Couch potato or floor rug?

[Rio]

We are not sure whether to allow Rio on the sofas, just wondered what rules you guys have for your fur-babies. Do you find they get possessive over a certain seat in the house? I know from reading on the forum a lot of you cuddle up at bedtime with your babies, I guess we were just curious as to how Chows 'share' the sofas

[hayleedog]

I don't have any rules with regards to the funiture. Hannah is welcome to sit or lay anywhere she likes though she usually prefers he floor most of the time (right in the middle of the walkway so you have to step over her) LOL. She will occasionally get on the couch but she always asks first. She does this by first putting her front feet on the couch then she waits to see if I am going to say anything, I will pat the seat next to me and then she will jump up.

She does start most nights by sleeping in the bed next to me but then will sometimes get down in the middle of the night and stretch out on the floor. I got hanna when she was 16months old and I think her previous owners were much stricter then I am. I know for the last 5 months she was with them she was made to stay outside and rarely if ever let in the house. As far as I'm concerned if there isn't dog fur on the furniture or paw prints on the rug then the house just isn't lived in. LOL

[chowchowdaddy]

Ming gets up in the bed periodically (like during a thunderstorm or when Tempest if bothering him, and he'll sometimes sleep up there but seldom stays the entire night), but that's about it for furniture. Chia, our first chow, became more concerned with thunderstorms as she aged (I think it's because she sometimes stayed with my mother in doggie day care if the cleaning lady was coming that day) and she would come over to the couch on which I was seated while watching TV, she'd put one paw up at a time, about a minute per paw, until all for paws were up, then she'd turn around and sit right next to me, put her head on my shoulder and we'd watch TV.

[Auddymay]

We do not allow pets on the furniture. They have several spots with beds or folded blankies on the floor. The exception is my bed upstairs (I have 2 bedrooms). Lily gets on the bed because it was warmer when she first lost her hair, and has an excellent vantage point to survey her kingdom. Even this is done sporadically. Haley will also sit on the couch holding Lily like a lap dog, but that is just negative reinforcement as Lily sees it. It is much nicer to get up from the furniture and not be covered in hair, especially from short haired animals-which was the reason I started this policy, they are the worst.

[chowpups]

We have always kept pets on the floor mainly for health issues, we have asthma in our family so Drs have told us keep bedrooms off limits and furniture ..Now that doesn't mean we never snuggle on a blanket on the floor..But if relatives come over they can sit on the furniture and not sneeze and have breathing problems, my husband is very sensitive to pet dander and he sat on my daughters friends couch( who allows her dog & cat up) and ended up in the ER with such a asthma attack, but just keeping things as clean of fur and dander at home here he has never had a problem.

[Fozzbear]

Fozz never gets on the couch - she sleeps on the floor, usually in a doorway for maximum inconvenience
She sleeps on the landing just outside my bedroom door or on the floor next to the bed, which I like as it feels like she is on guard duty. She never sleeps on the bed, as that spot belongs to the cat! (Fozz and the cat call a truce at night time )

[Ursa's daddy]

My chows are not allowed on the furniture. The living room and dining room rugs are also off limits as places the dogs can sleep. We have a cheap piece of indoor/outdoor rug that covers a portion of the living room where the dogs can sleep. The terriers are allowed on the furniture, but there are small foam mats for them. We tell them to "get in your bed" which means go lie on one of the mats. This is our equivalent of a crate for the small dogs. At night, the terriers are in the bed with us, and the chows are on their mats in the bedroom, or like Fozz, there in the hall or doorway to the bedroom. The cats own everything and are permitted everywhere except the table and kitchen counters. Now I like to lie on the floor watching TV and use Malachi as a big pillow.

[TyChowgirl]

Cats, like Ursa said own everything. That being said, while he was growing up, I did not permit Ty on the furniture. And he listened...but there came a time where it was an ongoing battle between him and I about him being on the couch because the cats were there. He even marked all of my cushions (I know he was marking even though he was a lot younger, because it's the same couch my oldest cat sleeps on top of...and afterward...Ty had this smug look of I own this couch now) on my couch that with lots of work have been urine free since a few days after the fact. (Yay nature's miracle) he peed on my bed once too (thank goodness for the matress saver) but both times I think it was a mood issue. Anyways, he won. He's allowed up on these things...but he doesn't do it often because I think when he was younger I took the time to tell him no. He's also not allowed on the couch at other people's homes obviously. He's snuggle with me in bed up until I shut off the light. Then he's on the floor. He does prefer the floor. The spare befroom bed has kind of become his because it's up against the window...and the only window he can see out of.

