How to Train a Dog to Stay Off the Furniture
Whether or not to let your dog on the furniture boils down to personal preference. If you want to share the couch and your bed with your dog, you can, as long as they will get off when asked (if your dog resource guards their resting spots, however, they should not be allowed on the couch or bed for safety reasons).
This article is for those of you who want to train a dog NOT to get on the furniture. There are many reasons to train a dog to stay off the couch or bed. You may want to protect your upholstery and clothes from getting hair all over them when you sit on the couch or prevent your dog from crowding you or your guests when you are relaxing or entertaining. You may also want to keep your dog off the bed for your sleeping comfort and to maintain some privacy.
Whatever the reason, it’s important to stick to a training plan to ensure that you’re successful at setting up this rule with your dog. In this blog post, we will go over all of the five steps to training a dog to stay off the furniture including why you shouldn’t use an “off” cue to solve the problem.
1. Prevent your dog from getting on the furniture
Resting on the couch or bed is nice, so if you want to train your dog to stay off the furniture, it’s important that they don’t develop a liking for getting on the furniture in the first place. That’s why preventing access to the furniture when you can’t supervise your dog is so important. You can do this by crating your dog, setting up gates, closing doors to the bedroom or living room when you are not at home, or by tying your dog up when you are at home.
2. Interrupt the behavior whenever it occurs
If your dog jumps on the furniture, you need to convey that you won’t allow it by grabbing your dog by the collar and immediately removing them from the couch or bed every single time they try. If you have a new puppy or rescue dog, you may want to keep a drag leash/houseline on them so that you can quickly get control of them whenever necessary.
If your dog tries multiple times in a row to get on the furniture, you may put them in a timeout to convey that there is a negative consequence for trying to get on the furniture too many times.
3. Build value for a preferable behavior
The fastest way to help your dog figure out the correct behavior is to train them to go to their own bed in the living room or bedroom. This can be done with spot/place training that builds value for your dog choosing to go to its own resting place in common spaces.
Outside of training sessions, anytime your dog decides to choose their bed over getting on the furniture, let them know how much you like that choice by rewarding them with praise or their favorite treat!
4. Be Consistent
If you don’t want your dog to jump on other people’s furniture, it’s important to not allow them to jump on yours. Likewise, as many times as your dog tries to get on the furniture is as many times as you must remove them until they stop trying. Every member of the household must be on the same page about the rules, as well, and be willing to enforce them so that a dog gets the same message from everyone!
5. Don’t use the “Off!” cue
Cues (otherwise known as commands) are a form of positive reinforcement because you are paying attention to your dog when you say the cue. That’s why if your dog is doing something you don’t like, you should never positively reinforce the behavior by saying a cue.
Instead, it’s best to take all reinforcement for the behavior away by stopping your dog immediately from engaging in the behavior and, ideally, directing them towards a more appropriate behavior instead. The more you stop your dog from being successful at jumping up and remaining on the furniture, the less they will try, until eventually they decide to stop doing it altogether.
In Conclusion
Training a dog to stay off the furniture requires daily practice and enforcement of the rules. Making sure your dog is never successful at getting on and remaining on the furniture is equally as important as building value for a preferable behavior like choosing to rest in their own bed.
Make sure you don’t accidentally reinforce the behavior by using the “Off!” cue, as this will perpetuate the behavior. Being consistent about the rules is the fastest, most effective way to set up this boundary with your dog!
About the Author
Alexandra Bassett is the owner, dog trainer, and behavior consultant at Dog Savvy, a dog training company specializing in game-based dog training and solving problem dog behaviors like dog separation anxiety, leash reactivity, excessive barking, and aggression.
She is certified as Knowledge Assessed by the Council of Professional Dog Trainers (CPDT-KA) and is available for online dog training sessions via Zoom.