That’s MY Easy Chair….Not Your Throne! Down, Doggie!

  Posted on August 12, 2011  by Joy of Living  No comments

Party Marty here, the well-behaved cat with all the right moves:  Word on the street is that a certain Wheaten Terrier in the neighborhood, who shall remain nameless at this time, has been abusing his privileges of comfort on the homefront, making excessive use of his human’s furniture for his own leisure.  Every time his owner turns around, it seems that Naismith, er….I mean NAMELESS dog….is lounging on the nearest couch or over-stuffed chair, as if it’s his throne and natural birthright.

While there are certain products on the market that aid in deterring such behavior, they seem rather cruel. (Really?  Spiked mats to keep the dog off the couch?  That just seems mean!)  I believe there are more positive approaches to this dilemma, and actually are quite simple in nature.

Instead of yelling at the dog for being ON the furniture, praise him when he gets down from it when you ask him to do so.  Give him a small treat for such behavior.

Put a few comfy pillows on the floor just for your dog or place a special treat on his little bed every now and again to encourage him to relax there.

Of course, if that fails, I suppose you can just pass a massive amount of gas while sitting on the couch that even the dog can’t stand!  In the household of the “nameless dog” referenced above, that’s exactly what one of the kiddos did, and that dog made a run for it!

Have a great day! And if you are relaxing on the couch this weekend, PLEASE keep your feet off the coffee table!  Manners, people! Manners!