Digging in couch

[dal]

Hi everyone.  Cooper, my 9 month old goldendoodle, has started digging in the couch.  He is not doing it as a means to settle.  He is just a digger (dug in the snow as a puppy then moved on to digging a huge hole by my tree and now it's the couch).  I'm not sure how I stopped him from digging by the tree - probably just redirecting him a million times.  The couch, however, is a tough one.  I usually try to tell him "leave it" if he's about to go for it and "off" or "come" if he is already at it and reward with treats.  This sometimes works but as soon as he gets the treat, he is right back at it.  The other night I got so frustrated that I just grabbed his collar to pull him off the couch and put him in his crate.  I tried again the next night because it did seem to settle him the first time I did it.  When I tried again, he started snapping at me.  He will never bite me hard or anything but I don't like the snapping and biting, even softly, to stop me from doing something.

I feel like I messed it up by being a little too aggressive with him when I put him in the crate.  My husband thinks he is now thinking this is some game that I allow (the play biting stuff I guess but I'm not even sure it's play biting).

Help!  And if you couldn't tell I have never had a dog before.  I'm trying my best with the positive reinforcement but it's tough!

Also starting a jumping thread if anyone has suggestions for that too... :)

Thank you!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Perhaps  Cooper needs to be banned from getting up on furniture then his digging won't ruin your couch. I would continue to be consistent in removing him to his crate when his behavior is unacceptable. Pretty soon, he will get the idea.

[dal]

Yes, I have thought about banning him from the couch but I'm not sure how I would go about doing that at this point and also I do like to let him sit and lay down on the couch nicely which he does when he's not digging.  So would you remove to crate every time if he does not respond to commands?  And should I do that by walking him there by his collar (because he will not come willingly)?  I could probably lure him there with a high value treat but then I don't think he's getting the message, right?  How long would you keep him in the crate?  Thank you!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

You can change whether you let him on furniture when he wants to or only when invited simply by NOT letting him stay on the furniture when you are there. IF you can give the command and just tug him off the couch and then go about your business it would be fine. If he growls or nips as you correct for OFF,  I would firmly take him by the collar to his crate after giving him a command like 'NO BITE.'  Eventually you can say OFF and he will get down. 

[dal]

Great, thank you!  Do you think I could do this just when he digs or do you think I would have more success limiting access to the couch altogether?

[Shari Becker]

Our Lexi dug a bit on the couch, too. And sadly we have the scratch marks to prove it. She only did it when we were around and she was super excited. We literally whisked her off the couch each time she started, and said a firm "No." And then a a quickly followed up "Off." She's now two, and she doesn't really do it anymore at all. It was totally a puppy energy thing. All that said, I have a dear friend whose house is immaculate and she said to me when I got my dog, "There will be damage from the dog. It's not okay for them to behave that way, but prepare yourself for the damage." We now leave the damaged couch pillows up all the time and just flip to the pretty, unharmed side when we have guests.  

[dal]

LOL I love the flipping of the pillows!  Good to know he will eventually outgrow this with consistency.  I hope!  How did you whisk her off?  He fights me on it.  I would have to grab his collar and drag him off or else lure him off with treats.  He is so determined.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I would not use treats but that is just my opinion. I would grab the collar and pull him off using a command word such as OFF. 

[dal]

Thank you!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I totally agree with Nancy.  I would restrict his access to the furniture until this phase is over.  You can train him to only get on the furniture when YOU invite him.  When he gets up, calmly say "no" or "off", take his collar and remove him.  Do it every single time he gets up.  Later when he has learned that YOU own the couch, you can start to invite him up, but any sign of digging and he would be removed.

[dal]

UPDATE - it's been a month and after following the awesome advice from all of you here, the digging had lessened dramatically! Also, he just started to dig a little to settle so I now see what some of you were talking about. I can tell the difference when he's doing that so I let him be. But the digging just to dig is not tolerated at all and I maybe have had to stop him only a couple times over the last few days!

A big thank you to all of you!