Jumping Up Onto Sofa

[Sammie Dunn]

When Coco was a very small puppy, me and my partner allowed him up on to the sofa to have a sleep next to us. He is now 4 months old and getting bigger by the day so we think now is the best time to train him that he is not allowed on the sofa however I do not know how to train this. Does anyone have any tips or videos on training a dog to stay off the sofa?? Thanks in advance

 

[Hobbit]

Frodo and Bilbo are allowed on the furniture, but they needed to know a solid "off" for various reasons. I taught this by taking one dog into my room and waiting. Soon, one of them would jump up on either my bed or my little couch. As soon as they did, I would turn away, make myself appear or sound fun, sometimes by holding a treat, sometimes by patting the ground, and say off. As soon as they got off, they got rewarded. And repeat.

So, once your dog knows that, you can simply say off every time you see him on. And if he jumps up when someone is on, simply have them ignore him, other than telling him off. Soon, he'll learn that getting off the couch actually gets him the good stuff, while being on doesn't get him any attention. It's kind of like when someone turns around and ignores a jumping dog. Take what they want and use it to your advantage.

G'luck!

 

[Sammie Dunn]

I have tried this but no luck. I do not want to have to get up and be all excited whenever he jumps up and I want him off cause he needs to learn that it is not always playtime. Plus when he gets excited he can still have the odd accident which I do not want at all.

 

[Hobbit]

Excited?

Elaborate, please, cause what I suggested doesn't involved getting excited at all when he is on the couch.

 

[jordyquint]

Oh, and make sure everyone living with you uses the same command. If someone says, "down" (and your dog knows that as moving into the down position) when your dog is on the couch the dog will go into the down position, instead of getting off the couch.

I just have problems with this at home because people don't like to listen to me. And then the dogs get confused. I don't want the same thing happening to you.

Make sure everyone uses the same word and you should be fine.

 

[jordyquint]

@Sammie, I think you got confused. What Hobbit is suggesting is when Coco is on the couch ignore him, and once he gets off be excited, praise him, treat him, etc. so he associates being on the floor better than when he's on the couch.

Does that make sense?

 

[Sammie Dunn]

I understood it perfectly fine but if you do that with Coco (cause believe me I have tried) he eliminates on the floor when you get all excited when he gets off the sofa. Everyone in my house uses the "Off" command for trying to get him down off the sofa.

 

[running_dog]

If you are sitting near to where he is jumping on to the sofa would it be possible to physically block his jumping on by moving into his way and turning your back?

Or maybe leave books or something with similarly hard edges to make the seats uncomfortable for him. Maybe even lift up the cushions when you are not sitting on a particular chair so it is not at all comfortable. You need to make sure that he has a comfortable bed of his own that is in a draught free area preferably close to you at least at first - because he is used to being close to you on the seats. This way you are simply trying to make him choose to use his bed not your seats. If he chooses to go to his bed you can calmly give him a treat (or a stuffed kong). If he does get on a seat instead of telling him "off" (a negative experience) you can tell him "bed" (a positive experience because he knows you are going to throw him a treat when he goes there).

They're only ideas but they might work!

 

[Hobbit]

Off can also be positive because they can still get rewarded for listening to the off cue. Frodo wouldn't come off if it was negative; he'd sit on the couch and looked confused. But, he gets a reward when he does come off, whether it be going outside, a treat, a ball, etc.

 

[running_dog]

Off can also be positive because they can still get rewarded for listening to the off cue. Frodo wouldn't come off if it was negative; he'd sit on the couch and looked confused. But, he gets a reward when he does come off, whether it be going outside, a treat, a ball, etc.

Yes, they get rewarded for obeying the off cue BUT getting off is in itself negative (comfy couch or hard floor?) - after the relatively short reward they still want somewhere comfy to lie so very likely they will instantly try to get back on. If they DON'T get on they don't get a reward for staying on the floor (the dog has to be ON in order to get a reward for getting OFF). Sammie wants a dog that never gets on. I'd guess that the bed cue could give a long positive experience and a marker for the owner to give a reward whenever the dog CHOOSES to stay off the the couch.

