Can I have it so I can put a peacock blue velvet fabric on it?

Wow that does hurt.

Before you repair it cover it and teach your dog to stay off, work with him for a couple of months. Also, your dog may have done this out of boredom. Not judging but a tired dog is a happy dog.
I think the best bet is to take it to an upholstery shop and let them fix it and purchase new fabric.

Good luck, it is a nice piece.

Reupholster.

Reupholstering a sofa with this many tufts and of this size would easily cost well over $1000. But a good way to get around it is to take a piece of the torn fabric to an upholstery fabric store and try and match it as best you can. A good upholsterer can simply redo the seat. This will save you some cash but I doubt you will be able to find an exact match. You will need about 4 yards of fabric.

try & see if a upholstry will even do it. if they can, replace all the batting in the cushion...my guess is the previous doggy 'marked' it. that may help deter your pup

Step 1 - Murder dog.

Step 2 - Take a scrap of the torn fabric to a good upholsterer and see if he can match it. If he can, replace the seat area. You'll find that a plain flat finish is considerably cheaper than the original deep buttoned finish, and will be easier to keep clean (you won't believe how much crap accumulates in those little buttoned pits).

Step 3 - If he can't, consider colours for reupholstering. If you're conservative, think about a simple pattern in shades of champagne and cream (regency stripes, for example). If you're more daring, consider a patchwork fabric (perhaps made from old saris or brocaded material) which I've seen used very successfully on old chesterfields.

Sept 4 - Murder dog again, just to be on the safe side.

I agree with Blandwagon's Step 2 suggestion: if you can match the existing fabric, that would be ideal. And I'd consider losing the buttons on the seat.

If you can't get it matched, I'd reupholster the whole thing in the same fabric. It has a lot going on already, and I don't think the look would be enhanced by doing the seat in a different colour.

First of all, DO NOT murder the dog..... as dog owners we adapt to ...ehhhmmm ......certain behavior... at times and After all...."stuff" happens.... dog or not...

I think the sofa is great.... find a similar fabric....and do the seat... there is bound to be someone out there that is capable to do the job....
that's it... very simple solution.... putting money into something you love is worth it in the end...
and .... as a fellow dog owner.....
After the "revival" .... always ....always ...always...place a blanket or sheet or something over it to protect..... ...
It's the price you pay for unconditional animal love....
good luck!

I feel your pain... we've lost 3 lamps to our cats. I agree to wait a bit and make sure the doggy issue is totally resolved before investing the money in reupholstering. You can just stitch the torn part together yourselves and cover it with a blanket until you're sure doggy is over her fascination. For reupholstering... the button tufting is gorgeous, but we have a button tufted chair and its gruesome to clean, so you may save yourselves time and money by re-upholstering to a flat bench. I also have to agree that if you can't match the color you should just redo the whole thing... I'd go with a dark grey linen were I lucky enough to own such a lovely couch! Good luck...

Upholster, totally. Have a pro do the work. A flat panel would be cheaper and easier, most likely. As for colours, I think a light brown would work if you like neutrals, or an olive green or eggplant purple would be awesome if you are a little more adventurous.

Happy 'holstering!

I have a dog who has ripped through the upholstery on two sofas. In both cases, she did it gradually, not 15 minutes after arrival of new sofa, so at least I got to enjoy the pieces for a bit longer (a couple of years).

What I've done in both cases is place a piece of fabric (a sheet for one, and a piece of matching material for the other one) over the piece as a sort of slipcover. Neither of my pieces is a lovely tufted chesterfield, so if you don't look *too* closely, the spare pieces of fabric aren't too noticeable.

I have a couch in pretty much every room of my house, but those are the only two that she's done that to. I figure that "someday" I'll get around to re-upholstering the pieces, but until then, I'm living with them.

I did have a large, lovely curvy Victorian-Empire couch reupholstered about five years ago (I got it for free and I re-did it because it had ugly 1980's fabric on it, not due to dog issues), and it cost $1800 out here in the boonies of Western Mass.

Anyway -- good luck!

I feel your pain. We just bought a pristine 1950s orange wool sectional on Monday, and one of our cats has puked on it twice since then. I was nearly in tears this morning. But can I yell at the kitty or murder her? Unfortunately, no.

Today the couch (10'x8') is covered in three huge fleece blankets. It's quite the style statement.

I guess what I'd do is price out getting the whole thing redone so it matches as well as doing just the seat in a fabric that you match as close as possible. I think a different color could look tragic. I'd also bite the bullet if you can and keep the tufting - after all, that's why you loved it in the first place, right? If the quality is there, it's worth investing the money to do it right.

And long-term, I'd do that it takes to train the dog vs. covering it up with a sheet. What's the point of living with everything interesting covered in shrouds except for 3-4 times a year when company comes? Pick a durable fabric.

