How To Keep A Foster Off The Furniture

[Meandmy]

We're going to be picking up a foster this weekend who is a return. From what I understand all the dogs were allowed on the furniture. I've only fostered a couple of times and neither one of them was interested in the furniture. Our Tori, on the other hand, *lives* on our sofa.

 

I'm wondering how I can keep the foster off, especially when we aren't home? I hate to make Tori stay off as that will be confusing for her, but I will if I have to. My group has made it very clear that they don't want fosters on the furniture, regardless of the circumstances.

 

So what should I do?

[greyhounds1234]

Just keep it a secret!

[AliWest]

Just keep it a secret!

:rofl I've had two fosters that loved the couch ( and bed ) even though the group's rules are no furniture. With the first foster her new dad was thrilled that she liked to sleep in the bed with the humans. I only had her overnight so didn't have the opportunity to work with her on that. She was such a good dog that she was adopted quick. With the second foster I had her long enough to teach her the off command so if her new family didn't want her on the furniture they could get her off without trouble. It's funny as I sit here thinking about it, both were little black females that liked the couch and bed. I miss them.

[christinepi]

Would that be a problem if Tori stayed on the couch and the foster couldn't? It's not like dogs have a concept of "fairness". Or is there something I'm missing?

[Meandmy]

Would that be a problem if Tori stayed on the couch and the foster couldn't? It's not like dogs have a concept of "fairness". Or is there something I'm missing?

 

It's not the fairness thing (although I don't think it's fair ) it's that if no one was allowed on the furniture I could just block it all off when not at home. But with Tori being allowed on the furniture I'm not sure how to keep the foster off when I'm not there. I have no issue with getting him off the furniture when I'm home (except that I'll feel bad ).

[Guest mbfilby]

Our three are allowed on the furniture. Our foster Loki has shown no desire to get up with them, and we just don't invite him up. It seems to be working out OK.

[kudzu]

Actually, a study showed that dogs do have a concept of what we would consider fairness. So don't assume the foster wouldn't view it that way. However, in our house fosters aren't allowed on furniture no matter what resident dogs do. And I've never asked my dogs their feelings on whether it is fair for the cats to sleep on the human bed while the dogs use dog beds on the floor. (I'm afraid to hear the answer. )

 

Your best bet to keep fosters off the furniture is the same way you prevent them from developing other unwanted behaviors. Teach them what you want them to do instead & supervise them or confine them when you cannot so you can ensure they do not get the opportunity to do what they shouldn't. Reward them just for being on dog beds & prevent them from getting on furniture. Also, train them a command to get on their beds like Go Bed or Go Mat. This way if something slips & they get on the furniture you can call them back over to their bed & reward them when they get there. If you've already done the preliminary training then they will abandon the human furniture in order to do what they know is rewarding. (Their future family will love you for this.) And KEEP rewarding them off & on when you see them on a dog bed. Don't wait until they do something unwanted. Reward them randomly just for being good.

 

In this manner your foster will soon learn what mine know. Occasionally, for no particular reason, food rains down from the sky for dogs on dog beds.

 

Disclaimer: We have only one piece of furniture dogs are allowed on & really it is only dog not dogs. Venus has her own chair. Sol sometimes gets on it & we turn a blind eye as long as Venus doesn't seem to want her chair at that point.

[Guest BrianRke]

I can see the reasoning behind not wanting fosters on furniture. I also think that if someone is willing to foster a dog, it should be their decision whether or not to let them on the furniture.

 

Even if an adopter comes along that doesnt want their new dog on the furniture, I dont think it would be that hard to keep him off of it, even if it was allowed at his foster home.

 

My reasoning for saying this is, My dogs are allowed on all the furniture EXCEPT for one couch and one bed. All it took was a couple times saying "OFF" and they got the message. When I take them to other people houses, I dont let them on their furniture and they are fine with it.

 

So I think just because a dog is allowed on furniture in one place, he wont expect to be allowed on it everywhere, atleast this is the case with my own dogs.

[kudzu]

I can see the reasoning behind not wanting fosters on furniture. I also think that if someone is willing to foster a dog, it should be their decision whether or not to let them on the furniture.

Another way to look at it is that you are not just agreeing to foster but agreeing to abide by the group's rules. Our group doesn't want fosters on furniture. One of the reasons is quite valid. New dogs are still somewhat unknown quantities as far as space issues are concerned. So new dogs on furniture can be problematic for the new adoption family. This become particularly important when little children are involved. Their faces are often right on dog tooth level if the child is toddling around & the dog is on the furniture. Better for that type of face to face event to happen later when everyone knows each other better.

