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?

I completely agree ours are everywhere and we have easy wash coverings for sofas, we were lucky (we thought) and won a cottage holiday two years ago, took elderly Molliepops and Betty puppy with us, was fraught with worry all the time as Betty wasn't quite house trained and still chewy, Mollie was shedding like mad too. Came home after a few days the cleaning and worry was wearing us both out. So I know I couldn't live like that all the time.

The last holiday cottage I rented, dogs were 'welcome'. But the floors were wood veneer and hard and clattery and tricky for her. For her and my comfort, I dragged a hall mat into the lounge but it was made of that awful synthetic stuff which grabs onto dog hair like a vice. Noting admonitions to clean up any pet hair before departure I laboured for ages with not much effect (cr*p vacuum)

My JR x Border terrier has the run of the house but he is not allowed on the furniture nor on the beds. Having said that, guests allow him on the bed because he is so pleased to see them in the morning that he jumps all over the bed! My granddaughters let him sleep on their bed when they stay over.

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.

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.

I always feel sad for dogs that are confined to one area in a home, I know people who have dogs who are not allowed in the lounge. Well, why have a dog then? That means while they are in the lounge every evening the dog is shut in another room(or cage) all alone. I have always treated any dog I have had as a family member, therefore, they have the freedom of the house as all other family members do. They also are allowed on the sofas if they want.

Three weeks ago, I'd have said my dog was allowed everywhere in the house, and slept in my room, and yes, on the bed. But since she's had her surgery, she's been confined to a crate as she's to stay quiet and not jump/ run around, and as the crate is enormous, there's no way it would fit upstairs so she's had to stay in the living room. And it pains me to say it, but there's a vast improvement in everything, upstairs is dog hair free, the carpets and things look better, and I've noticed a definite difference in her behaviour since she's been given a clear and strict boundary of downstairs only. When she's better, she'll be allowed on the sofa again as it's got a cover, but I'm going to try and keep her out of upstairs and the bedrooms, because there really is a difference for the better all round that I hadn't considered or noticed before.

My dogs have always been allowed everywhere, including on the furniture and on the bed. I like it that way, it means I get to give them lots of fuss and cuddles.

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.

My dog has free run of the house, but isn't allowed on the furniture without an invitation. I have a fleece blanket I'll put on the sofa so when she sees that she knows an invitation is imminent and waits patiently until it's forthcoming. Even though she's allowed to sleep at the foot of my bed, she knows not to get up until she's told. (I'd never intended to let her sleep on the bed, but she was from a shelter and cried piteously for hours every night until I gave in.)

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.

Wow that's some high horse you've got there.... I resent the implication that anyone with a different attitude to yourself is not sensible or has dogs that are out of control and without boundaries. My girl does have boundaries - they are just different to yours. Plus she is extremely obedient. In the days when she used to sleep on the bed she used to wait for me to get into bed then stand there waiting for permission to come up. She also doesn't go upstairs when I'm out. There have been times in my life when having her there quietly breathing beside me has been a great comfort. She also needs monitoring because of her health and if she didn't sleep upstairs with me, I would have to sleep downstairs with her.
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.

I meant 'who's
Edited by grammar pedant!

Ours is not allowed upstairs as I dont want him in the bedrooms. He is also not allowed on the furniture. This by definition means that when we are out, the living room door is shut as the minute you turn your back, he's up there on the sofa even though he knows he's not allowed.

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.

Just needed to say mine do have boundaries, very strict boundaries, I like good manners and won't allow them to be a problem to anyone else, they know what I allow and what is too far. If they didn't have boundaries or manners I could not have them on the sofa or bed but they know what is expected and they are very good considering their ages.

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.

Both my Springerdoodle and Labradoodle puppy are allowed on bed and sofa too. They are far more important than furnishings that can be laundered and protected very easily .

Bib - spot on

Mine have the run of the house, including all furniture - though if they are told to get down, they do.

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.

My dogs allowed pretty much anywhere. We got him from a shelter so we were prepared that he probably wouldnt adjust immediately (he had scars and marks on him needing treatment which the shelter assumed was a result of negligence from a previous owner). When he got in the house within ten minutes he was fast asleep on the sofa snuggled up to my partner. We knew then we didnt mind him on the sofa!

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.

That's Because I didn't say it.

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!!. 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?