Leather couch with dogs?

[Geila]

I've never had a leather couch or chair and am wondering how they hold up to pets, specifically pet nails. I have a boxer, a small poodle mix, and a cat. What I do now is use lots of blankets on our fabric couches because otherwise the couch starts to smell. With the blankets I can wash them but it's a hassle; it looks messy most of the time and I have to wash all the blankets about once a week. And the fabric cushion material has been pretty much destroyed in one area where the boxer loves to hang out. Most of the damage happened when she was a puppy, I don't know how much scratching she would do now as a 5 year old.

I've been thinking that with leather I wouldn't have to worry about using the blankets. If a cushion does get damaged eventually, I can just put a fabric cover on it.

Anyone have experience with leather furniture and pets?

And how does the leather couch feel, comfort-wise, during summer? I wear shorts, would I get that sticky thigh issue that we get from restaurant booths?

[Teacher Terry]

I have a leather chair I sit in with the dogs on my lap. One can jump on it and she even puked in it and it didn’t stain.

[iris lilies]

I remember distinctly Randy Grimm, our friend who started Stray Rescue of St. louis, said leather (and its copies) is not especially The Solution to pet nails and pet dirt. So, for r that reason, I have stayed away from it. My friends who have leather sofas and dogs still seem to have beat up furniture.

I don’t think there is a solution to dog nails if you have a heavy dog population.

[razz]

Seriously, it seems that furniture is so poorly made these days that it will need to be replaced at regular intervals regardless of finish. Others may know of alternatives that last longer but I am not seeing any.

[Teacher Terry]

With our shedding dog gone I could probably uncover the couch but since it a year old probably won’t. We usually buy a sofa on sale and the last one cost 1290. They usually last 10 years.

[catherine]

We have always had dogs and leather sofas. I was really worried about the dog puncturing the leather, but good leather stands up really well. And it's SO easy to clean the pet dander/fur off.

[lmerullo]

I think leather is ideal for pets. Unfortunately, one can't have the cheap stuff, though. Cheap leather comes unbonded. Get the good one.

[iris lilies]

Op, I do now what you do. I have throw blankets over our furniture , covering all and they are washed every 1-2 weeks. Still the pet smell gets through to the cushions. I just plan to get new furniture about every five years.

Our Dog doesn’t just get up on the furniture, he sleeps on the furniture day after day after day. He’s kind of smelly, and he’s usually dirty.

[Float On]

I never allowed the dogs to get on the furniture. But we also had similar rules for children (no standing or jumping on furniture, no food outside the kitchen/dining, no throwing toys).

[rosarugosa]

I cannot speak about dogs, but we bought a nice Thomasville leather couch, chair and ottoman in 2005. Our cats have totally trashed this furniture and I don't think I would buy leather again. This was supposed to be our "forever" furniture. I think it generally serves us well not to be serial upgraders, but we might do better to think more short term (and cheaper) when it comes to upholstered furniture with pets. On the plus side, the leather doesn't hold fur, and we didn't really find it uncomfortable in the summer. On the minus side, they scratched it badly just jumping on and off, even when they weren't using the furniture for scratching posts, and I do trim their front claws every 2 weeks.