[612guy]

We never let our dogs on the furniture or bathrooms. We call it the no fur zone areas because the floors are hard enough to keep clean. My wife and I agreed along time ago the no black chows either. The reason why is you can see black fur a lot easier that others and it would gross us out see it every where. Let alone where we sleep or lay down. A bag-less vacuum is a must also because those bags aren't cheap.

[PCC]

I don't have a rule about furniture per se, but Dim Sum does not go on the couch except when he is especially nervous (I guess). Why he only does it when I am not home I have no idea. I very rarely sit on the couch, so I don't believe he does it because of my scent. He also jumps on it if he really doesn't want to do something.

It's funny to see when he has jumped on the couch and scratched with his paws; when I get home the cover I have over it and the cushions are disheveled and sometimes on the floor.

[Piff Poff]

Henry isn't allowed on the couch. He does get caught on there quite often though and he prefers it if there is a down and fleece throw on the couch otherwise it's not quite as snuggly. I don't usually have the heart to tell him off as he looks so comfy, I just take pics. He never tries if we are actually about (he usually does when we are out or asleep) OH the meany tells him off. I'll try to add a photo later.

[Victory]

I don't like them on the furniture and they know they aren't supposed to be on it. But in the other apartment, the couch was under the window and when there were squirrels in the window well, it was too much of a temptation for them not to get up there to bark at the squirrels and such. But a command from me and they would get down looking like they were thinking, "Ah Mooooommmmmm!" I just don't like their fur and the dust from their feet on the furniture...the floors are enough of a problem!

[hayleedog]

I have a futon as my 'couch' and I have made a couple slip covers for it so cleaning up for me takes no more effort then shaking the cover off and throwing it in the washer.

My main contension is the carpet and mostly just when it is wet and rainy (which as I live in WA sate is quite often) I try and cover up as much as I can using throw rugs and blankets. I'm trying to train hannah to wait at the door when she comes in from outside to have her paws wiped but so far she isn't 'down' with that LOL

[Ursa's daddy]

You can train Hannah to foot washing. It was probably easier here because the dogs go through the breezeway and have a second door to wait for. Ursa is real good, but she is always a lady, and her feet are usually clean. Malachi has a "whatever" attitude about it, but he will stand still and give up each paw to be cleaned.

[Cocoa]

Cocoa doesn't mind the foot wiping (we get quite a bit of rain here in BC as well) but she does think the towel is a toy that she should try to take away from me. I have no problem letting her on the furniture, when my kids were small I always tried to keep the dogs off the furniture (Buddy used to sneak up on the couch at night when we were sleeping) but now I don't really have an issue with it. Cocoa mostly prefers to sleep on the floor but will occasionally jump up on the couch and she comes to bed with me at night but after a little bit jumps down and sleeps beside the bed.

[Clovers_Mom]

I let Clover have free range of the house. I have a relaxed house, and a couch which has a heavier weave so it doesn't worry me- on that note though, since she is very gentle... (ok, yes, I may have pushed it...with the next statement..but...) I have also let her 'dig' her 'toy' into my 100+yr old upholstered great grandmothers' chair. I looked at it this way- 1st instance of marring anything then the rules get put in place. She has never been crated, and I have never had an issue with her ruining anything... as I was scrolling down I saw something abt. fur.. given that i decided on a chow, I had to make that decision if I was going to be ok with the fur, and that was a decision i needed to make prior to confirming this was the breed i wanted.... with a few throw rugs and the rest hardwood floors.. Yes, I sweep almost everyday... but it goes with the territory...
about the feet wiping.... as Clover gets older, she loves, loves, loves the outdoors... with that comes dirty dirty paws... i do try to wipe her paws or have her stay in the porch were there is a utility rug, where she will play and the mud will at least contain in 1 room.. feel like it all comes with the territory though.. She loves sleeping on the floor, has a bed, have had her sleep in bed...
she is warming up to her bed more and more, she could care less about sleeping in bed with us, she prefers to sleep on the floor... unless 'Dad' goes to work and I am still in bed, then she ♥'s half of the temperpedic, she is such a sleepyhead!!

[Auddymay]

I foot washed until we got Dillon. He is an untouchable, so it's back to mopping every day for me.

[Rory's Dad]

Funny, but we dont have any set rules really. Rory's favorite spots are by the entry doors, and i think that's due to draft...He comes upstairs with us every night, and gets some attention on the bed, but he tells us when he's had enough, and we put him down. I use the couch to groom him, and that's the only time he is up there...which is probably not so good, because he drools all over the attention treats he gets while being brushed. It simulates the grooming tables though, so thats why we continue it.

My old chows used to pretend that they didnt go on the furniture, but then i would come home and find fur on everything...i pretended i didnt know just for their sake. I think the wife figured it out, but i pretended i didnt notice anything either.