# Dog Owners - Do you let your dog on the furniture? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 14, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553 "2011-01-14T02:50:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/21 "2011-01-14T16:29:00Z")
I’ve been lucky in that my dog (the first I’ve ever had) just naturally doesn’t get on the furniture. However, I dog sit for lots of people who allow their dogs to sit/lay wherever they want. I have to admit I prefer my own setup. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/22 "2011-01-14T16:32:57Z")
Yes, even though we said we weren’t going to let her. She is trained that she is allowed on the furniture only on the “doggie blanket”. It has worked pretty well. She is not allowed to sleep in bed with us, but she does go into the spare bedroom and sleep on that bed when we aren’t around. We only know she does this because of the fur left behind after she has done it. I think it started when my mom visited and let her sleep in that bed with her. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/23 "2011-01-14T16:33:51Z")
**xanthous**! Your dog “just naturally doesn’t get on the furniture”…?!? Since it’s the first one you’ve ever had, check that it’s not a hamster. With no legs. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/24 "2011-01-14T17:27:59Z")
No, for the most part. He is only allowed on the bed when invited, and that’s it. I like to keep myself relatively dog hair free, if I can. I think that’s giving them a bit too much freedom too, but I understand why people do it. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/25 "2011-01-14T17:45:30Z")
Sure do, all 7 of them all the time. 5 of them usually sleep on the bed with me. ---
**Author:** ![LegsAkimbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@LegsAkimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegsAkimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/26 "2011-01-14T17:56:07Z")
Yep. Staffie likes the couch and bed; if he’s on my chair when I approach to sit in it, all I have to do is look at him and tilt my head toward the floor and he gets down immediately (I’m alpha). Since he is so obliging, he is allowed up there when I am not using it. He sleeps in the living room at night, too big for the bed if we are in it. Spaniel actually prefers the ottoman to sharing the chair, so that’s his spot. He sleeps on the bed at night since he’s small and aside from snoring, very quiet and well-behaved. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/27 "2011-01-14T17:58:10Z")
No. Benji already brings home enough sand from the doggie park that I have to vacuum every other day. His shaggy fur ensures that wherever he lies when he comes in from outside has a gigantic puddle of melted snow, making the ground floor look like we kill the Wicked Witch of the West on an hourly basis. If he wants somewhere soft to lie, he has his dog bed, the towels in his crate and the mats at the front and back doors. He is 55 lbs. at 7 months - that’s too big for the furniture. As I write this, he is stretched out on the floor at my feet in front of where the fireplace will go when it gets installed sometime soon. He is being my doggie slippers, and for that he gets petted, brushed and stroked with my feet constantly. I do not feel he is very hard done by, and it would seem, neither does he. ---
**Author:** ![BlueKangaroo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BlueKangaroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueKangaroo)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/28 "2011-01-14T18:05:44Z")
I can’t click in the poll, because the “it depends” answer isn’t there. I don’t have dogs right now, but I grew up with a combination of big dogs and small dogs. The small dogs were allowed up and the big dogs were not. When I have my own combination of small and large dogs, it will be the same rules. Most of the large dogs did not get on the furniture when we weren’t looking (the shedding pattern indicates as much, anyway), but one gal did when she got older and was looking for the softest possible place to lay her old bones down. Then she snuck into the guest bedroom and got up on the twin-sized bed in there. My mother decided not to try to catch her at it and convince her not to. She never got on anything else, though, and none of the other big guys even tried. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/29 "2011-01-14T18:36:30Z")
I was raised on a ranch with lots of animals all over our homestead, and for the life of me I cant get use to the idea that city people allow animals\*\* inside\*\* their homes, let alone on the furniture. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/30 "2011-01-14T18:50:23Z")
They sure are. We have had to work very hard to train them that it’s not okay for them to get under the covers on the bed. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried to sit in a recliner with one 25kg boxer on your feet and one 40kg boxer draped across your chest. They do think they’re lapdogs and complaints about their weight just get you the sad “how can you say that” look. