Burning Question: Down Boy?
A recent comment on an older post got us wondering: what’s your policy when it comes to pets on the furniture? Do you think all four-legged friends belong on the floor? Or do you welcome them on the sofa for some family snuggling? This debate raged on over at Decorno last month, so we thought we’d get your take too.
The Casa Petersik stance is pretty obvious…
We might feel differently if Burger were 10 times bigger or a bit less polite (at barely 9 pounds and after thirty obedience classes, he’s no longer a threat to our furnishings). But we completely understand why my sister’s 70 pound pooch is banned from her new Crate & Barrel sofa (and know they don’t love him any less for sweetly setting boundaries for their fur baby). Where do you guys stand when it comes to man’s best friend and man’s favorite furnishings? Dish the doggie (and kitty) dirt.
Leave a comment
If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
I’m currently in college so I can’t have any pets here, but back at home my Scottish Terrier, Stewart Wallace, is so spoiled and is allowed on pretty much all furniture. He loves to cuddle, so even if my mom said he couldn’t lay on the couches, my dad would be sneaky and let Stewart lay next to him when my mom is not looking. I think when I have my own home and a few animals (which I am REALLY lookin forward to), I will probably let them lay on the furniture. If they start to wreck couches and chairs, I will probably have to become a little stricter, though. I can’t imagine not being able to lay around cuddling with my animals!
We have a 50 pound dog who used to sleep on the sofa all day. However, when we decided to upgrade, we had to retrain our 11 year old dog not to get on the sofa. It took several months, but it worked, and my husband is a lot happier!! He still does sleep with us — under the covers. Oh well, you can’t have everything! At least his claws aren’t ruining our upholstered furniture anymore.
Reading the comments made me think of a sad story about my old German Shepherd, Baron. He got really sick a few years back (he has passed away now) and my mom loved him so much she couldn’t stand to have him lay by himself all night. Our bedrooms were upstairs and we had a no dogs upstairs policy. We tried and tried to get Baron to go upstairs but he wouldn’t budge. We lured him with treats and even pulled him as hard as we could but he knew he was not supposed to. Man, those German Shepherds are obedient!
Our 45 lb dog and new puppy are not allowed on furniture. Our older dog does sneak up onto the bed/couch from time to time, but knows it isn’t allowed and when we catch her she quickly jumps down – like you didn’t just see that happen. Our cat on the other hand – he goes anywhere except kitchen counters, dining room tables, etc.
Our 75 lb mastiff mix, Barley, isn’t allowed on the furniture. He’s just too big! He’s got a few doggy beds around the house, and recently, he will look at us and quietly whine if he wants his bed pulled to where we are. It cracks me up. And if we want doggie cuddles, we can always sit on the floor.
We’ve tried to be strong, but our dog is such a princess! She is an eighty pound weimeraner who thinks she is a lap dog. She lays on our couch {but it is leather and easy to clean} and sleeps in our bed {we change the sheets every other day}. I doubt we’d do it again, but she’s six years old and at this point it’s a little late to make a change. She has a great dog bed that she sleeps in, but we DO let her snuggle on our furniture.
Our two Bostons have full run of the house! Our mistake was when they were puppies the hubs and I were weak and we lifted the pups onto the couches. The dogs do respect our space and if we tell them to get off the couch they do. Now, our dogs don’t shed all that much, if we had dogs that shed a ton we’d probably ban them from the furniture.
Our pug and cats jump on all the furniture. In fact, in the midst of a very cold Minnesota winter, we encourage the pug to sleep in our bed. He is affectionately called our “heat rock”. Yes, we fight a constant pet hair battle…but the little critters are worth it!!
Pup is going to end up in the 70-80 pound range, so if she ends up on the furniture, there’s not going to be much room for anyone else. As well, we have leather furniture, and dog nails and teeth are death for leather. And, she’s chocolate- it’s bad enough being covered in dog hair in the morning, I don’t want to have to sit in it as well!
Oh please…. yes yes… my animals are allowed to be on my furniture…and I have nice leather furniture in one room and the other has nice fabric. I have never had a problem.
nope our dog is not allowed on any furniture. hes about 70 pounds. He has his own doggy cusions around the house that he uses. I also dont dress up my dog or push him in a stroller, that is rediculous (I say this as I just saw the stroller thing the other day)
I have a lab beagle mix (she is so cute! 50 lbs, all brown and big ears like a beagle) She is allowed on couch but can only get in the bed with an invite. Whats the fun in being a pet owner if you can’t get a doggy snuggle in?
It’s so nice to read how everyone feels about their pets. I’m not the only intense animal lover out here!
My 22lb terrier mix used to sleep in her kennel at night. Then it got too cold in my apartment so she joined me and my husband in our bed.
She’s allowed everywhere and since she’s my pseudo-child, I’m ok with that!
I’m like you – with dogs weighing only 12 and 15 pounds, they’re harmless and have the run of the house. The only exception is my formal living room where they’re not allowed on the leather couches. It’s nice to have one “fur free” zone for guesses to sit down.
We also have a total of 4 dog beds in our house for our pooches to lounge.
17 pound Oscar the short-haried weenie dog is allowed on the furniture when we are home (he stays outside when we aren’t) as he is small enough he won’t damage it; I’m sure he sheds but you can’t even see his hair so its not a huge problem. Smokey the lab mix was allowed on the couch as a socialization exercise, but he is big enough now we would discourage that were he to be inside (he lives outside full time). Marley the 100 pound Pyrenees is NEVER allowed on the furniture for obvious reasons. Burt the 120 pound St. Bernard was never invited on the furniture but he did sneak up on the futon (our first couch) while we were at work a few times. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog snoozing more peacefully than that slobbery bohemath did on that nice cushy futon :)
behemoth, by the way…just looked up the spelling :)
our two cats are “allowed” anywhere they want to go (with the exception of the kitchen counters). in fact, most of the time when we snap our fingers at them or tell them firmly to stop what they’re doing, we get back talk. they’re both half-siamese, and quite chatty.
