Well I promised I would follow up on my previous post I wrote just over a week ago about the Dogs on furniture.
I had decided that the Doggie Monsters were simply becoming too used to more or less living off the ground and on the furniture. Not to mention the extra work involved in scooping up the mountains of Dog hairs that seem to get sucked down the sides of the sofa like some kind of Dog hair magnet.
So to recap the new regime was to be as follows:
- No dogs on the sofa
- No dogs on the bed
- No dogs upstairs
- and finally no more having it all their own way!
So how did it go?
Surprisingly well if I am honest. The girls responded very well to the new rules. When they tried to get on the sofa a stern “down” was all it took for them to remove their big naughty paws and go and look for something at ground level to leave their Dog hair with.
Jet the puppy and her Mum Daisy were the quickest to respond to the new rules and after two days neither of them has tried to get back on the sofa at all. Faye, the much bolder of the three took a while longer and she still gives a wistful look at the sofa on ocassion, but apart from one lapse when I found her on the sofa after a Doggie conspiracy took place she has responded remarkably well.
Now, um, ahem, I have a slight confession. My intentions were good, honest.
I began the new no upstairs regime and it worked really well.
No more waking up being squashed by three dogs all trying to get the best spot on the bed. They were fine sleeping downstairs and didn’t mind at all. I thought it would be more of a problem than it was. Maybe I don’t give them enough credit at times. They actually took to the new rules really well. Maybe I will get them a nice Dog present as a reward, as long as it is nothing that sqeaks! It can drive me bonkers after a while!
The, um, problem was that I kind of missed it! I realised that I liked waking up in the morning to see the girls all happy and excited and looking forward to greeting the world with a quick bark when they were let out. It didn’t seem the same with them not there. I even missed Jet (who still thinks she is a Cat) sneaking under the covers and trying to make herself as small as possible so no one will know she is there (yeah, right).
So, no telling me off for failing in my mission. The rules that I decided I wanted to enforce are still in place and those that I felt didn’t suit are out the window. This is real life after all and whatever makes us happy has got to be good. At least the sofa has been reclaimed and I can just go back to Dog hairs all over the house but at least the sofa is hair free.
Faye, FAYE. Get off the sofa.
Just joking!!!
You don’t like squeakies eh? Hope no-one soft buys your girls any for Chrimbo then…
mountain girl’s last blog post..Life Away From the Mountain
I went through a “no dogs on furniture” phase when one of our dogs started becoming territorial about it. He would hog the couch and, on occasion, curl up a lip at a human joining him. Well, THAT had to stop immediately! So, I banned them all from the furniture. What happened is I started to miss everybody piling on to the couch to watch TV, or crashing out for a nap together in the afternoon. So I revised the furniture policy to “invitation only.” If a human was already there, dogs had to be invited to join. No jumping up uninvited, hogging or guarding. For me, focusing on good manners worked better than a total ban.
And I hear you on the squeakies. We had a dog that liked to march around the bed at 6:00am squeaking his toy like a little kid in a pots and pans band. Not a fun way to wake up. LOL
Hi Skwigg
It is strange the rules we end up amending. I think it is all about what we like and feel comfortable with. For me I think it has to be a total ban. I know Faye, and if I let her back on the sofa at all I will then be back to constantly having to tell her to get down.
I am glad you have your Dogs so under control.
Six am is definitely not a good time for squeaky play time!
When our last pup passed we vowed NO DOGS ON FURNITURE. When we got the boys we stuck to that rule. We even said no dogs on the bed. The couch rule lasted 2 1/2 years since we added a third and the bed rule lasted 6 months. My husband travels and so I like having my cuddly boxers with me to keep me company on the the couch and bed when he was gone. Of course i think we are developing bad backs due to the take over on the bed. We are working on getting that fixed AGAIN. What they have learned is that if company is over and we say off, they go lay on their beds that we have nicely arranged for them by the couch so that guests don’t feel the wrath of almost 200 lbs of dog (3 dogs) trying to lick and cuddle and sit on their laps like lap dogs. And when we say off the bed the do it. I think it’s a never ending battle, but their so worth it!
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Thanks for your great comments Autumn.So you get the bad back syndrome too?
You wake up in the morning and wonder why you are nearly out of the bed and at a funny angle only to find a sneaky pooch has the best spot and your back is aching because you slept all funny!
I guess it’s the price we pay!
I’m definitely not too soft with my pooch!! I’m actually going to be adding pics of her this week sometime – we went christmas tree chopping in the woods and got some nice pics of Sasha jumping around in the snow hehehe
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