Ok this is a common conversation among all pet owners, do you let your dogs on the furniture? I would say back when I was a kid my family and most other families did not let their dogs sit on the couch or chairs. Heck I don’t even remember my dog having a bed of her own in the house. Our dog was our pet, we loved her but she was just a pet. It does seem that in the last 20 years our pets have become members of our families. I am the first to admit that with each dog I have had this has become more and more apparent.
We grow so attached to our pups that they are part of our everyday lives and so we treat them as just another family member. I will admit that I tried to keep my bulldog off of my furniture and on his own bed, blankets, dog sofa, he had it all! As he aged I gave in more to some couch snuggling and now with Augie I don’t even try. Let’s face it if you are going to own a French Bulldog you are going to be putting him on your lap and that means on your furniture. So you say what is the best couch for dogs?
The Best Couch For Dogs – Fabric No No’s
I think we should start with what are not good fabric choices for dogs. I might just be stating the obvious, but there are definitely some fabrics that you will want to stay away from when buying couches and having dogs. Some of these fabric options are not the best fit for your French Bulldog.
Open Weave Fabric
Stay away from tweed, corduroy, twill any open weave fabric. These types of couch fabrics easily snag on claws and unravel over time. The open weave is made with small squares on the fabric and are hair, dust, and dirt traps. These fabrics are almost impossible to clean completely and if the cushion covers aren’t removable the debris you miss when cleaning can even make your couch start to smell.
Delicate Fabrics
Delicate Fabrics such as silk, velvet, and suede are not good couches for dogs either. All three of these fabrics look good, and suede is a durable fabric, but stain very easily. Water spots or any type of wet looking spots are the worst. No matter what you try and clean these types of spots with it always leaves the fabric looking wet or worn where the stain was. It may be possible to get the furniture professionally cleaned however after purchasing expensive furniture the last thing you want to do is to have to pay for professional cleaning every time your pup jumps up with wet feet.
Silk can pose another problem with pets, for some reason lots of dogs including some Frenchies I have heard about love the feel of silk and tend to try and bury themselves into the couch. Lets just say that your beautiful silk couch will very quickly find itself with many many claw marks, tears and in some cases no couch left to sit on!
What Is The Best Couch For Dogs? Better Fabric Options For Your Frenchie
Tight Weave Fabrics
Tight weave fabrics such as denim, canvas, microfiber, or a tight weave twill fabric are your best option. The tighter the fabric weave is the easier it is for your pet to keep his paws and claws to himself. They are less likely to catch their claws keeping your couch in new looking condition. If you look for darker color fabrics you will be able to disguise the dirt more but you could always look at couches that match the color of your dog or dogs to help with shedding. Maybe the amount of dog hair on the couch won’t stand out as much this way.
A few other things to think about when purchasing a couch is if you already have pets you must know where they like to sit on your furniture. Some small dogs like my French Bulldog like to climb up on the back of the couch top cushions. After a while you can see where there is a little indent in the cushion from where he likes to sit. These can be fluffed back up but it is not something you want to do all the time so maybe consider a tight back sofa when you purchase.
Also I like to make sure that the bottom cushions are not attached to the sofa and that they have a zip off cover. This makes it easy to wash and stain treat if needed. Make sure to take a look at the three cushions sofas for this instead of a bench seat.
Outdoor Fabric
This may seem a little strange but have you checked out the patio furniture selections lately? They are really amazing and definitely not your grandma’s outdoor patio sets anymore. There are lots of stylish options and there is nothing saying you have to use outdoor furniture outdoors! Many pet owners have found that the durability and functionality of outdoor sectionals are great for their indoor living rooms. If you need to clean it you can even use a bleach solution. I think the only downside that we came up with was that the outdoor furniture is so good that you will be looking at it for a long time.
Leather
Almost every pet owner I have spoken with says the best couches for dogs are leather couches. You do want to avoid the smooth leather because if it has been treated to be smooth it will scratch more easily. You want to make sure that you are getting genuine leather, some companies use a thin layer of leather and bonded it to a synthetic backing which will flake and fall apart in no time if your four legged friends are using the furniture daily. Just make sure you see the genuine leather seal.
Leather is extremely durable. Scratches are easy to buff out, doesn’t snag on claws, wipes clean with a damp cloth, and depending on what type of sofa you get a little wear and tear just adds to the distressed look.
If you are feeling really ambitious, and have the space for it, you could even get your Frenchie their own doggy leather couch like this one:
Pet Sofa Library Dog Bed
In Conclusion – Best Couch For Dogs
Maybe a new couch isn’t in the budget or maybe you have your grandmother’s prize silk antique sofa. You can always invest in a nice slipcover. Some companies even have slip covers now that you can easily remove when friends and family come over. This keeps your furniture safe from your pet and allows you to keep your guests safe from your pets hair.
With all of the different options you have to house your living room with furniture that you and your four legged family can enjoy there is no reason you should have to pull out the old school plastic to keep your purchases clean and choosing the right textiles for you and your pets will make it much easier for you to maintain over the years.
I guess for my family after going over all the options we decide it was just easier to enjoy life with your Frenchie as he is such a part of our family that we are going to go with the saying life is too short not to enjoy it no matter what your couch looks like!
PS – Looking for some more French Bulldog accessory ideas? Check out these amazing electronic dog doors for your Frenchie.
