Shetland Sheepdogs jump on the furniture
My girlfriend has two Shetland Sheepdogs. When she brings them over to my house, they jump on the furniture because she allows them to do so at her place. I do not care for this behavior, but when I try to make it clear to the dogs not to jump up there, my girlfriend gets angry with me! Is there anything out there I can put on the couch or chairs to keep them off so she doesn’t know? I heard something like cayenne pepper would work, but I also would like to sit there occasionally myself. Or am I just dreaming of a way around the wrath of my girlfriend?
I think some training already has been successfully going on in your world! You are trying hard to be a good boyfriend! Personally, I don’t think it should be your responsibility to teach your girlfriend's dogs to stay off your furniture, either directly, which she takes issue with, or indirectly. Your sneak approach to training would not be on the sly for long, anyway. I’m sure she’d be suspicious when her dogs suddenly slink away from the sofa and sneeze from the cayenne pepper. I’m afraid you still would wind up in the doghouse! Why not talk with her about how you feel about her dogs’ behavior? Perhaps you can come up with a compromise, such as allowing them to be on only a certain piece of furniture or to climb up on the furniture only with your or her invitation. I think finding a happy medium and working together on a positive approach to retraining the dogs would be best.
Although I’m not strongly opposed to dogs ever being allowed on furniture in my home, I do have limits and rules. The dogs in our house are allowed on an older overstuffed chair freely, as long as it already isn’t occupied by a person. When a person has gotten there first, the dog has to be invited in order to join him or her. This helps save everyone from disasters such as dogs crashing into cups of hot coffee. The dogs also can be invited up on our family room sofa but aren’t allowed there without invitation. They’ve learned this by first being invited up freely; in fact, as they jumped up impulsively, we would attach the permission command "Up!" After several repetitions of granting permission as the behavior occurred, causing the word "Up" to be associated with the positive, permissible behavior, the exception is taught. After the initial teaching phase, we change the rules. Now when the dogs do not hear permission first, they are stopped with a leash or gently but unceremoniously removed. During any correction or removal we do not punish, scold or say "Off!" We don’t give any attention at all to inappropriate jumping; we just cause it to be unsuccessful. Keeping the dogs on leashes, assigning them spots of their own at your feet on comfy dog beds and allowing them up only when invited (possibly never!) won’t change the way the dogs behave at your girlfriend's house, but it would result in better manners at yours! If you can’t find middle ground, and if you continue to feel strongly that the dogs shouldn’t be on furniture at all in your home and your girlfriend remains adamant that they should, you are in for trouble (I feel like "Dear Abby") unless one of you can "rollover" and not feel resentment!
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