 

And on the subject of other ways to look at things, it could be reasoned that dogs being bounced fall into a slightly different category. If the dog is already well mannered & used to safely, politely sharing human furniture in their current home then an exemption could be made for them in their foster home. At the same time though you could say that the foster home is a new environment so it makes sense to start retraining then with not allowing dogs on the furniture there.

 

So I think just because a dog is allowed on furniture in one place, he wont expect to be allowed on it everywhere, atleast this is the case with my own dogs.

Similar thing here. No problem with dogs being allowed on one or two pieces of furniture & forbidden to be on others. When we travel our dogs are not allowed on any furniture where we are staying. Except even there we had an exception for Luke. I brought along a king size comforter to throw over one piece of furniture in the new location then invited Luke up. He then knew that was his spot. He didn't try for other furniture & the other dogs didn't get on Luke's spot. It isn't that we trained them NOT to get in his spot. It is that we trained them to use their own spots, that being the dog beds.

[greytpups]

I can see the reasoning behind not wanting fosters on furniture. I also think that if someone is willing to foster a dog, it should be their decision whether or not to let them on the furniture.

 

Even if an adopter comes along that doesnt want their new dog on the furniture, I dont think it would be that hard to keep him off of it, even if it was allowed at his foster home.

 

My reasoning for saying this is, My dogs are allowed on all the furniture EXCEPT for one couch and one bed. All it took was a couple times saying "OFF" and they got the message. When I take them to other people houses, I dont let them on their furniture and they are fine with it.

 

So I think just because a dog is allowed on furniture in one place, he wont expect to be allowed on it everywhere, atleast this is the case with my own dogs.

 

I don't think you given thought to the first time adopter who may have to deal with space aggression now if they are unfamilar with "dogs" in general and the new pup growls. We've seen a few threads about this on GT.

 

Our pups are not allowed on furniture, nor have they ever tried to get up. I don't want to have to retrain them...simple as that. It has nothing to do with love, I spend lots of time on the floor cuddling.

[MaryJane]

I can see the reasoning behind not wanting fosters on furniture. I also think that if someone is willing to foster a dog, it should be their decision whether or not to let them on the furniture.

 

Even if an adopter comes along that doesnt want their new dog on the furniture, I dont think it would be that hard to keep him off of it, even if it was allowed at his foster home.

 

 

 

 

IMHO, when you foster a dog you do it under the terms of the adoption group rules and one of them is usually going to be not to let the dog on the furniture (adoption groups, I may be wrong and feel free to correct me if I am). The reason for this is that it is very tough for a first time adopter to get a dog off a piece of furniture and this is when many groups will see a "dog bite" occur. Even for someone that has had dogs before, trying to get an 85 lb dog (maybe even growling dog) off a bed is not what you want an adopter faced with on their first or second day.

 

Since I have fostered frequently and have one right now, none of my dogs are allowed on the furniture that way the foster does not get up on the furniture because the others are doing it.

 

If you want to let the foster dog up on the furniture - discuss with the group and see what they say. They may not want you fostering if this is what you are gong to do or, they may decide that having foster homes is more important -- either way, IMO it is up to the adoption group since they have to adopt out the dog that you are fostering.

[Meandmy]

I appreciate everyone's input, but I don't think I'm being clear enough here.

 

I will not be letting my foster on the furniture. That is not the issue. My question is, what is the best way to keep the foster off the furniture (especially when we are not home) given the fact that our resident dog is allowed on the furniture?

 

Do I need to blockade the sofa so that my dog can't get on it in order to keep the foster dog off?

 

I'm sure I'm not the first person in this situation and would love to hear how others handle it.

 

BTW, my foster is at another fosterer's house until I can take him this weekend and has already tried to get up on their furniture so I know this is going to be an issue.

 

Thanks!

[Pepperjack]

My foster was always in the crate when I was not around, so that's how I kept them off the furniture.

[Guest KennelMom]

When you aren't there, it's going to be really hard to make sure the dog doesn't get on the furniture if they already have the proclivity to climb up. And, you may not even know...most of our dogs are waiting by the door when we get home so there's no telling who was/wasn't on the sofa. When you can't supervise, 100% prevention is the only way to be sure...that means, physically preventing any dog from getting up there or crating the foster.

 

eta: For a general foster, we tend to always crate them when we aren't home and at night. They aren't a member of our pack and they aren't our dog, so I don't feel right making up whatever rules I want for them. I think it's better to have more rules and let the forever home decide if they want to be more lax. It's much harder to go from fewer rules to more rules. Bounces are always a case-by-case basis. But I generally think it's best to keep a clear delineation between fosters and the current pack.

 

as an aside - I think dogs have a sense of fairness...but it's not always what we think is fair.

 

Even if an adopter comes along that doesnt want their new dog on the furniture, I dont think it would be that hard to keep him off of it, even if it was allowed at his foster home.