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/31 "2011-01-14T18:59:48Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > I _don’t_ let my dog on the furniture for quite a few reasons. > > She’s a forever-shedding Dalmatian. I have enough of a job keeping her hair off me, the floor, and the back seat of the car. > > It’s easier if rules are consistent. I like to be able to take her everywhere, which means that she never thinks she’s allowed on _other_ people’s furniture. If their dogs are allowed to be furniture hounds, she gives me the “WTF?!” look and thinks it weird. (While living in hope, I’m sure.) > > I don’t want to cause her stress if, for instance, she’s not well, or wet or muddy, and I want to keep her off the couch then, though not at other times. > > I don’t want my guests negotiating with a 30kg dog for a comfy place to sit. > > I am the alpha dog. Woof. Wisdom here. Dogs _like_ structure and rules, and they _need_ consistency. They need to have a rule they can understand. We do not allow ours on the human furniture (although there are several dog beds for the two dogs to choose between). Conversely, their beds are special safe places for them, which they can go to if there’s too much commotion in the house. Our dogs ARE allowed up into human laps but only with the human’s permission. I sometimes make a pallet on the floor and invite them to lie down with me and watch TV. It serves as a neutral area, neither strictly human nor dog furniture. They love that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/32 "2011-01-14T19:19:05Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > Wisdom here. Dogs _like_ structure and rules, and they _need_ consistency. They need to have a rule they can understand. Yep. When I feed our 3 dogs, they know that nobody eats until all three are sitting. Once all three sit, I put the three dishes down then wait a few beats. Then I say, “OK, time to eat” and they know they can begin. Sounds strange, but they thrive on it. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/33 "2011-01-14T20:01:26Z")
My dog is allowed to be on the furniture when invited to be. I usually do invite her up, but if she invites herself up, she must get down for a while. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/34 "2011-01-14T20:27:43Z")
> [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](#): > > **xanthous**! Your dog “just naturally doesn’t get on the furniture”..?!? > Since it’s the first one you’ve ever had, check that it’s not a hamster. With no legs. I swear! When he was younger, he would get up on the bed and sleep at my feet but never got on any other furniture. And then one night, he got down off the bed and never got on it again. My feelings were actually hurt! But I was always grateful that he never got on the other furniture, and now that I have a white comforter on the bed, I’m glad he doesn’t get on the bed, either! ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/35 "2011-01-14T20:47:50Z")
When the Divemaster and I were together, with a baseball team’s worth of pets between us, the issue of them vs furniture was a battle won by the furred contingent without a shot ever being fired. Not when it was a puny couple of humans against the combined might of four dogs and four cats - plus the velociraptor (read: giant greenwing macaw with attitude to match). We didn’t stand a chance. 😃 Good thing we both love animals and were excellent housekeepers! On any given night it was us and at least a dog or two and often a cat or three. At least we were smart enough to buy a king-sized bed… ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/36 "2011-01-14T21:05:11Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/37 "2011-01-14T21:59:06Z")
Yes. Both Flaxie (the Labweiller who thinks she’s a lap dog) and Bear (the St-Bernard) have their own chair (that they sometime allow people to sit on) and they both enjoy cuddling in bed with me or my roommate, as a matter of fact every night at Chez **detop** there are massive games of musical beds 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/38 "2011-01-14T22:14:59Z")
Our dogs are allowed on our bed, and they can sit on our sofas if we put one of their blankets up for them. they know this, and are generally pretty good about it. Also, we have one chair which one of our dogs has adopted as his own, so he can sit there whenever he wants (on his blanket). The other dogs never want to sit there, and we rarely use it unless we have a lot of company. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/39 "2011-01-14T22:47:00Z")
Our beagle is not allowed on the furniture anymore because she scratches vigorously to bed down, and this gradually wears a hole in the fabric. She has ruined two upholstered chairs. If she didn’t scratch, we wouldn’t mind her on the furniture. ---
**Author:** ![6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/e19adc/32.png) [@6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/6ImpossibleThingsB4Breakfast)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553/40 "2011-01-15T08:07:49Z")
> [@xanthous](#): > > I swear! When he was younger, he would get up on the bed and sleep at my feet but never got on any other furniture. And then one night, he got down off the bed and never got on it again. My feelings were actually hurt! But I was always grateful that he never got on the other furniture, and now that I have a white comforter on the bed, I’m glad he doesn’t get on the bed, either! I believe you xanthous 🙂 Dogs are funny, idiosyncratic creatures. Who knows - maybe you accidentally kicked him in the head a few times in your sleep and he figured \*well, I won’t be gettin’ up THERE again… \*Thanks for the vote of confidence, **Sailboat**! Your house and mine have a common dogland culture; the Spotted One will be pleased for your invitation LOL! And as an aside to the pro-human-couch contingency, just because she’s not allowed on the furniture, doesn’t mean she’s denied comfort! She has two spectacularly comfortable \*nano-technology beds on which to loll about on at her leisure. - I think this means “giant, squishy flea repelling marshmallow” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-owners-do-you-let-your-dog-on-the-furniture/567553.md?page=3)