Should Dogs Be Allowed On The Couch?

Orion, thankfully - yes.

Whenever I talk about a dog needing to no longer be on the couch, I sometimes receive a lot of resistance from dog owners and have even receive judgement from social media posts in the past.

So, to be clear, I’m totally for dogs being on the couch - IF they are able to be.

But not every dog CAN be or SHOULD be on an elevated surface. And with my line of work, I encounter more of these dogs, than not. But even besides aggression cases, there are a lot of other instances where dogs should not be on the couch as well.

Here are a few examples:

• A dog recovering from surgery cannot be allowed to jump on and off anything elevated as it risks injury to the surgery site until it is fully healed. Even with a ramp or steps, and even with close and direct supervision, the dog can still quickly and easily jump off and injure himself.

• A dog who is aggressive towards visitors and is undergoing a behavior modification plan for that, cannot be on the couch (at eye level or above) with the visitor.

• Some overly exuberant and social dogs who have no personal boundaries have a much more difficult time trying to learn new skills while on an elevated surface and on the same level as a person, so they need to be on the ground for the initial stages of training.

• A large breed dog who is also overly exuberant and social with no personal boundaries jumping onto the couch and then onto your head can cause some unintentional yet serious injuries.

• Multi dog households where there have been fights and severe injuries between house mates need to have all potential opportunities for competition be eliminated. Elevated surfaces like couches and beds are almost always a trigger.

• Dogs who resource guard locations almost always will guard an elevated surface, so they cannot be allowed on them for risk of injury to the family.

• Dogs who startle when awakened and then act aggressively also cannot sleep on elevated surfaces where people and other animals in the household may spend their time.

• Dogs with joint pain should not be jumping on and off of elevated surfaces. not only is bad for their joints, but pain can also exacerbate aggression. Even with a ramp or steps, or even with close and direct supervision, the dog can still quickly and easily jump off and injure himself.

• Long backed dogs who are susceptible to IVDD should also not be allowed to jump on and off of couches. Even with a ramp or steps, or even with close and direct supervision, the dog can still quickly and easily jump off and one time end up paralyzed- I’ve seen it plenty of times working in a veterinary ER.

• Some dogs are so fragile, if they get up on the couch without you there and then jump or fall off, they can break bones. I’ve also seen this numerous times while working in a veterinary ER.

• A puppy who is still jumping and play-biting will typically view the couch as a jungle gym. My advice is to always allow for maturity, and basic manners to be developed before giving a puppy the privilege of being on the couch.

• A dog who displays aggression towards his human family should never be at eye level with them for safety reasons. And if that dog is a large breed, that also makes the couch an off limits place for them.

• And some people may just prefer to be unbothered by their dog while resting on the couch, and there is nothing wrong with that.

These are just a few examples!

So how do we actually keep the dogs off the couch when needed?

The most popular, most efficient, and easiest way is to make the couch no longer a comfortable place for the dog to be. By placing something onto the couch that will be uncomfortable to the dog when they jump on it, the dog can come to their own conclusion that the couch is no longer a desirable place to rest. Things that can make the couch no longer appealing to the dog can include but are not limited to rolled out tinfoil, x-mats, or upside down plastic carpet runner. It’s also possible to completely block access to the couch with a barrier, or prevent access to jump with a barrier on top of the couch itself. And for when you are present and able to supervise, it’s also an option to keep a leash on the dog so that way every time they jump onto the couch, you can ask them to get off, and remove them with the leash (in this situation, we would want to use a leash rather than grabbing at the dog or their collar as often times that can create defensive behavior). Despite which of the above options you choose, we do of course always want to make sure that the dog has access to their own desirable place to rest somewhere near the couch. This is where I usually recommend to get a nice comfortable dog bed and place it on the ground near the couch, so there is a clear and easy alternative for the dog.

While there are a number of ways to keep dogs off of elevated surfaces, not all of them are possible for every situation. Here are some examples of issues that you might run into:

• If you are working through multi dog households where fights occur, keeping one dog on leash may trigger a fight.

• Trying to keep multiple dogs leashed near a couch is not possible.

• Some individual dogs become more aggressive while leashed (even to their owners) because they feel trapped.

• Some dogs will jump the gate or xpen set up around the couch.

• Not every dog can or should be completely shut out of a main living area.

• If the family traffic in the home is high, or there are toddlers around, it may not be practical or safe to move heavy objects on/off the couches as a deterrent.

• Sometimes the lightweight deterrents (including xmats) are too easy to push or pull off.

• Sometimes spending time working on rewarding the dog heavily for lying down in their own bed or on the floor, is not possible when dealing with severe behavior problems in dogs. I generally see people when they are at the end of their rope and their dog has a long list of problems. We need to prioritize what is most important and choose simple, quick fixes for the other stuff that is lower on the priority list so everyone in the family can stay safe.

There are many dogs who any of these suggestions would work well on. But there are also many where they won’t. Looking at each dog and household is crucial in deciding the best route to take.

And if you happen to be a lucky person who has a dog or dogs with no medical issues and no aggression, then fabulous! Enjoy your couch time!

But please don’t judge those of us who have dogs who need to be kept off of them.