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We started with Junior Mink not being allowed on furniture without permission. When he put his paws up on something, we'd just do that annoyed "ahgt-ahgt" noise.
He's four and a half now and we lot him sleep with us. He won't get up on the bed until one of us say "come up."
I think catching them the moment they start to put a paw up helps.
@mink: I wish I had started in the first place. I am definitely going to work on it with her. I just think she will sneak up when we aren't home, but I will work on it and hopefully she will be trustworthy once she gets the "new rules." Thanks!
I heard about a reflective blanket that you can throw on furniture to discourage dogs jumping up.
I think this is it:http://www.petco.com/product/111368/PetzOff-Furniture-Deterrent-Blanket-for-Pets
not sure if it works though
We are dealing with this, too! We had old, crummy couches so we let our dog sit with us from day 1. When we got nice, new couches a few months ago the battle began. We said "no" when she tried to get on the couch and made sure she had a nice place to lay of her own. She didn't get it and kept trying over and over and over for a long time. We just had to consistently say "no." I had to keep telling myself no, too, because I miss laying with her!
She understands now that she's not allowed on the couches and will lay on her beds and blankets.
I'm not gonna lie and say that I haven't found the throw pillows all out of whack and the couch suprisingly warm when I come home from work, though 
We did. We actually bought a couple dog beds that we put in the room, and when they jumped on the couch we redirected them to their beds. I started when we still had yucky furniture, and by the time the new stuff arrived we were all trained.
We did! For the first 3 years we had our dogs they were allowed on the couch, we have 2 big dogs. But when we got new furniture we wanted to keep it nice. So now they are not allowed up on the sofas. We made sure they have beds of their own that are nice and comfy. We would put the cushions up whenever we left the house so they couldnt get up on the sofa. It took a few weeks but they got it. I have also heard of putting one of those mats that has the little prongs on the bottom on the sofa prong side up so it is not comfy for them to lay on it, ya know the plastic runners people put on carpet under their office chair so it rolls. Good luck it just takes patience and time.
@mrsmjm: LOL! That is so funny. I know, that is what I am thinking will happen- she will know we are coming down the hall and make a run for it :) I guess all I can do is be consistent and hope she learns :/ Trust her, I guess :/ I will definitely get her her own little "couch"/ dog bed next to the couch, so that should definitely help. She is still allowed on our bed though, so I am hoping this won't even be an issue (who wouldn't rather pick the nice large human bed than the cold leather couch anyway, right dog? :)
@L2sweetpea:Great idea. I am going to try just that! Glad you had some sweet success. :)
@Knubbsy-Wubbsy: Huh. I will look it up, thanks for the suggestion.
@pinkb: Thanks for the encouragement, I am going to try all of these ideas if I have to, so thanks!
Great ideas!
Our dogs are spoiled rotten and are allowed on the furniture at our house. However, we started early on inviting them up and asking them to get off just to teach them that we were in charge of the couch, not them. This was only mildly successful though because we aren't good at enforcing it when they jump up without being asked.
Anyway, my sister's house is no dogs on the couch and at first we were nervous about our dogs being there and keeping them off the furniture. These are some of the things we did to work on it with our dogs:
- when one of them got on the couch we'd immediately say "No, off the couch." Every single person in the family knew to say just that so that it became a consistent command.
-we set up blankets & Charlie's bed on the floor in the living room so they had their cozy places to relax.
- keeping them from rough housing/running around/chasing each other or my sister's dog when they're at her house. That way, should they get on the couch, they are doing it gently, not running around like crazy, messing up the cushions, etc. I think just keeping them calm there helped with impulse control.
- we (the humans) sat on the floor a lot at my sister's. Mostly, my dogs like to get on the couch because they want to cuddle with us humans. If we're on the floor, most of the incentive of being on the couch is removed. :)
Doing these things over the course of one weekend at my sister's basically taught them not to get on the couch there. Now, the only time my little guy (see profile pic) gets on the couch there is when he's really sleepy and it just breaks my heart to say "No, off the couch." Poor buddy.
Good luck with this cbee - I hope it works out!
@cbee: We let our dog on the couches but we put blankets on them because they're nice leather. FH had the dog before he met me so she also slept on the bed. When I moved in we got her to stop pretty fast, just because the queen bed isnt big enough for me, FH and a 70lb lab! Shes also wants praise and approval ALL the time so she is easy to train though.
We got her her own bed and she would sleep on that, now she sleeps next to the bed. Though sometimes during the day FH catches her sleeping human-like with her head on the pillows and all!
I think if you have a bed or some blankets for your dog and keep saying 'no' theres a good shot you get get him off the couch...at least when you're looking.
Honk at them when they try to get up on there. I swear, dogs hate it when you honk at them and it is a great deterant to alot of things.
