Help with training our puppies to stay off furniture

Hi there, I am currently trying to train my 2 puppies to stay off the sofa/furniture. It is my own fault that we are having to do this because we have allowed them on the sofa up til now. We had a dog before which we lost in march this yr at 12 yrs old, he was always allowed to sit with us so when we got Bailey (7.5 months old) we carried on the same. We then decided to get another puppy (Molly 5.5 months old) which we also allowed on sofa. The problem I'm having is they are both very attached to me which is lovely but on an evening after our walk they would both have to sit with me and both would have to be touching me. My hubby and I talked about it and decided this couldn't go on for the next 15 years especially when they are both fully grown. So hence the title have been trying to stop them jumping on the sofa. We have bought them a large cushion for our front room, everytime they lay on it we praise them but this just makes them run up to us and jump up again. Is it just a case of keeping with it? When they jump up we say down and put them on the floor, Bailey seems to be getting it but Molly is very persistent. Have I started a behaviour I will not be able to change? Am I being cruel not allowing them to sit with me? Any advice would be greatly received. Thank you for reading

Simply all you have to do is remove them from the furniture everytime.. if she is persistent - you have to be extra persistent, equally, you could teach them on and off with a clicker - make a game out of it - they get treats for on and treats for off.. and also teach them that going to bed means they get treats..

Do you know about clicker training?

I don't see how you think keeping them off your furniture is cruel - they didn't pay for it afterall and you did not buy it for them..

The only thing to say though - is you have to be consistent - if they aren't allowed on the sofa - then it needs to be clear to them - if it isn't and they are allowed up once - then they will be confused and think they'll always be allowed..

Thank you for your reply, I know a bit about clicker training as Molly and I attended training classes using clickers. Molly seemed to struggle a bit with the clicker as everytime she heard the clicker she would jump up expecting a treat so the teacher said to stop using it. We will continue removing them from the sofa and hopefully in time it should get less and less. Currently they are both asleep on their cushion although it did take around 15 attempts from Molly trying to jump on sofa with me but it's progress all the same. Thanks again

Think about it - If I allowed you to take a cookie out of the jar whenever you wanted too - then suddenly decided you couldn't, you'd not think any different and keep doing it. They're just confused and time will sort it out..

Something you can do, is hold the treat by yourside.. let her lick and nibble until she stops then click and treat.. you have to teach her patience..

A simple way to remove her from the sofa is to have treats handy and then throw one on the floor when she hops off, click - she must hear the click before she gets the treat though. then add the word "Off"

It will take time, but they're just puppies. You could always allow them on the furniture but if you want to sit on the sofa they have to move when told.. All mine are taught this but with me having a corner sofa now - they move from where I want to sit to a different part, I have trouble teaching Louie (my pup) that people are not seats

EDIT: When removing stay calm - if you get mad then they won't learn, frustration won't help either..

Ok, thank you. I would be happy for them to sit on the sofa with me if they didn't need to be sat on me. I'll try giving them treats when they get down and I wouldn't get mad with them, they are only puppies and I know I've confused them with allowing it to start with. I realise it's my behaviour that has changed not theirs.

Um...this is the idea though. Click ALWAYS means a reward. A lot of people, me included, have the click end the behaviour meaning the dog is free to get up/stop what it's doing to get the treat. Or do you mean she was jumping up at you?

As for the furniture, just keep removing them when they get up. Give them fusses while they're on the floor and reward them for being there. It's not cruel to not want the dogs on the furniture.

Um...this is the idea though. Click ALWAYS means a reward. A lot of people, me included, have the click end the behaviour meaning the dog is free to get up/stop what it's doing to get the treat. Or do you mean she was jumping up at you?

Yes, she was jumping up at me and the trainer. She is a very excitable puppy ( I know they all are as puppies ). She will jump up to the point of doing somersaults in the air lol. I will continue to remove them every time they jump on the sofa. Thank you

My dogs don`t tend to get on the sofa (I really don`t mind if they do) because they have more comfortable beds on the floor and I sit on the floor with them a lot.

It is really simple to teach the dogs to stay off furniture.

And the best way to do it is to teach "on" and "off" as paired commands.

So basically a dog learns the cue for "on" and learns the cue for "off", you reinforce both.

And you generalise it not only to the furniture but to steps, their beds, etc etc.

This makes life very simple and removes all conflict.

If you need further help on how to use clicker training to help, we can elaborate.

HTH