Keva and the couch

[wolf_Q]

I am close by, I've been within a few feet of her every time she's done it. I've given her a stern "NO" but it doesn't phase her, she'll get off when corrected, then jump right back on a few minutes later. I have not tried a leash correction. There are 2 dog beds in the same room as the couch, I haven't specifically tried directing her to those after she jumps on, but they are available to her. She lays on them frequently. I don't think she's jumping up there for comfort, more for her own amusement! Thanks for the tips.

[Queen of Poop]

I've heard of but never used a scat mat. It's a mat with pointy up things that are plastic, not fun to lay on or step on. I've seen them in the pet store. No idea if they are effective or not.

What I did for my issue with this was take the pillows off the couch for a short time. It's boring then.

[lizbud]

When Keva runs back to jump again, just stand right there to prevent
her from jumping back on.If you have to stand in the same spot guarding
the couch for 20-30 minutes & don't move & don't look at her at all. Just
give a stern NO when she tries. I'll bet she tire of that game after 30 min

[Canis-Lupess]

This is not a game so to speak, it sounds to me like your dog is a passive dominant dog.

People tend to think of dominant dogs as always being aggressive but dominant does not mean aggressive, it means the one in command, the one with most influence and your dog acting in this way is definitely influencing the way you are acting because you are chasing her about etc....
If an aggressive dominant dog was to snarl and growl at you when you tried to remove them from the couch, you'd figure that they were telling you to get stuffed. Well, the passive dog is doing exactly the same thing but in a totally different way.

The reason is that you are inadvertantly telling them they are higher ranking than you. A dog that considered itself as being a lower ranking member of your canine human pack would not even try getting on the couch even if you weren't around. The fact that your dog does proves that she has the wrong idea bout her status within your pack. With rank comes privilege and being on furniture like couches, beds, chairs, are all classed as areas only for higher ranking members so if you allow your dogs in these places, you are telling them they are high ranking enough to be there.

Read this quote by a reknowned English dog behaviourist, John Fisher about passive dominant dogs. He has trained many behaviourists in the U.S and does seminars and talks all over Europe. He is one of the founders of the british association of pet behaviour counsillors.


"Whenever anybody talks about a dominant dog, it always conjures up pictures of an aggressive dog, but this is not necessarily so. Of course, a dog that has a dominant character is more likely to be aggressive if any person, or any dog, tries to challenge it's position, but this is usually seen in dog thst have inherited the dominant trait from their parents.
Some dogs exhibit what I call 'Passive dominance'. if challenged they do not necessarily show aggression; they become extremely disobedient and hyperactive - they act the fool. We really should examine what we mean by dominance before we pursue the subject any further.
The dictionary definition says: Dominate: Having commanding influence over; be the most influencil or conspicuous; have commanding position.
Some of the dogs that I see meet this definition perfectly. They are reported to be disobedient; overwelmingly friendly towards visitors; eager to greet all the people that they meet outside; always getting under peoples feet inside, but have a lovely temperament. Within the household, they are the most influential and hold the most commanding position because everyone's attention is taken up trying to control them. if you told your dog to get off your bed and it growled at you, you would recognise it as a dominant dog. With the passive dominant dog, you tell it to get off your bed and it sticks it's bum up in the air in a play posture. When you grab its collar to drag it off, it throws itself on its back and tried to wrap its legs around your arms. When it is unceremoniously dumped on the floor, it gets up and does three or four laps of the bedroom before jumping back on the bed with a playful 'woof'. It is hard not to smile and think the dog's an idiot, but in fact it has done exactly what the aggressive dog has done - it has said NO"

You need to demote your dogs within your canine human pack if you want to correct this behaviour.

There are a number of different things you might need to address in order to get the message across. If you need any advice about what these are, just ask.

[wolf_Q]

Canis-Lupess, that does sound like her. I'm not allowing any of the dogs on those places, just Nebo (4 years old) is allowed on my bed, with permission, and he didn't get that "rank" until he was older. He has never tried to jump on the couch. Just FYI Keva (the disobedient one ) is only a 3 1/2 month old pup (siberian husky), she probably has not really established her rank in our humane/canine pack yet and I'm sure she's testing this. What do you recommend to get the message across?

[Canis-Lupess]

Maybe you are granting privilages in other areas that make her think she can invite herself up onto the couch. It is possible.

Anyway, here are the things you should think about with dogs that test you in this way.