Ummm so I am not crazy. Just hear me out. My dog used to be allowed on the couches but that changed when we got leather. We started with the no down thing. Well he used to always sneak on the couch when we wern't around. Well one day when I was walking up stairs I heard him jump off the couch. I went up to the couch he just jumped off and yelled at it. I told it that it was a bad couch and other crazy stuff like that. He never went on the couch again. Dogs don't want to be associated with bad things so that is what he associated the couch with, getting in trouble.
I was given the tip from a friend who wanted to stop her dogs from sneaking food off her plate. It worked.
@PennyLainne: LOL! This is purely awesome. SO funny. I know what you mean though, you really have to "work with their mind" to try to trick them into changing- you really got into your dog's sweet innocent head :) That is hilarious! I will think about it :) Thanks for sharing.
@twodoghouse: Great info, thank you! I like getting on the floor with them too. I know what you mean about keeping them calm inside. Once I made the mistake of playing "hide the ball" with my dog (she loves fetch, it was like hide-and-seek) but she got so carried away she peed on the carpet right in front of me! (!!! This is something she would never ever ever do!) It was so weird, my husband and I were in complete shock, and we decided never again to have hyper energy in the house. Like little kids, they get carried away and go overboard! I also know what you mean about wanting dog to be comfy when it is sleepy. I spoil my dog by letting her on the bed and DH has finally gotten over it :)
@Stammie16: Cute! I love labs :) I think that a nice doggie bed is definitely the key. Right next to the couch. She too loves to sleep human style with head on pillow!
@tksjewelry: That would definitely freak her out! :)
We don't allow our dog(s) on the couch for a variety of reasons. I don't believe in it from a training standpoint, (no couch, no bed, dog is not allowed in our bedroom without permission). Also, because we do foster care for dogs, we do not allow it because it's easier for an adoptive family to tell them they CAN be on the couch, if they choose to allow it, then it is for them to try and change a behavior they've learned from the foster family is acceptable.
But we've had to teach many foster dogs to stay off the couch. Being consistent is the most important thing...if you make her get down 9 times, but allow her up 1, she will think it's still okay. So pick your rule, (NO couch at all, couch ONLY when invited, or whatever you and DH decide), and stick to your guns. If she gets up, tell her "OFF" and make her get off the couch; do NOT use "down" unless you have a different word to tell her to lay down, or she'll just lay down on the couch and look at you like, "I'm doing what you want!" It's best if you can catch them before they are fully on the couch, (like Mink suggested), but sometimes you have dogs like my last foster who would jump up on the couch and curl up on a cushion and look at you with those big puppy eyes in about two seconds flat. Oh, he was a hard one to make stay down just because he was so damn cute about it! LOL!
It can be difficult for some dogs to understand that "No Couch" means "No-Couch-Even-When-Mom-and-Dad-Aren't-Here." Being consistent when you ARE there helps. Victoria Stilwell has an awesome technique where they have a camera in the home so they can see the dog getting on the couch, (or whatever bad behavior they are trying to deter the dog from doing), from outside the home, then the owner yells, "OFF!" into a microphone and the dog gets off the couch wondering where the hell mom is hiding! They learn pretty quickly that way, but it's not an option for most people to hide a camera and use a microphone and speaker to get the dog's attention. 
@PennyLainne: Lol! That is hilarious! I'm going to try that next time Lola sneaks a little nap!
@cbee: It's pretty funny when the pillow are pushed all around and she's looking at me like she's super innocent!
I'm almost positive that my dog just learned never to get on the furniture when we were home. I'm 99% sure she still did it when we were all out...
I am pretty sure we could if we were 100% motivated too. But our dog is quite gentle on the sofa, and we have a throw over it anyway which makes it easier to clean. I think if you just get into the habit and giving a negative voice to your dog, and get them to get down when they attempt to climb on, your dog will get the message eventually.
Heres our progress.. works well.. haha
I don't have dogs, but I dog sit for two of my friends and what I do is just confine them to my bedroom during the day then monitor them in the evenings. We have a nice brand new leather chair so I'll just put a big throw pillow on top of it because they LOVE to jump up on it and we've already had a couple of small scratch marks. As far as the couch, they still jump up, but at least we can put them on a blanket or on our laps. No training for us obviously since they aren't our dogs!
They used to sell this spray that smelled like apples but dogs hate it. It is very subtle and you can spray on your couches. This might make him not want to go on the couch. You should be able to buy it at Petsmart/Petco
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I would love to train my dog to stop getting on the couch, has anyone had success with this? I never had a nice couch, so I never cared and now that we are getting something nice I am regretting that :/
I was just wondering if anyone had any good suggestions. She is free during the day, and is a really trainable, smart, wonderful dog.. at the same time, it is hard to train her "new" things she used to love doing- like getting on the couch!
Thanks bees :)