then she gets down to sleep in her bed, Princess stays on the bed until we turn off the tv, then she gets in her bed.

When Kokomo stays the night I have to put him off the bed a few times before he understands it's quiet time.

My dogs are allowed to go on the couch, I just love watching TV with them next to me, lol.

Bed is not allowed though, but Boris still hasn't got that one... There isn't enough room for two, let alone a 70lbs dog!

My dogs are not allowed on furniture. Rarely I'll let them up for two seconds and then it's off. They're allowed on the car seats as long as there's a sheet covering it so in the end the seat doesn't look like a pile of dog hair.