Rank reversal, again, from John fishers book, "why does my dog...?"

1.Make sure that you are the one who goes first through doorways and narrow openings. The simplest way of achieving this is to close all doors in the house for a few days so that the dogs freedom of movement becomes dependent upon the doors that you choose to allow her through. Don't tell her to stay, sit or wait - this is basically asking her if she minds if you go first. Ideally, she should grant you the right of rank by allowing you to procede her. If she tries to barge in front of you, slam the door shut - be careful not to trap her nose. Initially, you may have to repeat this procedure four or fine times at each door, but she will quickly get the message that when you open a door, she steps backwards.

2. Make sure that she does not occupy your beds or chairs. Many of my clients tell me that their dog is not allowed on furniture, but not being allowed is different to not even trying. You, however should be able to occupy the areas where your dog generally chooses to sleep. Besides her bed, there will be many other places around the house and you should spend a day or so mapping these out - you will be surprised how many there are. Deny her access to some and make a point of occupying the others.

3. Make sure you eat before she does. Either change her meal times to follow yours, or mix up her food in her presence and then make a point of sitting down and eating a biscuit. By going through the act of eating first, you are stating to your dog that at feeding time, the highest ranking eats first and therefore gets the richest pickings.

4. Do not allow her to occupy key areas in the house. Busy doorways, main entrances, top of steps are all areas that would be controlled by the alpha figure. Making these places inaccessible is the easiest solution, and although physical barriers might get in your way for a few days, it will be worth it in the long run.

5. Make sure that when you go from A to B you do so by the shortest route - in other words, make your dog move out of your way, even if she appears to be asleep. Making her wear a light trailing house line attached to her collar so that you can gently pull her to one side makes the point very clear that lower ranks step aside for higher ranks.

6. Make certain rooms in the house off-limits altogether, especially your bedroom. You dog should learn that although you have access to the whole den, she only has access to parts of it.

7. Do not allow her to demand attention. Dogs learn to do this in a variety of ways: nudging your arm for a stroke, pretending they need to go into the garden, especially when you are on the phone. All privileges should be earned first, even if it is only complying with a command to sit. All of her attempts to initiate some sort of interaction between you should be put onto YOUR terms.

8. Having earned the privilege of being stroked, you should only stroke her on her head, neck and shoulders. These are the dominant regions of the dog and careful observation in the park of two high-ranking dogs will show you that the most dominant will place his chin or paw on the neck and withers of the other dog.
Do not fall for the trick of a paw being placed on your arm in an attempt to get you to rub her chest instead, or for the trick of lying on her back for the same purpose. In the wild, the only way that a dominant dog would experience this sensation would be when he was on the back of a bitch.

9. Remove all her toys and possessions. Select one of these and keep it under your control. She should only be allowed to play with this toy when you want her to and even then she should earn it first by obeying some sort of command. Do not allow her to keep it afterwards, take it off her again until you want her to play with it again.

10. Only allow her 5 minutes to eat her food. Dominant dogs have a habit of leaving some or all of their food for long periods of time, almost as a visual display of their rank - this is my food and I know that no one else will eat it. Even if she starts to eat it after four and a half minutes, it should be taken up after five.

11. Make sure that she greets you first thing in the morning and not the other way round. It is surprising how many of my clients, who have dominant dogs, do this every morning without realising. It is the lower ranks that approach the higher ranks to greet them.

12. Increasing you control through regular obedience sessions, even if they only last five or ten minutes a day, will help tremendously. These sessions should be done on a lead and collar so that you are in the position of being able to insist that the dog obey.

These rules are not placed in any particular order, nor is one more important than the other. Neither is it important that every rule be established; in most cases, by making a specific effort on just a few, the dog changes its viewpoint about its role within your household. These rules can be laid down one at a time and, in this way, confrontation is avoided. It may take two or three days to establish the first rule that you decide upon, for example pushing through doorways, but you should persevere until this is well and truly understood before moving on to the next stage. As each rule is understood by the dog, the next becomes easier to establish.

[mike001]

Our tiny dog does that too, but I let it be. The couch is leather and easy to wipe down. And she only does it when we go out, she likes to look outside . But if you really want her to stay off, set a mouse trap and cover it with a sheet of newspaper. When the dog jumps up landing on the newspaper will snap the trap and will scare it off. After a few shots of this, he won't go near it again. You can leave just a sheet of newspaper to make the dog think the trap is there when you can't be supervising.