So 2 weeks ago tomorrow I got a now almost 12 week old Springador. He's lovely and a great addition to the family - but I can't stop worrying about his legs as he usually jumps off the sofa randomly. Most of the time, we'll be able to tell when he's going to jump and lift him down but I can't help but worry that he's really going to hurt himself. Should I stop him coming on the sofa completely, or is it actually going to hurt him?
Find what motivates your dog. Some dogs do anything for food. Some dogs do anything for Toys. Some do anything for a good petting. Some do anything for only one type of food, like cheese, or hotdog.
Springador? No such thing, it's a mutt. Why do you allow it on the furniture? Yes there is a chance it can be injured.
You can buy steps that you can put at one end of the couch and teach him to use those. My daughter has a small dog, and she has steps at the end of her bed so he can get up on it. Or if you have a stool that is about half the height of the couch, you could use that.
I am not sure what a springador is....a size and weight and body type profile would be more helpful. Made up breeds can look like one or the other. That said, do you want a dog that is going to be on the furniture when he grows up and gets however large his type of mutt (he is a mutt, no matter what name you make up to call him) will get? Some people think its cute when the puppy is on the bed, but then when the puppy grows up to be an 80lb dog jumping on your bed it is no longer cute. So decide if you want him on the furniture for the rest of his life. For ME personally I do not mind small dogs (under 10 lbs) on the furniture, but I would not want a large dog on my furniture, it gets hard to keep clean, drool, hair, smell, and some dogs like to chew furniture, but that is all personal preference! Be careful with him jumping off your sofa, I also have no idea how high your sofa is, if he is landing on hard tile or a soft rug, all these things make a difference on the danger level! In all likelihood he is not going to hurt himself, but keep in mind that he will think I can jump off anything I can get on and that IS dangerous! I have see people's dogs jump off REALLY high things and injure themselves. Make sure he also understands that just because he can jump that high it does not mean it is ok for him to go anywhere he can jump. My Papillion can jump onto my kitchen table if she wants to - but she does not because she knows that is a no-no so think about those types of things as well when training your new dog. Good luck!
