Letting Your Puppy on Furniture or in Bed

Allowing your pet dog onto your furniture or bed gives you that extra comfort and luxury of cuddling with it. Many pet owners will say that it is even more relaxing, and a happy feeling to snuggle up with their pet on their own furniture.

But is there a negative effect to letting your pet on your furniture or bed? While pet hair is a given, are there other consequences once we let our pet dogs have the choice and freedom of getting on our bed or furniture anytime they want?

SHOULD OUR DOGS BE ALLOWED ON FURNITURE OR BED?

It’s really a matter of choice. Some dog owners may want their pets on their furniture, while some may not. Do you want your pet dog to sit freely on your bed? Letting your dog on your bed or furniture is really up to you. However, you should be aware of certain implications, along with how you should handle it.

One effect of letting your dog on your furniture is dominance. If you allow your dog the freedom to access all your home’s furniture, most especially your bedroom or your bed, then it may feel as if he is dominant. It may reduce the respect it has for you in the sense that it may think that it is just as important as you are.

How do you handle this? You must still reiterate the fact that you are the ‘alpha dog’. You should remain dominant. If you don’t teach this to your pet dog, then your pet may develop aggression towards others, even yourself. You shouldn’t let your dog feel that it can do whatever it wants to do. This is also true whenever your pet dog visits other people’s homes. IT should not feel as if it can also sit on their furniture or bed. Teaching your pet dog about its limits will lessen their overindulgence. Basically, you shouldn’t let your dog feel as if it’s the boss of you.

ESTABLISH RULES

In order to avoid future problems in case you really want to let your dog onto your furniture or bed, then you should be able to establish some rules to maintain your dominance. You should have some level of restriction. Below are some methods on how you can do this:

• Only give your dog free access when they are well behaved. This should be okay with all members of the household. However, your dog should know that it should get off the furniture when they are told.
• Another type of rule is to only let your dog onto your furniture whenever they are invited. This still establishes dominance, and it also allows you to cuddle with your dog whenever you want to.
• You can also choose which furniture your dog is allowed to sit on. For example, you can allow your dog on your sofa, but not your bed. A lot of dogs are able to learn this type of rule fast, and it is a great way to tell your pet that there are certain rules to be followed.

At the end of the day, letting your pet dog on your furniture is your choice, it is also up to you if you don’t want them on it. Nonetheless, make sure that you still teach your dog the right behavior, along with the restrictions of the privilege that come with being able to get on the furniture or bed.