Evening all, Our little devil Bo has now realised she is big enough to jump onto the sofas. We don't want her on the sofas and have always made the point of sitting on the floor with her when she wants a fuss. She now jumps up onto the sofa quite easily and we simply say 'No' and put her back on the floor. When she is on the floor and behaving we give her plenty of fuss and praise. She will also quite happily lie next to you on the floor with a Kong or chew (until her mouth wanders onto a hand or leg, at which point we stand up and ignore her). Any tips on enforcing the fact that she is not allowed onto the sofa, or is it just a case of rewarding her when she doesn't jump up onto the sofa? She is now in her crate as she needs to calm down (and we need some down time), however this seems to be winding her up more and she is currently in the process of attempting to destroy her bedding, and crying intermittently. Where has our angelic little puppy gone to? She seems to start the day off well, and get gradually naughtier as the day goes on, and the evening time is by far the worst time. HELP PLEASE!
Re: Sofa Surfing.... I always found the evenings were the worst time when the pup would drive me crazy; I wanted to sit and relax and the pups always wanted to rush around and play. I find that about 6 months old they settle down. My OH won't let my dogs on the sofa, one dog has never attempted to climb up but the younger one did. Every time yours tries to jump up, lure her off and reward, they do get the message!
Re: Sofa Surfing.... They are like young children, the more tired they are the more hyper they become. Even at 18 months Molly will do things, between 6 and 6.30 she doesn't do during the rest of the day. It almost seems like she is being deliberately naughty. I give her a walk about that time. When we get back she's usually quite relaxed.
Re: Sofa Surfing.... Sounds like she might be seeing her crate time as punishment. Tara was put in her cage if she had been naughty, and we learnt that this was wrong, as the cage is not for punishment. She is happy to be put in, if we are going out, so she does not destroy the house (!), or she can go in if she wants, but she is never put in "to calm her down". Tara does get hyper, but usually after she has been for a long walk! We just batten down the hatches, and let her get on with it!
Re: Sofa Surfing.... Hi all, thanks for the comments. She isn't put in the crate as punishment, just to calm down if she is running around bouncing off things and is in danger of hurting herself. This advice was taken from Pippa's book. The problem is, when she has worked herself into such a frenzy, there is no other way to calm her down. She runs circles around the living room, bouncing off tables, pouncing at us (teeth first), growling etc etc. the only way to protect her from harming herself is to put her into her crate until she calms down. We aren't able to take her for a long walk as she is only 12 weeks old and we are aware that long walks at this stage could cause problems with her joints as they develop (again, as per Pippa's advice).
Re: Sofa Surfing.... They do get overtired and need to crash out in the crate! Otherwise you could try some clicker training or just a wee bit of training, ie sit, down, come, touch etc. That tires them out
Re: Sofa Surfing.... Our 'no sofa' rule lasted about 2 hours from the time our Gibbs came home so you are already doing much better than us, good luck!!
Re: Sofa Surfing.... Are you giving her anything to do whilst in the crate for a time out? Like a stuffed kong or something with a bit of peanut butter in it that she can lick out? A rawhide/bully stick/fish wrap or any other variant? That might help her settle while at the same time reinforcing the crate as a nice place. A well-prepared medium size kong for my 6 month old lasts about 1/2 hour.
Re: Sofa Surfing.... [quote author=JulieT link=topic=10638.msg157611#msg157611 date=1429479689] Let the Labrador on the sofa. Then you get puppy cuddles and everyone's happy. [/quote] You'll get a lot of this advice. We lasted five months before we relented. Before that, if either of them jumped up, we'd immediately pick them up and place them back on the floor. But there was nothing we could do when we were out and we could see them curled up on the sofa through our security system. Then, Willow was miserable after being spayed, so I felt sorry for her and gave her sofa cuddles. Meanwhile, Shadow was staying with a friend where he was allowed on the sofa, so when he came home, he just carried on. We decided it was a battle not worth fighting anymore. There are more important things in life. And sofa cuddles ARE nice
Re: Sofa Surfing.... We've always had a no sofa rule with Juno who is now 10 months old. Sofa cuddles are lovely for both us and the dog, particularly when they're feeling sorry for themselves after surgery, but for us the importance of no sofa is that Juno is not allowed to jump, climb, go up stairs etc. so the normality of curling up in her bed or by our feet has been one of the upsides
Re: Sofa Surfing.... Morning all, Thanks for the ongoing advice. We really do want to persist with the No Sofa rule. Not only around the house, but we holiday in a VW campervan a lot, and Bo will be joining us on future adventures. Space is very tight and if she were to take control of the 'sofa' in the campervan, it would make for a very uncomfortable holiday!! We are more than happy to sit on the floor with her at home to have cuddles. With reference to her crate time, she has a mixture of Kongs, Nylabones, and a deer antler, which we rotate so that she doesn't become bored of them. Thanks MaccieD, that's reassured me that this is possible!
