So here's my question...Riley is only allowed on the furniture when we invite him up and in fact he doesn't really seem to enjoy it...he's reluctantly come up and then leaves after about 10 minutes to go into his bed. It's never been an issue that he abuses that privilege. The past few times I've come home, he's been laying on the couch (today my husband came home and found him watching tv, Riley looked at my husband, looked at the tv, and then sauntered off the couch--funny). We don't crate him, he's 8 months old--a bit of separation anxiety but we're now weaning him off clomipramine and he's doing great, and since not crating him, his anxiety has pretty much gone away without any destruction of our apartment. Now I don't really care if he's up there, and maybe it shouldn't be an issue...I'm just worried that's he's doing it behind our backs, without permission. A big thing we've worked on thoughout our anxiety journey is setting clear rules for him. Is he just confused about the couch rule? How would I go about enforcing our furniture rule when we're gone if that's what we decide to do? Or should I just let this slide? I've seen what he does to his bed sometimes to get cozy, I don't want him getting "too cozy" on our couch!
on the furniture ONLY when we're gone...
- Thread starter Grimmja
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Cypress' Mom
Boxer Booster
Same thing with Cypress. He was not allowed on furniture but was allowed on my brother in laws bed. (He had him before we did). He was not allowed on the couch chair. But 9 times out of 10 he would be on the furniture when we got home. He got down right away and would slink away. Now that he is our dog I don't mind if he is up there. When I am on the couch he has to wait until I invite him up or he has to get back down but when we are gone he is always on the furniture. We have been working with him to undo some of the fear of getting yelled at for being up there. Now when we see him we just let him be and doing that long enough he is comfortable being there with out feeling like he will be in trouble. He's almost 6 so I know hes not going to tear it up or pee on it. I would rather have him up there and not be afraid when we get home than when he was afraid when we got home. Just depends on if you mind him on the furniture.
Jess
Jess
Well, he may in fact not really know he's not allowed up there 
If you have to invite him up (even insist or encourage him a little, it seems), then how do you expect him to know its not allowed at any other time? Normally a dog would learn that from trying to get up and (consistently) being ordered to get off, and of course, being rewarded for compliance. If he doesn't try to get up while you're there, it makes it a little difficult for him to learn that lesson. Plus, of course, there's the times he's been invited...
More significantly - your boy is becoming an adolescent, and is bound to be stretching his boundaries a bit. During the next few months I'm afraid you can anticipate your well-behaved puppy vanishing into a teenage terror who has forgotten all the commands you've taught him, won't listen, may even regress on potty training... the list goes on, LOL.
OK, it might not be all that bad (and the well behaved dog will re-emerge in time, you just have to be patient and consistent) but you can expect him to be testing your dominance and his own ability to establish himself in a higher position within your 'pack'. The furniture thing is very likely related to that. Do a search of the forums on adolescence and you should find many many previous threads to help you out here. Good luck
Grimmja said:
If you have to invite him up (even insist or encourage him a little, it seems), then how do you expect him to know its not allowed at any other time? Normally a dog would learn that from trying to get up and (consistently) being ordered to get off, and of course, being rewarded for compliance. If he doesn't try to get up while you're there, it makes it a little difficult for him to learn that lesson. Plus, of course, there's the times he's been invited...
More significantly - your boy is becoming an adolescent, and is bound to be stretching his boundaries a bit. During the next few months I'm afraid you can anticipate your well-behaved puppy vanishing into a teenage terror who has forgotten all the commands you've taught him, won't listen, may even regress on potty training... the list goes on, LOL.
OK, it might not be all that bad (and the well behaved dog will re-emerge in time, you just have to be patient and consistent) but you can expect him to be testing your dominance and his own ability to establish himself in a higher position within your 'pack'. The furniture thing is very likely related to that. Do a search of the forums on adolescence and you should find many many previous threads to help you out here. Good luck
Shaq Lugones
Boxer Pal
Shaq is the same way. He is 18 months old and was never allowed on the couch. Then, a couple of weeks ago, I "invited" him to get on the couch with me for a little bit. All of a sudden, he started to get on the couch all the time on his own and not worrying that he would get in trouble. I yell at him and tell him "off" and he doesn't do it anymore. However, the past few days when I get home I find him on the couch. He just looks at me and jumps down.
I guess he is confused and doesn't know when is the only time he can get on it!!
I guess he is confused and doesn't know when is the only time he can get on it!!
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