Our little guy is just over 6 months now and my other half has decided to start letting him on the sofa for cuddles in the evening. Is this a bad idea for his joints or am I been a bit over cautious? We have a carpeted floor that he jumps on.
I wouldn't worry. A couch isn't that high and it's not like he'd be jumping up and down 20 times a day or at high speed. Just let him get on and off by himself. Personally I wouldn't be trying to lift him on or off the couch - you'll hurt your back (I once hurt my back really badly after lifting our first Labrador onto the bed...after that he had to jump up there under his own steam!). Doggie couch cuddles are the best Hope you're getting some too!
It depends on the size of the couch. Little guys tend to grow into big guys. Visualise two people and a fully grown dog on the couch and see if it still works. We let one of our dogs on the couch as a puppy, and by the time she was fully grown we found that we had to squeeze onto the ends while she spread out in the middle of the couch. All subsequent dogs have stayed on the floor but we have a big cushion for snuggles.
We've always allowed Harley on the sofa and I personally love our snuggles in the morning and evening
I have a few sofas around the place - two are leather and high and stand on a polished floor. These are out when it comes to Betsy jumping on them, too high and the floor too slippy. I also have a low, fabric sofa that stands on a rug and she is allowed on that one. It's big enough for two people and two fully grown Labs. She does bounce on and off it, but not too much, and it is pretty low.
Ha I said this exact thing to OH this evening as the three of us tried to squeeze onto the sofa around a stretched out puppy! It's just so lovely having a sofa pet at last (our 3 cats give excellent bed snuggles but are useless lap cats), we can definitely share the sofa
Ella likes to spread out on the couch with anyone that will have her! This is from the last time my parents were over...
I don't there is any worry about the dog, only about how much dog hair you want on the couch. Cooper sleeps on our bed and one couch is fair game but the other is not. Unfortunately she hasn't really gotten the message. I never worry about what dogs can get up on or down from. They seem to figure out what is save and what is not. Tilly was about 6 months when we had her spayed years ago. When we brought her home from the vet, she jumped completely over the living room couch from the higher back to the seat.
I have to say that our sofas are mostly dog free for the dog hair issue. Lilly WILL come up now at 6 for the odd snuggle but doesn't stay long. The bed on the other hand is very much her domain and she is pretty good at keeping to her blanket.
