Pets on furniture

Question
We have a 3 year old lab who is not allowed on furniture but loves to sit on our church pew because he can put his head on the arm and look out the window.  We have a new couch, which I put the cushions up so he would not get on it, but he manages to push them down and sleep on the couch at night and jump off when he hears somebody coming.  We also have two leather chairs that he loves to sleep on.. I have now put books on them and he stays off.  He is very very resourceful trying to find a place that he can sleep if there is an armrest to rest his head.  I am becoming very frustrated as our living room looks like a libary with books all over the furniture.  What else can I use to keep him frompushing the books aside and getting up. Please help.  Colette Turcot

Answer
Have you considered getting him a dog bed with an 'armrest' to lay his head on?



Is there any way you can block him out of the room where the couch is located? That's what I would do when you cannot keep an eye on him. You can also buy training aids to teach him to keep off the furniture. These range from plastic 'sheets' with prickly nubs on them, to cans that spray a blast of air when whatever they're sitting on is disturbed,  to devices that administer a mild static shock when the dog touches them, to devices that operate on the same principle as the invisible fence system for the yard.