Like I said it is just an idea because the other methods (that worked with Frodo) haven't worked in this case.

 

[Hobbit]

Which is why you have another place for them to go.

If your dog is already getting ON the couch, where is the harm in rewarding them to get OFF the couch, as the OP desires?

And I'm not saying that all methods that worked with Frodo will work with one dog. I'm simply saying it isn't an entirely negative experience.

 

[Hobbit]

So, this video doesn’t go into detail as to how to keep the dog off, but she does mention having mats around the home and if that is possible maybe it would help to have mats in the rooms where your dog gets on the furniture the most:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSNOXv-WDtw

I would also suggesting, if you are not doing so already, crating or blocking your dog off from areas with furniture he can jump up on. Or finding something to make it uncomfortable. Putting chairs upside down on the couch, moving the cushions…anything your dog won’t want to lie on, see if you can apply it to the couch.

Here is a little article:
http://www.petplace.com/dogs/keeping-the-family-dog-off-the-furniture/page1.aspx

It does suggest luring the dog onto the furniture and I wouldn’t do that, as for this I’d prefer not to reinforce the behavior at any time, but simply capture the moment. However, your dog. Your decision.

Here is another article:
http://www.professorshouse.com/Pets/Dogs/Training/Articles/How-to-Keep-the-Dog-off-the-Furniture/

What worked for these people was something similar to what I did for ending Frodo’s counter surfing. They used unpleasant sounds to keep the dog off the furniture; course, this wouldn’t work for a dog that is super sound sensitive, but it is worth looking at nonetheless.

http://www.bigpawdesigns.com/tryodogtosto.html

And this last one mentions training sprays a bit.

 

[running_dog]

Which is why you have another place for them to go.

If your dog is already getting ON the couch, where is the harm in rewarding them to get OFF the couch, as the OP desires?

And I'm not saying that all methods that worked with Frodo will work with one dog. I'm simply saying it isn't an entirely negative experience.

No harm - except Sammie has given some reasons why she struggles with this with Coco. Looking at what you've just written I'm not sure whether you understood my first post on this thread - you've just gone on to recommend almost exactly the same things as me , never mind, it isn't worth worrying about. Have a nice day!

 

[Sammie Dunn]

Thanks to all the replies. I went out today and bought Coco a new, very comfortable bed. I have tried a few things in the past which have been unsuccessful. The "No" and "Off" didn't work. Neither did "Eh-eh" which normally does.
So like I said , I got a new dog bed. Very comfortable, just like a giant pillow. Tbh I wouldn't mind sitting on it!
As soon as Coco jumped on the sofa I just picked him up, placed him on the dog bed, said the "Lie Down" command and that seemed to work after several attempts. During the day he has still tried his luck, but I am being consistant and trying that. Hopefully it works.

@Running_Dog --- I have had a dog very similar to yours in the past. I had a 9 year old retired greyhound before from a rescue centre. However he had to go back due to some health issues not long after we got him as at the time we couldn't provide proper care for him I still miss him everyday Luckily he got rehomed in about a week and I get to keep in touch with the new owner. However due to the distance of where he is now, I rarely get to see him Is that a greyhound or a whippet you have?

 

[bekah1001]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2oeOUZ8kls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBvPaqMZyo8

 

[running_dog]

Is that a greyhound or a whippet you have?

Great news about Coco, I'm so pleased that you have found something that is beginning to work.

Zac is a greyhound AND whippet (plus some other things), he's almost exactly halfway between greyhounds and whippets in size, he probably looks more like a greyhound but most people end up asking because they can't work him out! I'm impressed that you spotted what he looked like from that tiny picture! I'm sorry that things didn't work out with your greyhound, but it is great that he got rehomed and you get to hear about him sometimes .

 

[Sammie Dunn]

Yes I am more happy about him being rehomed where he is because I live in a small town where as he is now out in the middle of nowhere on a farm so he has loads of space to run around. And a female companion
Yes well I saw the similarities and thought that it looked a little like my Romeo! x