Options
Doggie house rules
mrsgrumpy49
Posts: 10,061 Forum Member
✭✭
Went to a do at a friend's the other evening. They moved a year or so ago from a comfortable but fairly standard detached house to a vast, luxurious (by my standards) set up. Everything is brand new, state of the art or at the top end of top end - and of course it is all tastefully decorated and plushly furnished in cream and beige and toning colours.
In the old house they had a dog which was free to roam. When he died they didn't get another and since the move, a dog is out of the question. They occasionally look after their daughter's dog but he is strictly relegated to the hallway/kitchen. As I watched them obsessively picking up the teeniest crumb dropped by their guests, I wondered if their quality of life had actually taking a backward step despite the palatial surroundings.
My dog is one of the family and I don't restrict her anywhere. That goes for the sofa I'm afraid. I kind of like her up there with me and I use those easily laundered fleece throws so it's no big deal.
What rules do you have?
In the old house they had a dog which was free to roam. When he died they didn't get another and since the move, a dog is out of the question. They occasionally look after their daughter's dog but he is strictly relegated to the hallway/kitchen. As I watched them obsessively picking up the teeniest crumb dropped by their guests, I wondered if their quality of life had actually taking a backward step despite the palatial surroundings.
My dog is one of the family and I don't restrict her anywhere. That goes for the sofa I'm afraid. I kind of like her up there with me and I use those easily laundered fleece throws so it's no big deal.
What rules do you have?
0
Comments
I don't let him on the lounge furniture at all. I currently have cream leather sofas but I am looking to get a new 3-peice suite and he definitely won't be allowed on that. Start as you mean to go on I say.
I say the same which is why they sleep on or in my bed and are currently cuddled up next to me on the sofa.
Lola is currently snuggled up to Mr Lakie on the other sofa. She likes to make sure she shares her affections equally, and will no doubt come and join me in the next hour or two.
At last a sensible post. Dogs need boundaries and they need to know that the adults are in charge and they make the rules. This is why we have so many badly behaved and out of control dogs nowadays.
I've always had dogs which live inside but they live downstairs and don't go on sofas. They are not allowed upstairs.
The free run of the house thing isn't really an issue as she prefers to be where I am. I work from home and she lies in her crate next to my desk while I'm working.
She's not allowed to run to the door when the doorbell rings but has learned to sit on the stairs while I deal with the visitor.
She's fed in the kitchen but isn't allowed to start eating until I tell her. The cats are fed there too and she's not allowed to eat their food, but any stray bits of kibble that find their way onto the kitchen floor are fair game!
She's a very patient, well mannered dog and even though she has a lot of freedom to "be dog" she understands and seems not to resent her boundaries.
I'd never had a shelter dog before and had always had my dogs since they were puppies. It's meant I've had to modify my training methods a bit and changed my expectations, but she's turned out to be a real joy in my life
P.S. With dogs (as with children) I think people need to understand there's a difference between discipline and punishment. If more people understood that, they'd have fewer issues.
I could leave the room with a roast beef dinner within her reach, come back 10 minutes later and she won't have touched it. She knows how to behave around strangers, visitors, older people, kids and other dogs and she definitely knows whose boss.
So less of the generalisations thank you.
Edited by grammar pedant!
Luckily he never tries to get upstairs on his own as he knows that this is where B.A.T.H lives and he doesnt like B.A.T.H.
I have to limit this as I dont like doggy smells on fabrics and his hair is a daily nightmare.
You beat me to it Mrs G.
You've said more or less what I was going to say with the bib. Just because you see your pet as a member of your family doesn't automatically mean they don't have any boundaries.
My dog has the freedom to go where she wants in the house but she still knows what she can and can't do and is an obedient and well behaved dog.
Bib - spot on
McGee has his own crate in the kitchen and retires to there when he isn't eating / playing / going for walks / going outside. He actually refuses to leave it after 9pm. The other two stay with us on the couch or bed.
A bit defensive, surely? I also thought the reply in question a sensible one.
Same with the bed. We got him a bed of his own but he settled in ours. Its our house so i dont see that it affects anyone else so its not really a problem.
When we visit my parents they like him to run free in the house and dont mind him doing so. When we visit ohs grandad and stepmum we tend to keep him on his lead because otherwise hes sniffing everything (they are both prone to a lot of clutter and collectables!)
We dont really have friends over as we arent really keen on the whole entertaining thing, so its only family that come over. All of them are fine with him except my nan who is under the impression that dogs should live outside! 30 odd years ago she had two dogs that lived in a kennel in the garden and only came into the kitchen to be fed. To me i dont see the point in having a pet that you dont spend any time with! She moans about getting the odd hair on her but always insists on putting her sunday best clothes on to visit!
Not really when someone says everyone else is not sensible and intimates their dogs are out of control I think it was quite controlled and decent really.
Sorry molliepops, I didn't see anyone say that.
We will have to agree to differ because that was what I read into it and I am not alone others seem to have too. Poor choice of words perhaps but no one else judged anyone's ways we were all just speaking of what works for us.
I have been to enough homes where the dogs rule the roost. You go to sit on a chair and a dog snarls at you or you're told "that's the dogs chair, use this one." Or you see a human dinner plate on the floor where you just know Fido has licked his dinner from!!! Bleuuurrhhhh!!:o:o. Or the owner allows the dog to lick their face or worse still their children's faces when they know full well they've just licked their backsides or some other dogs urine when they were out on a walk.
It always fascinates me that people justify things afterwards when it's just as easy to say stuff up front. It would have been very easy to say "I have a fully trained, obedient, sociable, well trained and friendly dog who we allow to have free run of the house and furniture."
I absolutely love dogs and have owned them all my adult life but I recognise and treat them as dogs not as humans and they know their place.
You'd feel very sad for plenty of dogs around here then. ;-) They actually live outdoors very happily in runs. My Mums neighbour has five beautiful gun dogs who live outside and they are the healthiest, most well behaved dogs you could ever see. I've been there when it's time for them to go in their run and not one of them moves until they are given the command and they all have a special basket in the run.
They thrive on it because they go on massive runs every day, they are stimulated because they work hard, unlike dogs who are left home alone all day bored out of their brains and never exercised, because they are one of the family and that often means lolling about on the sofa all day. What kind of life is that?
A good hoover and easy wash throws deal with the dog hair, a bucket of water keeps them clean after muddy walks. They are well behaved and I don't feel the need to use some sort of out dated dominance theory and restrict what they do unnecessarily, they're part of our family. If visitors don't like them or dog hair then they don't have to come - my dogs are far more important to me than anyone other than my husband and son and then I'm not sure just what order they come in lol.
They come on holiday with us, we've been lucky enough to find a few places that are truly dog friendly and have the same belief as us and they've never done any damage. We always make sure we leave it in the same condition it was when we arrived. The people that own the cottages say they prefer dogs to kids staying there - less trouble and damage! I always take plenty of throws with us and all of our bedding.
I could never kennel them either.
I can't imagine much worse than some sterile show home with the dog banished to certain areas only.
Oh and we never have accidents as they just come and wake me up if they need to go out and I hear if someone's not well. I hate to think of them desperate to go out but not able to tell me.