spoiled doodle?

[Hailey and Oliver]

  We let our doodle, Oliver up on the couch and our beds.  is that a bad thing?  or do a lot of doodle owners do this?

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

The only room Sedona's not allowed to enter is the living room - but my 2-year-old granddaughter isn't allowed in there as well!  Frankly, I'd prefer that my husband (aka, "The Bull in the China Shop") not go in there either.  :)

 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

OMD! I wish I had a nickel for everytime we have discussed this! Lots of spoiled doodles on couches and beds here on DK, that's for sure. Try a search and see if you get your answers, but others might write in.

[Ginny Nightingale]

Just take a look at the pictures of doodles that people have posted--they are always sprawled all over the couches, chairs and laps--they want to snuggle so badly, who can say no? I had terriers in my pre-doodle life and they PREFERRED to be curled up at my feet--but my doodles consider that to be torture--they have to be CLOSE!!

[BG and Gavin]

It is all a matter of preference, but if you decide to let him up on a bed or couch, be sure that it is on your terms and he will get down when you say.  It was an invaluable lesson I learned in puppy class that even if you allow them up, be sure to make one piece of furniture and one room off limits.  This help you to establish boundaries with them and comes in super handy when you have a boundary to enforce at a later time (like staying away from the Christmas tree or if you go to a play off-leash and he needs to stay within a certain area.  Our off-limits room was the laundry room (think sock stealing). We were able to enforce it consistently because we could close the door and when we were working in there, I would put the dog in a down stay outside the door or let him look in, but correct if he tried to come in.  Very good ground work.  BTW we are a four on the floor family, but again that was a personal decision we made prior to getting a dog.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Ditto.  This is a personal decision.  I don't allow the dogs on the furniture but they do have their beds throughout the house and they get plenty of "affection", so I don't feel as though they are deprived.  At times I do allow them on our bed, but only at my invitation.  They wait to be asked.

[Becka]

This is good advice--Sadie is allowed on the furniture in the TV room and on the bed, but not the living room furniture. She wasn't allowed on any furniture at all until she was about 5 or 6 months old (and yes, if you look through my photos you will see plenty of exceptions to that particular "rule"). I don't know if it's just her own preference or related to that early part of her puppyhood, but she generally prefers the floor, except for when she gets on the bed with me in the middle of the night.

[Sheila & Finnley]

After our last dog, who wasn't allowed on the furniture passed, I decided any future dogs would have to follow the same rules. Finnley, had other ideas though, so we gave in and she has a chair that she sits in and looks out the window. By giving her that chair, it was keeping her occupied and not looking into other mischief, like stealing paper, socks, or annoying the cat ! However when my son comes home from college for Christmas break this weekend, it will be a power struggle for that particular chairs ownership !

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

we started off not letting cooper on furniture, and she was too small to get on it anyway.... it didnt last long, but she prefers to sleep on the floor. occasionally when she is super tired she will sleep on the couch, and she will sleep on our bed after a bath (twice a year!). generally she hops up for a quick cuddle then goes to find a cool space.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

It is only a bad thing if YOU don't like it or you don't bother to clean up the hair if Oliver is a shedder.

 

I have never, ever allowed pets on my furniture.  Meg seems to have changed my mind!  Everyone I know now laughs at me but I couldn't help myself, she is such a cuddler.  She is not allowed up without an invitation and she knows that, she comes to the couch and lays her head on the cushion, looks at me and waits to be invited.  My husband will pat the cushion and tell her to come up and she just turns her head to see what I have to say...last night I ignored her and the fifth time he patted the cushion she finally came up but then looked to me to make sure it was not a mistake.  The problem is she is more than a cuddler, she is a crowder.  She initially starts out laying beside me with maybe her head on my lap, then she shifts and has an elbow in my stomach and head across my lap, one more shift gets her chest on my lap, legs and head stretched down my legs.  I love the cuddle but my legs get really restless like that and I end up stuffed in the corner of the couch.   She is not allowed in my bed, I really don't like sharing that...I only allow my husband one third of the king size.

[Jen Fischer]

SPOILED!  ; )

[Meridith and Lola]

Saw this comic on Facebook - seems appropriate for this discussion.  I'm pretty lucky with Lola - she stays curled up in the corner foot of the bed - but I think she is the exception!!

[Pat and Traveler]

Trav sleeps wherever he wants--which is on the bed, most of the time.  But he'll get down immediately if I jostle him, or if I just point at the floor.  Trouble is, he looks so tragic and heart-broken when I tell him to get down, that I end up sweet-talking him back again.  Sigh.