"Down!"

So...you've got a dog that sheds. And we're not talking a couple of hairs here and there. We're talking a full-on hurricane of hair on a daily - no - hourly basis. That hurricane finds it's way onto clothing, the hardwood floors (hey - who needs to buy a rug?), and - of course - onto your sofa.

The dogs behave like little angels when you're at home. Perhaps the occasional "Down!" is commanded. But, for the most part, your little babies get it - they should not bring themselves, or their hair, up on the sofa. That is...until you leave.

For many people, a sofa usually finds itself under, around, or in the general area of a window. A window equals prime perching spot for most dogs to stand guard while you're away. And who can blame them? They are protecting your pad, after all. Shouldn't they have a comfortable place to do so?

I'm all for comfy dog spots. Let me reiterate: DOG spots. Sure, I'll have my little furry friend up on my lap while I'm on the sofa. But the hair she leaves behind when there is no lap-barrier is just too much for one rolly-sticky-sheet thing to handle. Plus, a pillow or two usually finds its way to the even hairier floor when she hops up on her own.

So, we arrive at our quandary - how to keep the furry ones on their spots and not ours?

We've tried:

• Blankets over the sofas - those usually got cast to the ground or so messed up that it didn't even matter that they were on the sofa to begin with. Plus, our furniture became blanketed 24/7 because it was too much to put them on, take them off, put them on, take them off every time we came and went.
• Rackets - the two pups seem to be afraid of tennis rackets. They've never been beaten with one (or beaten, period), but for some reason, rackets pose a threat to these guys. Too bad the rackets don't cover the entire couch. Our tiny one realized that she could safely maneuver around them and arrive at her perch unharmed. Drat.
• Air-filled Plastic Bags - again, not sure of the reason, but the sound of a plastic bag sends these guys running. So we put several up on the sofa, and yet again, the small one figured out how to weave in and out of them like a champ - avoiding the threat and gaining access to her perch. Not to mention the horrible aesthetic of three plastic bags on the sofa. Double drat.

The Scat Mat

We've looked into it and found a device called a "Scat Mat" - link here. We aren't fans of any form of animal cruelty, so we thoroughly researched how these mats work, as there are several manufacturers. They basically work like static electricity - emitting a shock that isn't painful, just unpleasant and, hence, correcting undesired behavior when you aren't there to correct it yourself.



We had seen them used on Caesar Milan's show to prevent a dog from escaping from the backyard - a genuine safety issue. We feel that he wouldn't promote any form of behavior correction that was unsafe, so it opened us up to the idea about a year or so ago when we saw that episode.

We picked up our own Scat Mats (one for each sofa) earlier this week. We have yet to use them as they require two 9V batteries - who has those in the house?

As soon as we get the batteries though, we'll test them out ourselves - literally - on ourselves - to be sure that the shock is as mild as it claims. We'll likely test them while we're in the house as well, just to monitor reaction.

The fact that we have several close friends (whose opinions we trust) that use shock collars - something we don't use, but employs the same correctional technique - further lead us to believe that this type of correction is safe and works.

What do you think?

We wanted to get your opinions and ideas on how you keep your pets off sofas or away from unsafe areas in your home. Just shoot an email to us at bark@topdogwalk.com - if it's a good idea, we'll post it to our Facebook page so everyone can benefit.