 

That made me L.O.L.

Edited December 14, 2011 by KennelMom

[kudzu]

My question is, what is the best way to keep the foster off the furniture (especially when we are not home) given the fact that our resident dog is allowed on the furniture?

To quote myself:

Your best bet to keep fosters off the furniture is the same way you prevent them from developing other unwanted behaviors. Teach them what you want them to do instead & supervise them or confine them when you cannot so you can ensure they do not get the opportunity to do what they shouldn't.

[Meandmy]

My question is, what is the best way to keep the foster off the furniture (especially when we are not home) given the fact that our resident dog is allowed on the furniture?

To quote myself:

Your best bet to keep fosters off the furniture is the same way you prevent them from developing other unwanted behaviors. Teach them what you want them to do instead & supervise them or confine them when you cannot so you can ensure they do not get the opportunity to do what they shouldn't.

 

Yeah, I was just hoping for a magic fix I hadn't thought of that would allow Tori on the sofa and not Dancer Ah well, as I said we'll teach him to stay off the sofa while we're home and he'll be crated at least for a bit while we're at work. We'll cross the bridge of him having free reign when we come to it.

 

Thanks!

[Guest BrianRke]

I had not taken space aggression into consideration. I was thinking they just did not want them in the habit of being on furniture in case the person adopting them did not want them on the furniture.

 

 

KennelMom, Im glad I could make you LOL. I love having my opinions laughed at. I can see why so many people I know have quit posting on this forum. Its because of the condescending attitutes of some members.

Edited December 14, 2011 by BrianRke

[Guest BrianRke]

I can see the reasoning behind not wanting fosters on furniture. I also think that if someone is willing to foster a dog, it should be their decision whether or not to let them on the furniture.

 

Even if an adopter comes along that doesnt want their new dog on the furniture, I dont think it would be that hard to keep him off of it, even if it was allowed at his foster home.

 

 

 

 

IMHO, when you foster a dog you do it under the terms of the adoption group rules and one of them is usually going to be not to let the dog on the furniture (adoption groups, I may be wrong and feel free to correct me if I am). The reason for this is that it is very tough for a first time adopter to get a dog off a piece of furniture and this is when many groups will see a "dog bite" occur. Even for someone that has had dogs before, trying to get an 85 lb dog (maybe even growling dog) off a bed is not what you want an adopter faced with on their first or second day.

 

Since I have fostered frequently and have one right now, none of my dogs are allowed on the furniture that way the foster does not get up on the furniture because the others are doing it.

 

If you want to let the foster dog up on the furniture - discuss with the group and see what they say. They may not want you fostering if this is what you are gong to do or, they may decide that having foster homes is more important -- either way, IMO it is up to the adoption group since they have to adopt out the dog that you are fostering.

I agree that you must abide by the adoption groups rules. My group, Star City Greyhounds, does NOT have a rule that fosters can not get on furniture.

 

Sorry to the OP for getting the discussion off your original question. Good luck with your new foster.

[Meandmy]

 

Sorry to the OP for getting the discussion off your original question. Good luck with your new foster.

 

No worries at all - I always learn something, regardless of where GT threads end up. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't being misunderstood

[Guest KennelMom]

I had not taken space aggression into consideration. I was thinking they just did not want them in the habit of being on furniture in case the person adopting them did not want them on the furniture.

 

 

KennelMom, Im glad I could make you LOL. I love having my opinions laughed at. I can see why so many people I know have quit posting on this forum. Its because of the condescending attitutes of some members.

 

 

When you state something like that so matter-of-fact, speaking off the cuff and with no experience (that you cite)...it's, well, funny. Because I *have* been there, done that. And habits like that are not usually easy to break. Why is everyone so darn sensitive? Geez....

[Guest BrianRke]

I've had dogs for over 30 years of my life and have trained all of them to some degree. Some of them I have trained to stay off furniture, the ones I have now have been trained to stay off certain pieces of furniture. I never had that much difficulty with it. I have always found furniture training to be relatively easy compared to other things.

Edited December 14, 2011 by BrianRke

[TinyMityMo]

I appreciate everyone's input, but I don't think I'm being clear enough here.

 

I will not be letting my foster on the furniture. That is not the issue. My question is, what is the best way to keep the foster off the furniture (especially when we are not home) given the fact that our resident dog is allowed on the furniture?

 

Do I need to blockade the sofa so that my dog can't get on it in order to keep the foster dog off?

 

I'm sure I'm not the first person in this situation and would love to hear how others handle it.

 

BTW, my foster is at another fosterer's house until I can take him this weekend and has already tried to get up on their furniture so I know this is going to be an issue.

 

Thanks!

 

crate your foster when you aren't around.