Puppy on the sofa

[Sazzlen2012]

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We've had our six month old lab pup for nearly a week, and he loves sitting on the sofa (it is a great sofa!).
We love it when he cuddles up next to us in the evening, however, he has a tendancy to stretch out, leaving us with less space. He has also started climbing over us while we're on the sofa and just sitting on us if there is no space left. Fine now but am not sure we will enjoy this so much when he gets bigger and heavier. It's also not fair on my two boys (aged 11 and 9) as he is bigger than them!

Any tips on how I should manage this please? I don't want him off the sofa completely as I like the cuddles, but he does need to learn a bit of sofa etiquette!

 

[JudyN]

It's great that you're thinking about this now, and not when he's taken over the whole sofa! Here's a few things you could do:

1) Make sure that his own bed is really comfortable and appealing, so going there when he's been ousted from the sofa isn't such a bad thing.

2) Teach a really good 'go to your bed' - again, trained through rewards when he settles on his bed when asked to. this vid might help:

3) Train a really good 'off the sofa'. Again, this is always asked for as if it is a clever trick, not a 'command'. If you stand over a dog on the sofa and say 'Off' fiercely (not that I'm suggesting you would of course!) or even try to shove him off the sofa, he may react defensively. So stand to the side, lure him off with a treat, and praise him for being so clever. My dog sometimes used to nip onto the sofa if he heard my hubby approaching just so he could get a reward for getting off, which was fine by us!

4) Teach him that he has to ask to come on the sofa - it's not a 'right'. Ask for him to wait, and then say 'OK' to let him up.

5) Maybe introduce a blanket that he knows he should lie on when he's on the sofa. Then, hopefully, you'll be able to persuade him to lie on it, rather than on you.