If you’re like us, you let your furry friends spend their days relaxing on the living room sofa. However, as precious as our pets are, they often aren’t the tidiest when it comes to furniture. Finding a couch that’s as durable as it is comfortable and stylish is key to saving money, time, and a lot of cleanup work.

Considerations for Dog-friendly Upholstery

Before buying a new couch, you must know what makes one of these living room centerpieces dog-friendly. The sections below cover the fabrics, maintenance needs, and more that go into a pup-proof sofa.

Choose Your Fabric Wisely

Fabric is the most important factor to consider when selecting a dog-friendly sofa. Some fabrics are loosely woven and fibrous, allowing pet hair, dander, and unpleasant odors to become trapped in them over time. Loose weave options like tweed and corduroy are also prone to snags and rips from your pet’s nails, leading to a frayed, worn appearance after a few uses.

The best fabric options for dog owners are tightly woven, durable, and snag-resistant.

One popular choice, high-performance fabric, consists of synthetic yarn treated with a stain-resistant solution before being woven into a tight layer. It’s designed for long-lasting durability and minimal appearance of wear and tear.

Microfiber is another pet-friendly fabric option. Tiny polyester fibers are woven to produce a soft, silk-like appearance. The tight, near-impervious design of microfiber upholstery gives it superior odor and stain resistance.

Image Source: Canva

Leather can also be an excellent choice, as long as you don’t mind the distressed look that accompanies scratches from your pet’s claws. Leather sofas are easy to clean and won’t trap odors, making them perfect for furry friends. Authentic leather is highly durable and won’t suffer deep scratches from everyday use. However, your pup’s occasional dig or energetic jump might result in light blemishes.

A rule of thumb to remember is that the more genuine the leather upholstery is, the less likely it is to be damaged. For this reason, we recommend full or top-grain leather for dog owners because it has a thicker outer hide that’s more resistant to punctures and deep scratches.

Opt For Low-maintenance Materials

In addition to choosing a durable, stain-resistant fabric or material for your couch, you should also consider the maintenance needs of different upholsteries. High-maintenance materials such as silk, velvet, and suede aren’t good for dog owners. These delicate materials require lots of upkeep and are easier to damage – often absorbing stains and odors faster than their high-performance counterparts.

If you already have a sofa made of high-maintenance materials, consider covering it with a washable slipcover. These products protect your sofa from everyday wear and tear with a washable, easy-to-remove cover. If your best friend jumps onto the couch with muddy paws or a messy toy, remove the slipcover and throw it in the washing machine.

A slipcover is a good investment for new puppy owners for any living room furniture. A washable slipcover for seat cushions, pillows, and backrests will protect even high-performance fabrics until your new puppy learns the rules of the roost.

Consider Color and Patterns

When buying a new couch, you have near-limitless color options to explore. As a pet owner, you must consider more than just your interior design goals when selecting a couch color.

Image Source: Canva

Dog owners should generally avoid light-colored sofas because they’re less forgiving with stains and messes. That luxurious cream-colored couch could soon be covered with dirt and pet hair after a few days, leading to near-constant upkeep or stubborn smudge marks. Instead, opt for darker neutrals like brown, gray, or tan. These shades are better at hiding stains and a wider range of pet hair colors.

You can also avoid the need to lint roll your sofa multiple times by selecting patterned upholstery. Eye-catching patterns detract from the appearance of stains and pet hairs while adding a splash of dimension to your living space.

Don’t Forget the Frame

Don’t forget the couch’s legs and frame when furnishing your pet-friendly home. Solid wood frames are excellent for large dogs that will spend their days lounging on the couch. Hardwood is strong, durable, and can support the weight of the household, furry family members included.

However, a wood-framed sofa isn’t the best choice for pesky pooches that like to gnaw on anything they can get their canines on. If your dog is prone to scratching or chewing, opt for metal-framed furniture instead of wood. Metals like aluminum and wrought iron are less attractive to chewing pets, and if they take a bite, the material is less likely to scratch or dent.


The Best Dog-friendly Sofas for Any Space

Now that you know what makes a couch “dog-friendly,” you’re ready to start furniture shopping. To get you started, we’ve found the best dog-friendly sofas to suit your comfort needs, interior design, and furry friend. These couches are built to withstand muddy paws, drool, and year-round shedding, providing the durability and low-maintenance comfort you need.

Best Sectional: West Elm Newport Chaise Sectional

Image Source: West Elm

West Elm’s Newport 2-piece Chaise Sectional is a chic and customizable couch your dog will love lounging on. The sectional sofa is available in two configurations with options for toss cushions or boxed cushions. Pet owners can choose from performance linen, canvas, and velvet fabrics in dozens of stylish colors. The Newport’s frame consists of kiln-dried hardwood for long-lasting durability and support.