That's our plan for our sectional. Even though it's "worth more" in its original orange (w/green and yellow) scratchy wool, we're planning to reupholster it and have the cushions replaced in a few years with something less funky.

Oh, and when I recover my couch, I plan to buy extra fabric and have it hemmed so I can lay it over the seat fabric to protect it from random puking. You might consider doing the same. It would cover the tufting, but be way better than a sheet.

(Not that it would do much to rip/tear behavior, but in cases of puking it could save you some heartache.)

Dog stuff first:
Has she ever dug at the cushions before? Check her nails, she made quick work of those cushions. Is she crate trained? if she's left alone w/the sofa its going to happen again, but if you can work with her on it when you're home i think you can break her of it easily.

Couch:
budget/temp, get some batting and lay it over the whole length of the seat, cover with fabric you like and tuck it in around the edges.

ideal, reupholster (i like the flat bench idea) and I'd go with something with less nap, due to dog hair and maintenance. go bold with color!

huh, for point of reference here is a sofa in your color/style but with flat cushions
http://seattle.craigslist.org/est/zip/1342817707.html
I'd go with one long cushion though.

if your sofa is pushed up against the wall, and the back of the sofa is upholstered in the same fabric, might you be able to snip a bit of the back fabric and have a professional use that to patch the hole in the seat? then he/she could use a remnant to patch the back of the sofa, and you can save the big (i.e. expensive) full reupholstering for down the road.

mregan03, that is a really, really good suggestion. As is the asinner idea about having little pet mats made from extra fabric. i'm keeping both in mind for my animal-abused sofas.

geez thats sucks.

my pitty actally did this to my bf's truck seat...she dug a HUGE MASSIVE hole in it and we can't fix it. We eneded up ordering a new seat to replace it :( it sucks, but its part of owning dogs - espeically puppies!

oh, I feel your pain. . .no use in getting anything nice until the dog is past the naughty years.. then a solid wearing out is always in order.

my couch has also fallen victim. . RIP couch. ..I'd start checking craigslist for a new couch.

Ouch. I thought that my cat was the bane of couches, but your doggie has definitely got her beat.

I agree that a flat bench seat would be much easier to maintain. You might also consider having the upholster create a removable seat cushion instead of having it built-in. this will make it much easier to clean in the long run. Basically, your dog has made it necessary for you to seek professional help- since there's no going back now, consider all of your options and find a configuration that will really work with your lifestyle. Perhaps your pup did you a favor- those buttons really can be a pain :)

If you've had your dog for a while, and this is the first time she's ever been destructive, then she' definitely reacting to the sofa's smell. If you're going to have the seat reupholstered anyway, then I'd get one of those cleaners that have enzymes in them (like Nature's Miracle, which you can buy at a pet store) that will remove all animal smells. Just pour it on the seat cushion and let it dry. My cat peed on the seat cushions of my sofa. I thought I'd have to replace them, but that enzyme stuff did the trick. It even removed the stain, and this was (and still is) an off-white sofa!

Mauled tufting unfortunately requires reupholstery. Not sure if your location but roberto's upholstery on Santa Ana does an exceptional job at a fair price and have good turn around time.

Wow! I'm amazed at how many people are willing to let their animals ruin great things that I'm sure they love and work very hard for. Why search for or wait for a perfect piece just to throw a sheet over it. I get the whole pet lover thing but I also don't want to feel like I live in a dog kennel. I couldn't live with having to arm my home before I leave or always be worried about what was going to be trashed when I got home. Too much unnecessary work!

Let their animal ruin great things? Yes, I'm sure the owner of the dog/couch just stood by and did nothing as this happened.

Good for you if you don't want a dog. Cut back on the criticism of lifestyle choices. It isn't what the poster asked for.

krazyakres, the same thing could easily be said about sharing a house with children or hosting guests regularly, and that usually doesn't stop most people from having either in the home. Shit happens occasionally, and I'd argue there are more problem humans than problem pets :D Differn't strokes for differn't folks.

O.k. then. Put a sheet over it and forget it. My comment wasn't exactly to the poster. It was just an observation based on all of the other posts I read. I guess if you choose to have animals in the house you're going to have to put up with those things. And, yes I have children . And, yes plenty of things have gotten ruined. I really don't think you can compare children to animals. Again, just an observation.

I'm late on this but still: Get a large tartan and some thin ish pvc pipe. Fold the tartan and place on sofa so that the fringe hangs in a straight line and starts just below the rolled and tufted edge of the seat. It should be lying over the band at the bottom of the sofa. Then stuff the pvc pipe cut to the appropriate lengths between the seat and back cushion to hold the tartan in place. It will look like an old English estate or a Ralph Lauren advertisement. I WOULD NOT GO TO THE EXPENSE OF REUPHOLSTERING JUST YET. This is a cheap way to make the sofa look great while waiting to reupholster or train the dog...