Help—My Dog Won't Get off the Bed!

Gila Kurtz is a Certified Pet Dog Trainer (CPDT) and active Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) member. She’s committed to improving the lifelong relationship between dogs and their people. Coaching people for the past 10 years in the Seal Beach, Los Alamitos and Long Beach areas, she firmly believes a positive approach to training yields effective long-term results and fosters a human-dog relationship built on trust and mutual respect. In her Patch column Leashed Concerns, Gila takes your questions and finds solutions to the problems that have been dogging you.

Q: Dog on the bed

Hi Gila,

My husband and I have a 2-year-old yellow lab that we love to pieces! She’s a great dog and very much a part of our family, but there is one bone of contention in our house, and that is her being on our bed! When we first got her as a puppy, we agreed that she would be able to sleep in our bedroom but in her crate, not on our bed. Since she’s been able to make the jump up, she does this every day/night, even though we yell, “Off!” and basically have to pull her off the bed.  

We tried luring her with treats, but this only makes her think she can get treats by acting out. Any advice you can provide would be helpful.

Thanks,
Dana Jacques

A: Dear Dana,

Thank you for your question.  I will preface my response with a very basic introduction to training for anyone bringing a dog into the home for the first time. For the new dog, training begins the moment those paws first cross the threshold of your home. You must therefore predetermine specifically what behaviors you desire in typical day-to-day situations.  

Your expectations should be clear so you can develop a management plan and implement training to achieve your goals. What does success look like to you? In other words, a year down the road, how do you see your dog behaving when the doorbell rings, when people enter your home, when you are eating, watching TV, going to bed, etc.

Most people answer this question by telling me what they don’t want their dogs to do. However, you need to answer the question in terms of the specific desired behaviors you do see your dog exhibiting.

Keep in mind that while specific training sessions are conducted briefly and frequently throughout the day, training is actually occurring all the time. In a training situation, you always have a trainer and a trainee. Make sure you maintain “trainer status,” or the puppy/dog will become the trainer and you will find yourself reacting to your puppy as the trainee. With a clear vision, the training process can be easily implemented and a consistent routine can be established to help your puppy/dog learn.

How do dogs learn? Very simply, dogs learn based on the consequences that follow their behavior. Without going fully in depth into animal learning theory, it is important to understand that behaviors followed by something pleasant or rewarding will increase in frequency and intensity. Behaviors followed by something the dog finds unpleasant or punishing will decrease in frequency and intensity. Behaviors followed by no consequence or feedback will likely fade and disappear over time (extinction).  

With this basic information, the training process begins by setting up a strict management plan to prevent the dog from practicing behaviors we don’t want and then providing plenty of reinforcements for behaviors we do want. A positive reinforcement, something that will likely increase the occurrence of a behavior, is always determined by the dog. Be advised that many times, when we think we are “reprimanding” or “punishing” verbally or through touch for an unwanted behavior, we are inadvertently rewarding the dog for that behavior. Jumping, for example, is a very common problem. The puppy or dog is excited and we either attend to the puppy while it is jumping or we tell the puppy “no” and push it off of us as they jump. Either way, from the dog’s perspective, the behavior has just been reinforced by your attention and will likely continue.  

Dana, it sounds as though you and your husband were pretty clear in your expectations for your Lab’s sleeping accommodations in your bedroom, and I am going to assume that once you do get her off your bed, she has no problem sleeping in her crate near you.  

My question is: Does she have access to your bedroom/bed during the day,  and is she making your bed her resting spot during the day? If this is the case, there is likely no consequence for her being up there if you are not home or are elsewhere in the house, and she is finding that this is a perfect and comfortable “bed” for her to enjoy. She is also learning that when you are home, jumping up on the bed immediately gets your attention and you engage with her even though you are just trying to pull her off the bed. So, how can you prevent her from gaining access to the bed in the first place while making her own crate a highly desirable place for her to be?  

The management strategy I would implement is to keep your bedroom door closed. This will prevent her access to your room when you are not in it, or if you are elsewhere in your home.  It will also prevent her from racing ahead of you to jump on the bed, thus leading to the game of you getting the treats to lure her off the bed.  

Separately, I would begin to work on training a specific response to “kennel up” or “go to bed/crate.” A few times per day, using a clicker and treats, you can first lure her into the crate by tossing a treat. As she heads in after the treat, click when she is in and give her another treat. Then, toss a treat back out in the room to get her out of the crate so you can begin the process again.  

After a few trials, stop throwing a treat inside the crate and just wait for her to take the step in on her own. Immediately click and provide her with a treat when she does. Once she learns this behavior, every night have her follow you to your room. Have her sit/wait at the doorway for just a moment and then cue her to “kennel up” or “go to bed” (whatever you have determined the cue to be). Finally, reward her for getting immediately into her crate.  

If she heads towards your bed, use a strong verbal correction and your body to block her ability to jump up on the bed. Put her back in the sit/wait at your doorway and then try again. Once you have successfully prevented her from gaining access to your bed and have trained her to immediately go directly to her crate, make this part of your evening routine every night so she has clear understanding of what she is expected to do.  

Then all of you can enjoy bedtime without the games. … Pleasant dreams.