Jumping On The Couch When We're Not Home

[Domestic Dreamer]

Sasha loves her creature comforts. She's not allowed on the couch and doesn't attempt it when we're home, but I've found the furry evidence that she's been jumping up when we're not home. She jumps down when she hears DH coming home from work so we never catch her in the act. Is there any way to train her not to do it? It's not practical to keep her out of the room when we're out.

ETA: She has her own bed, and that's where she sleeps when we're home.

Edited September 11, 2008 by Maiko

[Luke W]

Novice trainer alert (that's me)...

Booby trap?

Here's one variation...

I read about this method - never tried it myself..

Fill a water pistol or spray bottle with a dilute mixture of water and vanilla essence. Without your dog realising it's you, spray it in the face when it does something bad (anything). It should associate the smell of vanilla essence with something unpleasant (getting sprayed in the face).

Now spray the couch. The dog won't go on the couch because it will associate it with getting sprayed in the face.

Spray the couch daily for a while, then reduce the sprayings to weekly, then monthly...

Your mileage may vary.

---------------------------

Another option...perhaps easier. Management.

Cover the couch when you are not home

[Erny]

Naturally you're aware that Sasha has learnt that it's ok to be on the couch when you're not there (she's learnt this because she is not told to get off) but not ok when you are there. This is where "prevention" is a good method for the early days (preferably from day dot of 'teaching the rules' but at least the method I employ when I'm first beginning to train for a different behaviour than what's been "allowed" before).

I am unsure why it is "impractical" that you keep her out of the room when you're not there? Is it that the room doesn't allow for things such as baby gates? These IMO are the most practical and convenient way of denying dogs access to certain areas whilst at the same time are not entirely 'ugly' nor inconvenient to use.

There are special mats (not sure what they are called) that are designed to put dogs off from being on couches etc. They are made from hard plastic and have 'spikes' (for want of better words) to make it uncomfortable for your dog to lay on. I have not utilised these in any of the training I do and only saw them in a shop the other day. A few problems I identify though are (a) each 'mat' would only suffice to cover one seat (b) they weren't exactly cheap and if you multiply however many you might need to cover the couch and arm chairs, it would work out expensive and © Unless there were spots to anchor them (I didn't see any, but I had a puppy in my arms and it was difficult to check it out properly) I could see that a dog could easily and quickly learn to pull/kick them off the couch.

When I adopted my previous (avatar) girl as a 7 year old, her previous home permitted her to sleep on couches. I didn't want that so whilst I was not home I loaded the couch up with boxes so there was no room for her. However, this would not do for a dog who was pushy enough to find a game in removing (and maybe chewing up) cardboard boxes. The other downside was that I had cardboard boxes hanging around my living room for a little while.

There are "scat mats" which are basically mats which give off a stimulation (similar to e-collars) when the dog treads on them. There is also the "zone" collar which works on the principal of an e-collar which is activated when the dog ventures to within a certain distance (you can set the distance to a certain extent) of the couch. I have used the 'zone' collar with a good degree of results. I would suggest collar conditioning your dog before beginning training with one though, and in the meantime organise something - at least for the couple of weeks you are collar conditioning.

Another (basic) option that might be worth trying is to make as if to go out but sneak back and with patience, wait until the moment Sasha goes to climb on the couch. You would then be able to reprimand her (yes, she'll be surprised) for doing so. You'll need to do this numerous times though, and you still need to deal with those other times when you simply cannot be around to do it. So you still come back to the "preventative" problem. As to how successful this method is, regardless of how many times you might manage to do it, is how sensitive Sasha is.

I had another but similar problem with my avatar girl (Kal) getting up on my bed. I was able to train her out of that when I was home, but similar to your problem, found it difficult to do whilst I was out. I did make it a habit of closing off the bedroom door when I went out, for quite a number of weeks. The point behind doing this was to weaken the otherwise habitual behaviour that was already instilled. Kal was a very sensitive girl and in addition, hated the sound of those squeakies we find in dog toys. She was also not a dog who was into chewing or taking into her mouth anything (other than bones), so I had no fears with using a numer of those squeakies and randomly placing them under my doona. When she went to get up on the bed, they would one by one "squeak" and that assisted as a deterent to her getting up on the bed.

There are so many things/ideas that you could try. As to which one depends on you knowing your dog and what would work best for her. It doesn't have to be one thing or another either - the main thing is that WHENEVER she goes to get on the couch when you are not home, that there is something that occurs to make it so that she'd decide her advantage lays elsewhere (eg her own dog bed). Unless you are able to provide this on a consistent basis, you will be making the problem even more difficult to erase later on.

[Domestic Dreamer]

Not practical to keep her out because it's a small house (think apartment size) so there aren't multiple living areas. Once we shut the bedroom doors, there's pretty much nowhere else for her to be except the open plan lounge.

[Erny]

Not practical to keep her out because it's a small house (think apartment size) so there aren't multiple living areas. Once we shut the bedroom doors, there's pretty much nowhere else for her to be except the open plan lounge.

What about getting a puppy play pen and setting that up so that she can get into the open plan lounge, but is otherwise restricted from getting up on the couch?

[Domestic Dreamer]

Nope, won't work either. Looks like we might have to work on catching her in the act and continue putting things on the couch so she physically can't lie there. Thanks

[PAX]

Can you sit her bed on the lounge and a throw rug on the rest of it while you're not there?

It is much easier to train her when you are home and manage it when you are not home.

[andrew_leesa]

we had good success with putting balloons on our couch to keep our stafford off.

she popped one when she was young and was terrified of them since.

[Rusky]

Nope, won't work either

I guess this is ref to Ernys play pen idea...why won't it work?

[Domestic Dreamer]

Nope, won't work either

I guess this is ref to Ernys play pen idea...why won't it work?

Logistically, there's just no where to put it.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

Nope, won't work either. Looks like we might have to work on catching her in the act and continue putting things on the couch so she physically can't lie there. Thanks :D

If she knows you are not there catching her in the act won't mean anything. She'll learn to hop off when she hears the car in the driveway or your footsteps at the door. If you really don't want her on the couch, you will have to change the couch to make it less attractive than her bed.

Why don't you want her on the couch? In our house we use couch covers. Easy to wash and keeps the dog fur and whatever else off the couch itself. If a dog is sitting on the couch in a spot where I want to sit I just make them get off. If I don't want to sit there, I see no reason why the dog can't sit there.

[luvabull]

Novice trainer alert (that's me)...

Booby trap?

Here's one variation...

I read about this method - never tried it myself..

Fill a water pistol or spray bottle with a dilute mixture of water and vanilla essence. Without your dog realising it's you, spray it in the face when it does something bad (anything). It should associate the smell of vanilla essence with something unpleasant (getting sprayed in the face).

Now spray the couch. The dog won't go on the couch because it will associate it with getting sprayed in the face.

Spray the couch daily for a while, then reduce the sprayings to weekly, then monthly...

Your mileage may vary.

---------------------------

Another option...perhaps easier. Management.

Cover the couch when you are not home

I like the idea of that

Sadly I've resorted to putting chairs and a guitar a kick pad on my couches to keep the little buggers off

[Lablover]

Why not flip the couch over, before you leave home, making it uncomfortable. Of course, make sure it is safely balanced.