[aznVampire]

Louie's getting pretty big now, which means he'll be able to jump on the couch soon. I don't want to allow him on the couch since he's going to be a big dog, and my parents don't want him on the couch.

How can I teach him that getting on the couch is never acceptable?

 

[Amaryllis]

Praise being other places, like his bed, crate or a special rug for him on the floor. Train a "go to mat" command to teach him to go to his rug/mat on command. Train "off" to get him off the couch. If he's never rewarded for being on the couch and is trained and rewarded for being other places, he'll prefer other places.

 

[xxxxdogdragoness]

I actually can't give advice on this one since. My dogs are allowed everywhere but the bed & they are always either crated (bedtime) or outside (they stay outside during the day Sonthey never get a chance to want to be on the bed).

 

[KBLover]

Teach want you want.

Decide where you want him to be and reward him for going there, being there, stay there, sleeping there, etc. If you can train a "get off" cue without using the couch, you'll have a way to get him off the couch (I taught Wally to get up on things he can stand/sit on and then taught "get off" as him just jumping off so it never was a correction, just a behavior to ask for), though if you train the "go to place" and make that place a rewarding one, you could always use that to direct him off the couch.

If you notice him considering jumping up, interrupt it and give an incompatible behavior (sit, lay down, etc) and then reward that when he complies. That way, he can sit/lay near you if he wants, but not get on the couch.

Like dogdragoness, I don't limit Wally from the furniture (though he has to wait for invitation/instruction to do so), so hopefully my advice is still helpful.

 

[troglodytezzz]

In addition to the advice above, block access to the couch.

Originally, Eppy was trained not to be on the couch. I have 2 in my living room. One of them I turned around so that the front was facing the wall. The other I blocked with the coffee table. I put a dog bed on the floor and rewarded him highly for being there.

Since then I have decided that I would rather have him on the couch and have allowed him to do so when invited.

 

[aznVampire]

Thanks for all the advice. I'll try rewarding him for going to his bed, which he does often, but I know that he'll be jumping on the couch soon enough. He's growing so fast!