My dog can pretty much go where she wants. I kick her out of the kitchen when I’m cooking, but only because she is underfoot.
She is allowed on the couch by invitation only, but if she comes and stares at me, I invite her. If she hops up uninvited, I make her get down (this happens rarely.) But after she has been down a while, I invite her up.
We only have a fish at the moment. He’s allowed to sit (er…swim) on the dining room table, because he and his bowl make a very pretty center piece (and we remember to feed him when we eat.) We feel a little guilty when we have broiled fish for dinner, though.
My dogs have all been crate trained, and they stay in the crate when no one’s home. Puppies begin by sleeping in the crate overnight, and as they get old enough to be trusted while we’re sleeping, they may choose their crate (with the door open) or our bed or a comfy part of the floor, whatever they like. I have no problems with dogs on the sofa, as long as they share some space!
My cats are all no-counter-no-tables cats, with free rein anywhere else. I had one silly kitty who liked to sleep on a blanket on top of the dog’s crate. I think she was taunting him.
Our ferret was free range. I just cleaned the poop out of the corners every day. Yeah, that was kind of gross, but she got very agitated in her crate (and the rattling annoyed me) and wouldn’t learn to use the litter box, so it was the price of owning a ferret. I no longer own ferrets, although I think they’re insanely adorable.
My snake lived in his terrarium, only coming out when I could supervise him. I didn’t want to see whether the snake or ferret would win if they met.
In general, I think “small animal” pets (gerbils, hamsters, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, etc.) would live in their cages unless directly supervised for socialization and play.
I don’t have pets now (too much travel, too much moving); growing up we only had small pets which stayed in their bowl or cage (although the canary was let out of his cage sometimes, always in a closed room).
If I did, there would be rules or a cage (well, a land turtle doesn’t need a cage, but it’s not likely to try and climb into bed with you either).
I have no boundaries. My cats are allowed on the kitchen table/counter and they usually both sleep in the bed with me. The ferrets can also sometimes be seen on the kitchen table, where they “help” me sort my junk mail. I usually don’t sit at the table to eat anyways, and it’s not a big deal to wipe it off if I want to use it. Yes, I realize that most of the rest of the world thinks this is gross. Meh.
I don’t dislike most animals. I had many pets in the past. I had dogs, ferrets, birds, and fish. No more pets, ever. Partly, it is that they don’t live as long as humans, for the most part, and I don’t like being sad when they die. Mostly, it is how much work I remember it being to properly care for a pet; I just don’t want to do all that work and it’s wrong to inadequately care for a pet.
Oh, and I just plain dislike cats and always have.
The dog is not allowed on the furniture, and only I allow him on the bed - when invited - when my husband is working night shift. He also knows ‘out of the kitchen’ if he’s getting underfoot while we’re cooking.
I have four cats and a dog. They are allowed everywhere except our bedroom, which is by-invitation-only. They love to “help” in the bathroom (mostly moral support); one of our kitties has the bathroom as his special territory and must accompany us in like a doorman and chaperone while we’re there.
When I used to have a bigger house and kids at home, we had at least two dogs, multiple cats, a parrot, and a large iguana, all more or less free range.
My pets stay in their designated areas on pain of death. They are provided with a clean, healthy and stimulating environment, and much better and more varied food than almost any other owner would give them. They are healthy happy and strong. But they’d better stay put and not try to enter the kitchen when I’m cooking dinner, etc.
I chose “no rules” but it’s that way because my cat is a very sensitive, discreet kind of cat. She doesn’t bug us when we’re sleeping or making love or in the bathroom. If she did, we’d shut doors to keep her away.
My husband had a pain-in-the-ass cat when we first met. He gave it to his ex, half because it didn’t know when to leave us alone (and yowled at closed doors) and half because it was high-energy and lonely and needed the companionship of the cats she took with her.
My dog can go where she wants and do what she wants. I’m sort of a pathetic, sad person so I built my house around the dog. Left in the crappy old carpets so she can have muddy feet, got a second-hand couch so she can sleep on the furniture, and there’s a dog bed in almost every room.
Well, I guess it’s not much different than having a young child. I wouldn’t have nice carpeting or furniture with kids in the house either.
