inneed1012
New member
I follow a trainer I generally like, and he’s posted about not letting dogs on furniture/in your bed if you can’t verbally ask them to get “off” or if they have separation anxiety or other various reasons. But today he posted about reactive dogs not being allowed in your bed and I’m conflicted over this. It’s a very broad statement so I guess take it with a grain of salt, go case by case? My boy is 8 almost 9 years old and he’s a little nervous with new people but never EVER reactive toward people just other dogs. And it’s only if they make extended eye contact with him. His behavior is managed, he’s very obedient, we still go hiking and walking and eating on patios because I know how to prevent him from being triggered (save somebody’s loose dog running up to us but that’s their fault and not in my control). We just don’t go to dog parks or day care or anything like that. He sleeps in my bed, on my couch, in my lap… he’s very very affectionate and cuddly. He loves to be in anybody’s reach to be petted and he sleeps at the foot of our bed every night. He always has. Is that really the reason why he’s like this? The trainer was saying reactive dogs often don’t have appropriate boundaries set so furniture and bed causes confusion but my dogs all have clear boundaries and expectations, including the reactive one. We spent a year training him in advanced obedience so he felt comfortable in his space and in public. He gets off if we tap him and say “off.” I genuinely don’t think boundary setting us the issue here but I wonder if I’m wrong. We have an 8 month old puppy that we set boundaries with from day one, that’s not something we take lightly in our house.
Edit: this is us currently. He just really likes to cuddle and the second I say move, he moves. Yes I do have a reactive golden retriever. Breed doesn’t matter.
Edit: this is us currently. He just really likes to cuddle and the second I say move, he moves. Yes I do have a reactive golden retriever. Breed doesn’t matter.