Ripley arrived soon after Flower and her Mom went home. I saw him at a Richardson Humane Society event, and realized he was my dog! So, Ripley is my fault. He turned out to be the perfect playmate for Bubba, since he didn't care if Bubba thought he was in charge.
My wife trained Ripley not to sleep on our bed by a relatively old training technique - you put a leash on him, and tie the leash to one of the feet of the bed. This keeps the dog from being able to jump on the bed, but he can still be in close proximity while everyone sleeps. This also helps teach him his place in the pack hierarchy - below the humans.
When we woke up in the morning, Ripley was pressed to my wife's back. There was a small stub of leash attached to his collar. He had chewed through the leash and jumped onto the bed. After that, he slept on the bed with us and Bubba.
Ripley has a bad back, so he's not allowed to jump anymore. It was very difficult to teach him not to jump on the bed and couches, so the simple solution was to buy ramps so he could walk onto them. So, now I not only get to share the bed and couch, but I also get to trip over his ramps all the time. |
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