Re: Sofa Surfing.... [quote author=MaccieD link=topic=10638.msg157673#msg157673 date=1429518251] We've always had a no sofa rule with Juno who is now 10 months old. Sofa cuddles are lovely for both us and the dog, particularly when they're feeling sorry for themselves after surgery, but for us the importance of no sofa is that Juno is not allowed to jump, climb, go up stairs etc. so the normality of curling up in her bed or by our feet has been one of the upsides [/quote] Hi MaccieD, do you have any advice on how best to nip it in the bud, based on your experience with Juno? (great name by the way!)
Re: Sofa Surfing.... [quote author=Dad of Bo link=topic=10638.msg157679#msg157679 date=1429521061] [quote author=MaccieD link=topic=10638.msg157673#msg157673 date=1429518251] We've always had a no sofa rule with Juno who is now 10 months old. Sofa cuddles are lovely for both us and the dog, particularly when they're feeling sorry for themselves after surgery, but for us the importance of no sofa is that Juno is not allowed to jump, climb, go up stairs etc. so the normality of curling up in her bed or by our feet has been one of the upsides [/quote] Hi MaccieD, do you have any advice on how best to nip it in the bud, based on your experience with Juno? (great name by the way!) [/quote] I know Juno has been a particularly easy girl to train so far but we have been consistent that when she has climbed up on the sofa we have either picked her up and put her down on the floor or more usually helped to safely climb back down and have said No. We have a nice comfy bed for her next to the sofa so when she's laying quietly I lean down and stroke her and tell her she's a good girl. She also lays by our feet, the coffee table is gradually moving further and further away, but again she is praised for laying there quietly. I have had to tell both my son and daughter off for trying to encourage her to sit beside them (they are both adult and should know better), but again consistency has worked as she knew that she wasn't supposed to be sitting with them on the sofa and climbed down with no fuss. I have never given Juno a treat for climbing down from the sofa as she is smarter enough to work out that it's another way to get a treat! Praise and pats for being good, no food. I've also spent lots of time playing with her on the floor and have always had a play time with her after dinner and before I settle down in the evening. After our evening play I tell her to go to her bed and I sit down on the sofa. I think as with all dog training it's consistency and time that wins through eventually. Hope that helps........
Re: Sofa Surfing.... [quote author=MaccieD link=topic=10638.msg157684#msg157684 date=1429522381] [quote author=Dad of Bo link=topic=10638.msg157679#msg157679 date=1429521061] [quote author=MaccieD link=topic=10638.msg157673#msg157673 date=1429518251] We've always had a no sofa rule with Juno who is now 10 months old. Sofa cuddles are lovely for both us and the dog, particularly when they're feeling sorry for themselves after surgery, but for us the importance of no sofa is that Juno is not allowed to jump, climb, go up stairs etc. so the normality of curling up in her bed or by our feet has been one of the upsides [/quote] Hi MaccieD, do you have any advice on how best to nip it in the bud, based on your experience with Juno? (great name by the way!) [/quote] I know Juno has been a particularly easy girl to train so far but we have been consistent that when she has climbed up on the sofa we have either picked her up and put her down on the floor or more usually helped to safely climb back down and have said No. We have a nice comfy bed for her next to the sofa so when she's laying quietly I lean down and stroke her and tell her she's a good girl. She also lays by our feet, the coffee table is gradually moving further and further away, but again she is praised for laying there quietly. I have had to tell both my son and daughter off for trying to encourage her to sit beside them (they are both adult and should know better), but again consistency has worked as she knew that she wasn't supposed to be sitting with them on the sofa and climbed down with no fuss. I have never given Juno a treat for climbing down from the sofa as she is smarter enough to work out that it's another way to get a treat! Praise and pats for being good, no food. I've also spent lots of time playing with her on the floor and have always had a play time with her after dinner and before I settle down in the evening. After our evening play I tell her to go to her bed and I sit down on the sofa. I think as with all dog training it's consistency and time that wins through eventually. Hope that helps........ [/quote] Thanks Rosemary, that is great advice! We will stick at it.
Re: Sofa Surfing.... Just wanted to commiserate with you. Abby is now 9 weeks and she has become a terror! She plays too roughly and gets overexcited about EVERYTHING, and when I put her in her pen (not crate yet) to calm her down, she works herself up into a frenzy, yipping, barking, slamming herself against the walls, tearing up her bedding and blankets, and ignoring the perfectly nice toys I put in there for her. As a side note I've never had a puppy before and this is pretty distressing, so I'm glad I found this board! Makes me realize this stuff is normal. About the couch thing - if you don't want her on the couch, don't listen to people who say 'just give up.' My adult rescue Lab gets very snappy and territorial when I let him on my bed, so I don't. Keep at it and be extremely consistent! Definitely do reward her intermittently for staying down.