My dog generally goes to my parents’ when I have someone stay over, anyway. So it’s kind of no business of theirs as to what my dog does when they’re not here.
It really depends on the type of animal and how well it is trained. When I was a child we had a well trained small dog that didn’t shed fur and was allowed to go anywhere in the house. Now my parents have a dog that isn’t well trained and cannot go upstairs or on the new couch. And I agree with what others have said if you have pets that chew then rules have to be set as well. Otherwise if you love your pets and they are well trained then having them around is the point of having them. Of course none of our pets could ever be around when we were eating dinner. As is the same rule with my sisters cats or they get sprayed with water. But as I said we always has medium dogs (25lbs) which is a lap dog.
My cats are allowed anywhere but they’ve never even tried to get on the cabinets. I guess there’s nothing appealing there and the other rooms have higher perches.
My big dog is rarely even allowed in the house, just when the weather is bad and an occasional stumble through while I prepare his dinner. He doesn’t seem to mind, and it’s for the best since last time he visited he attacked our Christmas tree.
The little dog is by my side wherever I go and sleeps curled up against my back every night because that’s his job.
Our little beagle can go where she wants in the house, but she’s not allowed to get on most items of furniture. This is because she scratches when she’s trying to bed down, and that gradually wears a hole in the fabric. There is one chair that she has already ruined that she’s allowed to sleep in, but when we replace that one she’s going to be banned from it, too.
Other than that habit, she’s a good house pet and doesn’t bother anything. Unless you leave something edible within easy reach, of course - she ripped into my son’s backpack once because it was on the floor and it had Christmas candy inside.
My cat is allowed everywhere. She has no interest in my kitchen counter-tops, so that’s not an issue. And she doesn’t take up much space at the foot of my bed, so she’s welcome to sleep there if she likes (perhaps half the time). Even the bathroom is a non-issue - it’s not like she cares that I’m taking a dump, after all. She’s a cat.
Sadie the dog (50 pounds, retriever-poodle mix) is cuddly and warm and the couch is half hers, although her half is always the half I’m on. She sleeps on the bed for about half the night, the other half is in the hall, guarding the door.
Our last dog Boomer (lab mix), who died two years ago, never got on the furniture, although he wanted to. If I’d realized how warm and comfortable it is to snuggle with a dog, I would have encouraged him to be a lap dog.
The cat occasionally surfs the kitchen counter, but at 16, mostly he just looks for the nearest lap.
Two cats that have free reign except kitchen counters/table, the bathrooms and the leather recliner chair.
When we feed the three cats and the dog at night, we lock them out of the bedroom. (Otherwise we don’t really care where they go - no animals sleeping with us, though.)
Once or twice we’ve let the dog in the bed when there’s been a thunderstorm and he’s been particularly terrified. His previous owners obviously allowed him on the bed, as he loves it up there. Otherwise, no. Not at all.
I saw an article on modercat.net (also featured on Apartment Therapy) of a woman who cat-proofed her home but it still looked fashionable and clean. She used tempered glass pieces to cover the tops of certain pieces of furniture to protect the surface from scratches. It might get pricey if you covered all your furniture but worth it for expensive pieces.
As for my pets, dog isn’t allowed in the bedroom or on furniture, she’s too big and likes to roll in stinky things in the yard. Cats are allowed on furniture and in the bedroom (unless the boyfriend is sleeping over), they are not allowed in the second bedroom because I have birds in there. They do get on the counters and I’d rather they didn’t so I plan to put a door in the kitchen. For now I just wipe down the counters before I cook.
This. We have two big dogs and three cats. It has been a year and the cats still avoid the dogs like the plague. So the cats get upstairs. The dogs have downstairs and the basement and backyard, etc…
I would prefer no pets in the bed at all, but I don’t know how to make that adjustment.
I have three dogs, and they are all allowed everywhere. Usually only the two little ones sleep in the bed with us, but when I take a nap alone, or my husband stays up late or something, all three are in the bed with me. They luuuuurve me. 
One of the little dogs whines to be put on the kitchen counter when I’m making out my grocery list. I don’t prepare food on that particular counter anyway.
I have to yell at them to get out of the bathroom when I poop, so they go lie on the bed and wait for me. If I close the bathroom door, they scratch and whine at it. Like I said, they luuuuurve me.