<p>I am planning on replacing my family room sofas soon and love the leather furniture my brother has. What is your experience with leather and the family pet? We have a small dog and the sofas are one of his many sleeping spots.</p>
<p>…so the fact that I have two large dogs lounging on my leather sofas now (with throw pillows artfully arranged for comfort) would mean that I have some information?</p>
<p>Dogs are hard on furniture. Children and husbands are hard on furniture. Leather is stronger than fabric and hair domes off easily. The only “bad” thing (and it hasn’t been an issue for us) are the possibility of sharp toenails going into the leather.</p>
<p>When in doubt, put an artfully folded blanket under the dog…also helps them with the warm snuggly feeling.</p>
<p>I have to use a leather cream routinely to cover the scratches from the dog. I am not big on allowing dogs on furniture for this reason, but I was outvoted with this pooch. Jumping up and down, launching off the furniture leaves scratches. They can be rubbed out, but you need to have some ‘products’ to help protect the leather.</p>
<p>Are the scratches noticeable after rubbing them out? That is my big worry.</p>
<p>Somehow, I thought this was going to be a thread about whether pets could be recycled into leather furniture.</p>
<p>Oops.</p>
<p>Marian - that is awful. But very funny.</p>
<p>How the furniture holds up to pets could depend on the color, texture, and quality of the leather. Our previous leather couches were cream color, dyed right through, and were a slightly nubbly texture. They did not show much damage from our pets (several cats over the 20+ years). The current furniture is brown, a smoother finish, and seems only to be dyed on the surface (much lesser quality even though not cheap). It shows every scratch as blinding white marks against the dark brown.</p>
<p>Our beagle did scratch the leather couch for the short period she sat on it (about 6 months and then it was moved to another room) but it wasn’t terribly scratched but I did have a blanket on it for her. I’ve always kept fleece blankets on all of our couches to keep the dog fur off. Sadly (or maybe happily depending on how you want to look at it), said beagle (almost 12) has recently gotten too arthritic to make the jump onto the couch without assistance.</p>
<p>I do agree with swimcatsmom - a lot depends on the color, texture and quality of the leather.</p>
<p>Mycroft, I have a question. Do you have a regular maintenance routine with the oil? Meaning, do you oil the whole couch down periodically? I think I’m doing it wrong.</p>
<p>We don’t let the animals on the leather furniture. Just like the kids, “no” is a word our pets learn quickly. They have furniture they can get on but not the leather furniture. My H and I used to laugh and say we should get a video camera on a timer and see if they get up on the leather furniture when we’re not home :-)</p>
<p>Our pomeranian routinely scratches our dark green sofa, but only in one spot. I doubt that there are any creams out there that could cover all the marks.</p>
<p>Our family room (called bonus room here in TN) has a soft dark brown sofa that we got in Dallas. The salesman swore it would be pet friendly- and he was right! We have an assortment of cats and a giant dog. The dog actually doesn’t get on this sofa- he preferred the old futon! The cats do, though, and there are almost no visible scratches. I have really been happy with it. Now the downstairs fake-brushed leather sofa that the cats pee on is another story…</p>
<p>Several years ago, we purchased a beautiful new dark green leather sofa and love seat. It was fairly high quality and was a tight leather, not nubby, and not “squishy”. Had a camelback design with the nailhead trim. We also had 2 young cats and a middle aged shetland sheepdog. After only about 6 months of ownership, we had to relegate the sofas to the basement family room. The problem was the kitties & very sharp nails. The scratches were so really noticeable and no product we tried helped to obscure it. We are generally pretty comfortable with a certain amount of nicks, scratches and imperfections but even my husband, who is especially unaware, thought they looked awful. I was sick about it and learned a lesson. As others have mentioned, the color, the thickness, and even the design of the furniture has much to do with how it would hold up to animals.</p>
<p>We purchased fabric replacements which held up well, until we got a golden retriever who used his highly advanced chewing skills on the corners of the sofas…</p>
<p>Thinking ahead, I WOULD get leather again. It would be fabulous in terms of the dog hair problem. But I would make sure the leather is not tightly pulled against the frame, is a light neutral color so that scratch marks did not look so obvious, and make sure the leather has more of a texture rather than smooth finish.</p>
<p>And, even though our golden doesn’t lay on the furniture, we’re contemplating getting him (and us) a companion dog and recognize that each animal brings along his own personal brand of destruction :)</p>
<p>I am thinking of getting a leather sofa for the pet fur problem- ( haven’t gotten a pet yet either).</p>
<p>I am wondering if I trained my cats to have their nails trimmed if that would help ( I didn’t with the last two).</p>
<p>( my dog * knew* she wasn’t supposed to get on the couch, but the first thing she did when we would leave- was jump on it- she also would sneak into our bed after we were asleep)</p>
<p>We had fabric furniture for awhile and our cats ruined it within a year. Once we got leather they were not interested in sharpening their claws on it. It is a slicker leather, tighter at the bottom of the furniture but more overstuffed-ish on top. The cats will lay on it and occasionally we get a nail mark here and there but it is not too noticeable. The dog is not allowed but she is a German Shephard and we have only had her for 2 years. We have now had this furniture set for about 10 years and need some new from regular wear and tear. I will be getting leather again when we replace it because the way the cats and dog shed into the general air and on my carpets I would not want to have fabric furniture again.</p>