keeping my dog off the furniture

Question
i have a 18 month old female maltese who was raised very spoiled.  i really want to keep her from jumping and laying on the couches.  How do i accomplish this?  

Answer
First, I would like to ask you a question. Do you usually sit on the couches, and how often, or are the couches not used a lot? The reason I am asking is because maltese dogs are lapdogs. They like to be in the lap, on the couch and bed with you for attention and love. If you often give love and attention on the couch, the dog will continually go to the couch for more attention and memories. If this is the case, reassociate another area with love and attention. Does your dog scratch or pee on the couches? If so, I can give you additional help. Does your dog have any previous training either by you or outside help? If yes, use heel or sit combined with toys and love at the same time so your dog will begin appropriate behavior instead of immediately jumping on the couch. In order to train her how NOT to jump on the couches, I reccomend getting rid of the jumping that may be related to other behaviors such as begging and greeting at the door. If your dog also participates in these behaviors, you need to look at the ceiling with your arms crossed until she sits. Then reward with love or controlled cheese, penut butter or your favorite treat.  I know this sounds crazy, and you will feel weird doing it, but after at least two to three weeks, you can train your dog not to jump on you and hopefully the couches. In order to get rid of the begging, which may take longer to train for, may require isolated eating, which I do not do, and ignoring, which I do do. The problem with begging is that dogs have been doing it since they first met man back in the stoneage! It is in their genes to mooch!  Ecspecially in these days where humans give food to dogs instead of them hunting for it, getting rid of begging is harder to do. The main thing is persistance in NOT giving food to the dog when it is not their time to eat, but yours. Sooner or later, they will have to give up.
Write back and I can give you some more information and tips on how to specifically train her and help you.