Students

Whether you should you allow your dog on your furniture or not is really a personal choice. But, either way, the decision needs to be taught, earned, and controlled by the family. This is Rocky. He’s a bullmastiff puppy and, as cute as that face is, there’s a bit of a drool problem. So, understandably, his family would like to limit his furniture privileges to an area that is covered with a washable throw. Cleanliness is definitely a human desire, so how can Rocky ever understand the concept of staying on the throw? By using a Place command. Once we have taught that Place means to relax on a marker of some type, it doesn’t matter whether that marker is a dog bed, a bath mat, a chair, or a washable throw on the sofa. Being consistent with asking him to Place, helping him stay on the throw, encouraging him to ignore anything going on around him and then — most importantly — teaching him to get off when told to will make this a dog who is welcome on the furniture. A+, Rocky!