Best way to teach your dog not jump on the furniture?

I used scat mats.

My sister, owner of three large and gallumphy dogs, used 8’ wooden poles. She laid them on each arm of her sofas, over the center of the cushions.. of course, no one else could sit on the sofas either until the poles were removed.

You could try the low tech version of scat mats (strategically placed mouse traps covered completely by newspapers)

SNAP, STARTLE, JUMP OFF. After a few rounds of that and you see him avoiding it and you can just leave the newspapers, since he doesn’t have X-Ray vision.

But if that fails, pay the bucks and spring for some scat mats. They really do work. Or get slipcovers and let him enjoy being up with his favorite people :)

I’m training our new dog by saying firmly, “Get down [insert name],” and give a quick clap. When he jumps down, I rub him all over, say “Good boy!” and give him one of his treats. When he gets on our bed, I pretty much do the same, but then I re-direct him to his own bed and say, ”Your bed. Good boy!”

It’s only our first day of training, but he’s doing very well, so far.

You need to be consistent with telling him no or down when he tries to get on the furniture. You have to use the same word every time. Don’t use the word no one day then down the next. You also can’t let him jump up on your lap when you are sitting. That’s an invitation to jump up to your level and he might think he can also jump on furniture.

This is what has worked for our two large dogs. We’ve never had a problem with them getting on any of our furniture.

After you train “No” and train “Down” if you continue to reinforce both (positively) you should have little problem having him obey for furniture.

That’s great for when you’re there, but what happens when you’re not home ?

I was assuming that’s what was being asked, since dealing with your dogs when you’re there is the easy part, relatively speaking :)

Are you wanting the dog to completely stay off the couch, even when you are away? Or do you mean you want the dog off when sitting on it yourself?
We taught our dog the word off, so that is what we say when we want her off the couch. Down is used for lay down. Being consistent is extremely important.

Here are some useful tips to help with training in whichever outcome you are seeking.

@Buttonstc As far as we know our dogs don’t get on the couch when we are not home. If they do get on the couch they don’t leave any evidence. They don’t get on the furniture when they learn it is off limits.

@Buttonstc By doing what @WillWorkForChocolate is doing with her dog, they will eventually stop trying to get on the sofa altogether (providing the training is consistent, like @jonsblond says, it is very confusing if one minute the dog is allowed up on the sofa but another time it isn’t). Sure, they may try their luck when your not there to begin with and when my customers ask me how to get their young puppy (or untrained adult) to stop getting on the sofa when they are not there I tell them to keep the dog in another room (from the sofas) while they are not there to supervise until the dog isn’t attempting to get on the sofa. For short absences a crate may come in useful for a while.