Our 4 go anywhere and sleep wherever including the beds and sofas and love to nip upstairs for a nice nap in the day. Our house is decorated and furnished to suit all of us, especially the dogs and has 8 dog beds and baskets upstairs and down for them to use too.
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.

Oh yes!

You consider your dogs part of the family and you take them out for walks??? Some people are under the impression that a dog who is treated as part of the family doesn't get any excercise.

My dog is taken for long walks daily, there is a country park near us where she can be let off her lead and have a really good run and play.

Why on earth some people would think that just because a dog is considered as part of the family it is forced to loll around on a sofa all day and never taken out.


Some people really do have some funny ideas.

I get where you are coming from completly Hotgossip. It is possible to love your dog, utterly adore it and look on it as part of the family, but still have set boundaries in place. Why would you be thought of as loving your dog less than your friend loves theirs say, just because they allow their dog to wander every room jumping on and off beds and sofas and you don't? Whether you agree that the pack theory is a loaf of bunkum or not (personally I don't), dogs, like children, need set boundaries and leadership as to what is acceptable and what isn't, or they'd just run riot. I have no problems with dogs on sofas, if the dog knows that it is a privilege that it's allowed up there, and not sat growling because the owner dares to sit down on the dog's chair. My dog is allowed on the sofa, but she knows the rules, she's up there because I say she can be, never because she says she can be, she will get down the second I tell her to, and if I say she can't come up she doesn't, in the same way that if she starts barking for a walk or food, she doesnt get it because whilst I love her to pieces, I absolutely refuse to be dictated to by a dog. I have seen tiny yorkies, chi's and other small dogs lunge at people who dared to try and sit on the sofa because the dog thought of it as theirs, and then progress onto holding their owner to ransom in the room, by snapping and biting them when they tried to move. Worse still, I've seen people that unknowingly encourage this by leaving the dog on the chair and sitting somewhere else, effectively rewarding the dog, instead of turfing it very swiftly off the chair so it knows clearly its done wrong.

Oh dear, this sounds like mother's defending their children..

When my children were young, I was strict, dogs not allowed on furniture. I've mellowed with age. My 'baby girl' can go wherever she wants. She loves to lie on the windowsill (my sons like to remind me that THEY weren't allowed to touch the windows!) My 'baby girl' also sleeps on her cushioned bed on the bottom of my bed, though she often snuggles up close to me as well. She grunts for food, I feed her on demand. She grunts if she needs to water the garden. She plays indoors, scatters her abundance of toys everywhere. She's also walked twice a day.
Spoiled rotten and loved to death, but she's worth it! She's totally obedient and hasn't got a nasty bone in her body.

Oh, and she doesn't moult.

Sounds like some people have no idea what living with dog as we do where they are part of the family and have access all areas. Mine would never snarl at anyone, they know if they are on a chair or sofa when we say shift over they have to move to another seat. Same with beds they have their side I have mine, they cuddle up when they get cold or worried, I think house training was quick because being little they had to ask to get off the bed, so I knew when they needed to go as they squeaked to be let down, I have only ever had one dog have an accident on the bed and she was old and ill and just didn't know where she was.
I don't judge anyone for keeping dogs outside, I know it wouldn't suit me or my dogs, Elsie would hate being alone she is very much a cuddler and wants contact with her humans and Betty would freeze to death as she is just 5lb and thin skinned and coated, she needs a jumper or coat at this time of year when she is walking.

This really is about not being judgemental about others if you consider your way "the sensible" way you really are considering everyone else as not being as good as you and really we are all just keeping our dogs the best way for us and them. Living in a flat is different anyway as we don't have an upstairs and we have often gone camping or caravanning and no separate areas for the dogs in those situations so you either get them in with you or leave them home TBH I wouldn't enjoy my time away with only half the family present.

I think it's evident that we all have different ways of training our dogs and have different boundaries, but no way is wrong as long as you've got an obedient, happy dog who knows he/she is loved. I have no doubt that all the dogs mentioned in this thread are such, it shows in how passionate the replies are

Good point. Dogs differ, people differ, the needs of both differ and change along with circumstances. That said I know all about dogs that run rampant and found it unbelievable that some owners featured on the Dog Whisperer shows had got to a point where the dog ruled and wouldn't let others onto the bed or the sofa
But there is a whole world of different arrangements inbetween the extremes - ie between that or never even letting the dog into the house.
What's 'right' is what works for you, the dog and those around you and I don't think one can generalise.
We have a lightweight squeaky ball that we sometimes play with in the house (black mark for that I'm sure). If it rolls somewhere like under the TV table where there are cables she won't just scrabble to get it. She waits for permission and then she will go in very gingerly trying not to touch anything but the ball. Just one example. Being allowed on the sofa (at my discretion) hasn't spoilt her at all.
She does go upstairs but only if I'm there. Does anyone else have a dog that follows them to the loo? Sometimes I have to draw a line at that (or close the toilet door) as it can be a bit offputting to be scrutinised at these times even from the landing

The loo situation reminds me of when we first got Betty she was a tiny scrap and while we knew Molliepops wouldn't deliberately hurt her we didn't like to leave them together alone in case she got sat on so Betty had to come every where with me, sitting on the loo with a dog on my lap I did wonder if I had gone completely mad for a second But all worked out fine in the end and she is happy not to follow me there now but Elsie sits in the hallway looking all sad and lost until I return.

