New couch help/best type for dog owner?

Hi I was wondering what other dog owners think the best material would be to get for our living room couch.
I have 2 boxer mixes that shed and just get the couches disgusting and are so hard to keep clean. Would leather be better? I'd just be afraid of them scratching it up.
We may just start training them to stay off but I'm not counting on that actually working...

Re: New couch help/best type for dog owner?

We keep a blanket over our (white) couch & remove it when we have company or are not using it. Our dog doesn't shed but we still don't want him on the actual couch. We let him come on the blanket, he's not going to watch TV from the floor obv?!

I think Dog hair goes on any couch so try and pick a couch similar to the color of your dog! lol!

EDIT- I hate my Ikea couch so I'm not recommending it but it has removable slip cover & cushion covers that I wash myself & it's great. My couch looks great, but is so uncomfortable & cheap crap.

Message edited 2/2/2010 12:04:54 AM.

Re: New couch help/best type for dog owner?

We have distressed leather couches & 2 dogs...they have thrown up on them, laid on them while wet, etc..thanks to the distress look any marks from claws go unnoticed...HTH.

ETA: our dogs are allowed on the furniture all the time

Message edited 2/2/2010 12:24:18 AM.

Re: New couch help/best type for dog owner?

We keep couch covers on unless people are coming over.
If i had boxers i would definitely have leather for easy clean up.

Re: New couch help/best type for dog owner?

I have a golden retriever and he sheds like crazy!! I had a microfiber couch that was impossible to keep clean because he is one of the family and sits on the couch with us. DH and I decided that we wanted to get new couches and we decided leather would be the easiest to keep clean. I was also worried about scratches and tears but we bought the protection plan with our couches. If something should happen we are covered for 5 years. The trick is that you can't tell them that a pet made the scratch or tear (a salesperson from Raymour & Flannigan told us that)...you just have to tell them it happened in a different way and they will come and fix it.

We ended up buying our leather couches from Bob's with a 5 year protection plan and we couldn't be happier!

Re: New couch help/best type for dog owner?

thanks ladies I have a feeling we will go with leather, we tried covering the couches with blankets for a while but they would always push them off somehow

Re: New couch help/best type for dog owner?

i like the microseude/microfiber b/c it's easy to clean drool and messes like that and it doesn't stain....the hair is a little harder to get off, our dog had a blanket in her "spot" but i would still have to vacuum the couch everytime i vacummed the room b/c i hate hair on furniture and it would somehow spread

when we moved we made a new rule, no dog on furniture we did that so that if we decide to have a baby in the near future the dog will already be trained to stay off the furniture...

leather would def be really good b/c you can probably just wipe them down/swifer them etc. i would just be careful with the dogs nails but i know lots of people with leather and their furniture holds up fine with pets so i really don't think it would be an issue, plus like someone else said they have warranties and you could always get it repaired if something did happen

Re: New couch help/best type for dog owner?

Leather! I had suede microfiber and the dog hair stuck to it like a magnet. Now with leather I wipe it does and it's perfect.

Re: New couch help/best type for dog owner?

we have leather and also got a protection plan. Which we ended up using because our dog ripped the couch cushion with her nails!! It was an accident, we were sitting with the front door open, and someone came up and rang the doorbell and the dog freaked out and jumped off the couch and ripped it in the process!! The whole warrenty was a pain in the a** but we ended up getting a new couch from them!! but it took from the beginning of July to Sept. to finally get the new couch!! and that was with calling every other day!! Now we make sure there is a blanket where the dog lays so it protects the couch a little, we get little scratches every once in a while, but they fade away after a while...

Re: New couch help/best type for dog owner?

Leather!

Re: New couch help/best type for dog owner?

We have a microfiber couch (the cushions don't come off) - that was a requirement since our little boston terrier ate through our last couch!!!

However, we do keep a blanket from pottery barn - thick and suede - on "dr. brewtus' " seat so that he doesn't mess up the couch :) Good luck!