Best Sleeper: Braxton Pet-friendly Sleeper Sofa

Image Source: Braxton

The Braxton Pet-friendly Sleeper Sofa by Joybird is the best convertible couch for dog lovers. It comes in a sleek mid-century modern style to fit your contemporary or vintage interior design. Buy your Braxton in one of Joybird’s Pet-friendly or Safeguard fabric lines for added protection against stains, spills, paws, and stubborn pet hairs.

Looking for another modern sofa for your home? Consider Joybird’s Chelsea Sofa. This top-seller makes a statement with gold-capped solid wood legs and a tufted backrest for added style and dimension. It’s available in any of Joybird’s Safeguard and Pet-friendly fabric options and colors.

Best Loveseat: Garren Tufted Loveseat

Image Source: Wayfair

The Garren Square Arm Tufted Loveseat by Mercury Row combines style with low-maintenance comfort. This durable fabric is made of 100% polyester for touchable softness and high performance against all of the messes that accompany dog ownership. The sofa is available in Heather Gray or Navy Blue color options, making it a solid choice for people seeking stain-hiding, versatile upholstery. Spanning just 52.4 inches across, the Garren is best suited for small-space living and additional seating.

Best Leather Sofa: Poly & Bark Essex Sofa

Amazon, Poly & Bark Store

The Essex Sofa by Poly & Bark combines durability and luxury for the perfect pet-friendly couch. It consists of full-grain Italian tanned leather in Cognac Tan, Midnight Blue, and Onyx Black color options.

Each hide used to make an Essex sofa is uniquely colored and patterned, making it ideal for dog owners. Any scuffs or scratches from daily use will enhance the material’s natural patina, transforming it into rich, aged leather.

Poly & Bark offers the Essex in full sofa, loveseat, and lounge chair options, allowing you to furnish any space in your pet-friendly home.

Best Vegan Leather Couch: Albany Park Sofa

Image Source: Albany Park

Albany Park’s Distressed Vegan Leather Park Sofa is an excellent choice for homeowners trying to avoid real leather in their homes. The couch contains high-resiliency foam filling for long-lasting support and comfort. The pre-distressed look of the faux leather means that any scuffs or scratches from Fido will likely go unnoticed. The Park Sofa features gold or black legs made of sturdy, chew-resistant steel.

Best Pet-friendly Sofa Collection: Nomad by Burrow

Image Source: Burrow

Burrow’s Nomad Collection is your sofa solution if you like multiple options and customizability when furniture shopping.

Burrow developed the Nomad Collection with high-performing synthetic materials ideal for everyday pet use. Each piece features Burrow’s ultra-tight-weave fabric that’s highly resistant to scratches and tears from your buddy’s claws.

Meanwhile, the nonporous fibers of each Nomad sofa prevent stains and spills from seeping into the cushion. Even if a mess makes its way onto your Nomad couch, you can easily clean the low-maintenance upholstery with distilled water and bleach to make it look new.

The collection includes sectionals, loveseats, chaise sectionals, and block sofas in performance fabrics, top-grain Italian leather, or performance velvet. Visit Burrow’s swatch catalog to order fabric samples before buying.

Best Slipcover: Easy-Going Stretch Sofa Cover

Image Source: Amazon, Easy-Going Store

Want to give your existing couch a little extra protection from dirty paws and drips of drool? The Easy-Going Stretch Sofa Slipcover from Amazon is a great solution. The couch cover is made of high-quality polyester to shield your sofa from stains and daily wear. It contains 80% spandex, allowing you to slip and stretch it over various sofa shapes for the ultimate functionality.

If your Easy-Going slipcover gets dirty, no sweat. Throw it in the washing machine with mild detergent for fresh, pet-ready protection, time and time again. The Easy-Going Sofa Slipcover has 15 color options for 4-seater sofas, lounge chairs, loveseats, and more.

See also: Guide to Making a Cat Window Perch


Enjoying Your Pup-proof Pad

We hope this guide helps you find a wag-worthy couch for your home. Once your new sofa is settled in your living space, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy your pup’s company without stressing over stains or smudges. With a sofa that fits every family member’s needs – even the furry ones – you’ll have a home built for everyday comfort.

Looking for more ways to pup-proof your property? Read our list of the best flooring for dog owners.

Disclosure: Today’s Homeowner participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This affiliate advertising program is designed to provide a means for the publishers to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Editorial Contributors
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Elisabeth Beauchamp

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Elisabeth Beauchamp is a content producer for Today’s Homeowner’s Lawn and Windows categories. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in Journalism and Linguistics. When Elisabeth isn’t writing about flowers, foliage, and fertilizer, she’s researching landscaping trends and current events in the agricultural space. Elisabeth aims to educate and equip readers with the tools they need to create a home they love.

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Lora Novak

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Lora Novak meticulously proofreads and edits all commercial content for Today’s Homeowner to guarantee that it contains the most up-to-date information. Lora brings over 12 years of writing, editing, and digital marketing expertise. She’s worked on thousands of articles related to heating, air conditioning, ventilation, roofing, plumbing, lawn/garden, pest control, insurance, and other general homeownership topics.

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