How to keep pets off furniture?

It is true that you can love your pet so much that it just becomes your companion, just like any other member of the family. That’s a good idea, but remember always that however trained a pet is, it will never achieve the same thinking capacity like that of your fellow human being. The pet does not learn by thinking like the human being, but by habits. Once it learns to do something, lots of effort will be required to make it reverse the learning process.

Your lovely pet dog or cat has of late learned that the sofa or any other kind of furniture offers a good resting place. There is no problem with that, but you might find yourself inconvenienced by the habit. Once it gets used to it, it will be as if it has a right to ownership. One day you will have visitors and the pet dog will refuse to budge from the seat, embarrassing you in your own house. The other problem is that the pet will transfer pet hair to the furniture and other kinds of dust through its feet.

You need to come up with effective ways of preventing the behavior or making the pet stay away from the furniture. Some of the most effective and proven methods are:

Preventive measure

The most effective method that can be used to keep your pets away from your furniture is ensuring that they do not learn the habit in the first place. If you find your pet sleeping on the furniture, hold it by the neck cuff and gently pull it away. Give the pet appropriate commands that will make it know that’s an off-bound place. If practiced consistently it will keep the pet off.

Use of pet-related implements

Some of the implements used for feeding, cleaning pet hair and dirt and carrying the dog around can be used effectively to keep the dog away from your furniture.

l Pet hair vacuum cleaner- The vacuum cleaner will have two uses as far as pets are concerned. A vacuum cleaner is a useful tool that is used to remove pet hair from your cushions and furniture fabric. The vacuum cleaner produces a sharp voice and vibrations that will be uncomfortable to the ears. If well directed at the sleeping pet, it will make it spring away in panic.

If used that way consistently, the dog or cat will realize that furniture is not a place intended for it. You can make use of other noise producing items like aluminum foils. It is very effective in producing unpleasant sound but it won’t harm your pet in any other way.

• Pet carrier- The tool will effectively confine the pet and make it keep off the furniture.
• Pet food- Always ensures to keep any pet food away from any furniture. The pet will get used to feeding in areas far from the furniture.

Provide Alternatives

You will not be fair to the pet if you keep it off the furniture and let it sleep on the floor. This can lead to problems like joint pains. Instead, provide your pet with an alternative. You can get something comfortable with a comfy bed which is a good resting place for your pet. You can also designate one of the furniture as the resting place. But make sure to let it know that it is the only furniture they can jump on. That way the pet will learn by habit that the alternative place is the right place to be.

Block access

Blocking any access to the furniture is another very simple method of keeping the pets away from your couches and other furniture. You can place folding chairs and utensils on the furniture blocking complete access. This removes any temptation the pet can have to jump on your furniture.

Use a trap

Just place a gentle booby trap on the furniture especially when you are not in the house. You can use empty soda cans on the furniture in a way that they trap the pet as it lands on the furniture. Let the bunch of cans be in a pyramid formation such that they frighten the pet off as they fall. This done consistently will let the dog or cat know that the place is out of bound. However, instead of a trap, you should use pet deterrent to get rid of outside stray cats and dogs.