Now that's an extreme
My collie can appear to be fast asleep so it never ceases to amaze me that as soon as I go upstairs she just materialises..
But we have a different morning routine. First thing she goes out to the garden for a wee. Then I have a coffee and we watch the news together then it's my turn for the loo (back upstairs). But she doesn't follow me at this stage.
Another coffee then it's back upstairs for a shower and dress prior to first walk. This is when she starts shadowing me. It's like she knows that the first visit upstairs is not significant but the second occasion/me in the shower means a walk is imminent.

She weighed less than a pound I was scared to put her down, much easier now she is 5lb she can't get into so much danger and has a bit of sense to keep herself safe too.

Reminds me of when we got our mini daschund - the first time we went out and left him alone with our other dogs we put him in a baby play pen to keep him safe, we were only out an hour and when we came back Rollo was no where to be found and our Staffie was sitting on the sofa looking very pleased with her self. We tore the house to pieces trying to find this little scrap of a thing and my husband convinced himself that our staffie had killed the puppy and was getting more & more upset when out he popped from under our bed. How on earth he got upstairs we'll never know

Regarding the toilet thing, mine follows me! The only time i can be in the bathroom alone is if im in the bath. The he waits outside incase i try and wash him. Sometimes he will be brave and lay the other end of the bathroom where he wont get wet.

Last night we were all asleep and i got up to go to the toilet. I heard our dog wake up, do a quiet growl, little bark and then he went off downstairs. He came back up and pushed the bathroom door open with his nose, saw me on the toilet then went back to bed! Think he thought i had been kidnapped or something since he woke up and i wasnt there!

We also have the problem if one of us has an early night or a lay in! Doggy cant decide whether to be upstairs or downstairs! He will sit with one of us for a few minutes and then go to the other and do that until we are both in the same room

LOL that reminds me of a previous Chihuahua who managed to get behind our gas fire, where we had to dismantle it to get her out, how she got in we couldn't figure out

LOL Elsie sits next to the shower gazing longingly at me as I shower, but any hint she is being invited in for a wash and she is off like a shot and nothing will get her back in there voluntarily.

I'm claustrophobic so unless we have visitors the doors are always open so if one of the dogs wants to wander into the bathroom when I'm in there that's fine!

Re dogs taking over although ours go wherever I still have boundaries and if anyone were to growl whilst on the bed or sofa then they are told to get off - and they do! they never growl at us but we do get the odd rumble if someone wants to be where someone else is but they soon get the message. As other people have said them being allowed everywhere doesn't mean I have no control and put up with just any behavior. As long as things are harmonious and they respect each other and us then that's just fine and I think we do pretty well with 4 dogs.

They are treated like dogs, get plenty of exercise and go off lead daily. They're not fat and are fit and healthy. They had great fun in the snow over xmas then came home and got snuggled up with us. I know some people cringe when they hear it but they are my babies but they're still dogs and allowed to behave like dogs.

I'll often have two or three cats on my lap whilst on the loo, with another seven or eight spectators....

Have you thought there may be such a thing as reincarnation? Do you really know who's watching?

I prefer to have my bed and sofa free of dog detritus. Dogs shed hair (most do anyway), dogs lick their bits, dogs dribble, dogs fart and dogs are smelly. So the dog sleeps in her basket in the kitchen and she's not allowed upstairs. This is not to say that we don't love our dog, we do very much.

Fortunately I have a fragrant non drooly dog that never farts. But if I should happen to errm, pass wind, she is off in a flash with a look of disgust to the other side of the room!

My late Molliepops had a way of looking at me with such disgust no matter who made the smell, used to crack my husband up no blaming the dog she always got in first and blamed me !

Don't they just! It's never them is it lol

It amuses me how so many of you who can't stand your dogs on furniture etc have baskets in the kitchen and shut them in there - the room you prepare and cook food in!
To me it's probably the one room they're best not kept in especially for anyone with hygiene hang ups!

I actually got my eldest dog the same week we got a brand new three piece suite delivered.

I couldn't care less. The dog sleeps on the sofa (usually half on the sofa half on me). My other dog has his own chair. Not as in we bought him one, he just adopted a chair and it's now his. So he sleeps on that.

The dogs aren't allowed upstairs but that's only because the cat sleeps on my bed and he isn't a fan of the dogs. So it's not fair to him for them to invade his space. If they got along the dogs would be allowed to sleep on the bed.

My pets are part of my family. I prefer them to 95% of the people I know. A sofa/chair can be replaced or cleaned. Dogs don't eat or drink on the sofa. The visitors or my cousins kids are more lightly to cause damage to furniture than my dogs. Kids don't seem to realise food goes in their mouth, they also don't seem to realise that they shouldn't wipe their hands on whatever happens to be closest.

Yes mine are not allowed I the kitchen it's only room I keep them out of they both sit in the doorway watching me and I give them treats as I cook so they don't feel left out, but it's one place I don't like hair.

Mine don't smell too bad, I shower them regularly in strawberry shampoo and use a raspberry leave in conditioner which keeps them smelling sweet.

I have a baby gate on the kitchen door and if I'm cooking I close it - much safer. My neighbour tripped in the kitchen with a just boiled kettle in her hand and it went all over her cats back and he was badly burnt. He did recover ok but as you can imagine it was horrible. Made me much more careful, kitchens aren't really places for animals.