Are you kidding? My dog owns the house, all 6 lbs of her just allow me to live there.
She doesn’t harm anything and I can keep up with her peppered hair that barely sheds.
I can’t believe I just came across this on your web site. My husband and I were just having this conversation yesterday! We have two dogs an 80lb lab and a 40lb cocker. I let them on the sofa and bed when invited which is almost all the time, although our lab ruined one of our family room chairs because the material was a type of light corduroy and it ripped. I know I shouldn’t let them on the furniture but I just can’t help myself. I’m hoping to redecorate the family room soon (getting great ideas off your excellent web site!!) with new furniture so I’ll have to make a decision about letting the dogs continue on the furniture (although the bed will always be open) One thing my husband and I know for sure is that our three children make more of a mess on the furniture than the dogs, so definitely no more food in the family room after the redecorating!!!
This morning I awoke to find that my cat had vomited and spat up a hair ball on my bed, and that I had been rolling around in it in my sleep.
Needless to say, cats aren’t going to be allowed on my bed anymore. I’m not even going to let them in my bedroom anymore.
Back when I had a dog, the rule was that he had to stay off the furniture. He had his own dog bed with washable cover, and he seemed happy enough. Also, a dog trainer told me that some dogs start to feel like they are in charge if permitted on the furniture, especially the bed. Plus, although I like dogs, I don’t like how they smell.
I don’t mind having my cat on the furniture, which works out nicely, because I have no idea how to train her to stay off it, ha, ha. This does mean that I need to use a fur roller to clean up frequently.
I’d love to be able to keep her off the kitchen counters and the dining table, but so far no luck there either. I have to make sure to wash these surfaces down very regularly.
We have a 60 pound white lab mix princess who makes a hobby out of napping on our beds and couches. She’s a very obedient dog and knows that when people she doesn’t really know comes over she has to wait for them to ask her to come sit with them. She also is pretty good about staying off the furniture if she is told to stay off, which is usually only if we’re cleaning for company. She sheds a lot so we just make sure that we run the vac over the furniture weekly and have bought couches, chairs, and comforters that she won’t rip with her nails and won’t show her fur. It’s extra work but totally worth the cuddling time…and as a friend pointed out, is nothing compared to having a little kid in the house.
We have a 16 pound Bishon Frise, who is white and doesn’t shed. We also have two cats, who unfortunately, do shed… We are animal people and we do allow them to sleep with us, as well as get on the couches. I do however; find it very unfortunate that some animals are allowed on the tables and counter tops. To each, his own…. I suppose. On a side note, I am in love with your blue and dark brown (I’m hoping) comforter in this picture. Please do share where you were able to find such a beautiful piece!
With two big adorable mutts, an inside/outside cat and a 3 month old pit bull, we don’t really have a choice in the matter. We usually end up with two of the dogs in the bed with us at night, all three won’t fit. The cat will hop in with us for a bit, but usually only to walk on my face. Our dogs are well loved and treated like our children, we spoil them, but not too much. Although, we are considering getting a king size bed as the puppy grows up, or maybe just his own king size bed. It depends on how much furniture he consumes between now and then. Virginia is for [dog] lovers!
We LOVE animals (were it not for poor math skills, I’d be a veterinarian, and an equine one at that!), but growing up, dogs stayed on the floor and in their own beds. Both of our furry ‘kids’ are very much beloved. Our kitty is allowed pretty much anywhere save the countertop or table; he’s an indoors-only cat, so…Our dog, however, is a 70+ pound rough collie. Not only is there really no room for him in the bed or on the sofa with us, since he goes outdoors, he’s not allowed on the furniture. Sometimes we let him hop onto the bed, but he doesn’t get to stay (again: he’s big, and we have only a queen bed). Also, though Ben (the collie) gets bathed every 2-3 weeks, he can still be pretty ripe from time to time.
Not only is this to save the furniture, but I’ve been in homes before where I’ll sit on the sofa, cocktail dress and all, you know, and the (usually gigantic, of course) dog jumps onto the sofa or my lap (this sort of thing led to the demise of one beloved vintage piece). So it’s a guest comfort thing, too, not just for the safety of the upholstery. It seems kind of rude when a pet owner lets a pet jump all over guests, especially if a guest is afraid of or a little trepidatious around animals. It also kind of teaches the animal that they, not the humans, are in charge—and I know enough about animals to know that’s not a good idea. DJ makes a really good point in that regard.
I wonder if anyone has a miniature pony they let sit on the sofa? (Just kidding!)
I’m a sucker and love my buddy too much not to let him snuggle with me in bed or on the sofa. Oh, by the way, he’s a 75 lb. Boxer :)
We have a 6.5 lb Morkie (half maltese, half yorkie). We let her up on the couch with permission only. That doesn’t mean it’s a once-in-a-while thing. She’s up here all the time. But she has to ask first, and I have to say yes. Although, she’s not allowed up if we’re eating something. And if for some reason we want her down we just tell her to get down and she does.
dogs and cats are allowed on the furniture…. the cat’s aren’t allowed on the kitchen counters or dining room table (although they occasionally forget)
We have six cats, who pretty much have free reign of whichever parts of the house we’re not using.
Mine and my brother’s bedrooms are off limits though, simply because I like my own space (all cats and usually most people are banned unless specifically invited in).
Though sometimes, having so many, they’re occupying the only free seats in the living room, while my parents and brother are watching TV. It’s been known that I prefer to sit on the floor with a pillow than disturb and very cute, sleeping cat.