When I adopted Lucy some 3 1/2 years ago, my rule was "no dogs on the furniture." My friend and then roommate, PennPal, had her own interpretation of that rule, which said the dog could sit on her lap while she sat on the furniture or lie on her belly while she slept in her bed. Strangely, Lucy didn't quite follow this line of reasoning and came to believe that she could be on the furniture -- especially when we couldn't see her (or were sound asleep in bed). Over the years, she learned that she wasn't supposed to be on the furniture -- but her interpretation was that she only couldn't be on it if we were there or if we could see her or if, well, she got caught. After Wes and I got married, we taught her to stay out of the bedroom (took a few nights of her crying outside the door; guess I should have use the No Cry Sleep Solution :), but it took a baby gate to keep her off the couch. Since moving to Chicago, we continued to keep her out of the bedroom (save for one stretch during which Wes and I both caved). But we did give in on one piece of furniture. See, when they were living in Virginia, Wes's parents had a chair that Lucy loved to get up in, and evidently it was a chair favored for years by various pets at that home: Cookie, Addie, and any number of cats. We figured "when in Rome" and let her in it as long as no human wanted to sit there. The chair was close the size, shape, and even color of a chair we inherited from my old principal for our new apartment. Our chair was sitting in a teacher's workroom. I loved the color, how low it was (hey, I'm short), and it's non-plushness (we have a 600 sq. ft. apartment!). We tried to keep Lucy out of it for a while, but she liked it because she could see out the windows when she climbed up in it. Finally, we consented, but since she is a dog, we try to keep a pad of some kind in it to keep the chair from taking on her smell and remove it when we're having guests.
As you can see, Lucy has made herself comfortable in this chair. When the windows are open, she'll put her paws on the armrest and stretch towards the nearest window to sniff and inhale the scents from the various restaurants. She likes to sleep in it at night, alternating between that and her bed. I sometimes have to remind her not to lick the chair fabric (what's with that anyway?), but otherwise she's fairly well behaved. She even sits with her paws crossed, just like a lady.
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Here's my story of dogs and furniture and beds.
Kodi--not allowed in the bedroom ever. However, if we went camping he was allowed to sleep next to us. He loved camping. He was allowed on the futon, which we used as a couch.
Kodi and Molly--not allowed in the bedroom. Except we spent a week in our old house without furniture before we left for VA. We slept on an air mattress that we had also used for a few car camping trips. Kodi interpreted this as license to sleep with us. Molly followed suit.
Kodi and Molly in VA--not allowed in bedroom at all. Then Inwe came along. Kodi would not be parted from the newest family addition. Dogs now in bedroom but on the floor. Futon goes away. Kodi sulks on the floor.
Ursa comes along--gets up on any furniture because she was so cute as a puppy next to the girls. She was sooooo sweet. Not allowed on the bed. Then Phill went out of town. Ursa couldn't sleep as she was waiting for Phill to come home. I let her on the bed so I could sleep. She now gets on the bed 4 out of 7 nights a week, but only if we are on it.
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