It’s a battle as old as time: Your prized new sofa vs. your beloved pet. Between shedding hair and chewing the cushions to shreds, you might feel like you need to be constantly guarding your furniture from pet damage.

Fortunately, there are some coping mechanisms you can use to reduce the chances of your pets destroying your furniture. 

How to deter a playful puppy from destroying your furniture

Usually, damage to sofas and other furniture occurs when your dog is still very young. Puppies feel a need to chew on anything they can get their teeth on, and your sofa makes a great target. It’s huge, and the material is soft enough to gnaw on.

Here are a few ways to protect your sofa from your teething puppy:

• Provide plenty of other options for chewing. Leave other chew toys near the sofa, and your pet should be less inclined to start chomping on your new upholstery. Remember – your pet doesn’t have a special love for chewing your sofa. It just might be the only option for them.
• Consider a pet couch cover. These don’t have to make your sofa look unfashionable! They can be adorned with your pet’s name, giving them one more cozy place to hang out in your home. Aside from covering some of the most likely areas to get chewed, the pet cover also protects your sofa from shedded hair.
• Spray some air freshener on the furniture. Normally, pets won’t like citrus scents and will refrain from chewing anything that smells unpleasant to them. Fortunately, scents that we enjoy are often offensive to our pets!

What else can be done to help prevent damage to furniture?

As someone who takes care of your pet 24/7, you don’t just have to focus on the furniture itself. You can help to prevent damage to your furniture by taking good care of your pet:

• Regularly brush your pet’s hair. This can help to reduce shedding, leaving less stray hair to cover your sofa or other furniture.
• Make sure your pet’s nails are cut down. You will be able to reduce the dreaded scratch marks if you or your pet’s groomer takes good care of their nails.
• Ensure your pet gets enough stimulation. If you have a cat, it will need an easily-accessible scratching post. A dog will need daily walks and plenty of chew toys in order to feel less tempted to take it out on your furniture.
• Clean any pet hair or other messes quickly. Your furniture will only suffer more damage if you let messes linger. Pet hair could become ingrained into the fabric if it isn’t regularly vacuumed up.

About the author:

Jack Vale is a writer from Happy Writers, Co. in partnership with dog back brace manufacturer, Walkin’ Pets.