New cat owner

Hey everyone I'm a new cat owner (see thread at introduce new cats) and have some questions.

First I'm looking for suggestions on how to keep the cats off one of our sofas. One couch we don't want them on for people with allergies when they come over. They don't jump on it to often but it is enough to be a problem. I tried some cat off spray but it actually made them curious about what I was spraying hopped on the couch and started sniffing.

The second issue is where they are napping starting yesterday. The first night we brought them home (last Thursday) they tried to hide but we were very calm and they came out eventually. By the next day they were very comfortable and didn't run from us to much and began taking naps in the open.

However they now are hiding under the couch to nap. I'm 99% sure it's not because they are afraid because they aren't hiding when people are coming over anymore. Yesterday I got them to come out and laid them on the futon and they went back to sleep but today that wasn't happening. I jus don't want then hiding because I know this can lead to other issues, but also don't want to stop them if it's not a problem (although the cuteness factor is so much higher when they sleep where we can see them. Anyway than for any help you can offer.

It may be very difficult for a cat to understand what furniture they are allowed on and what furniture they are not allowed on.  To keep it simple you might just try to keep them off all furniture.  Or you could try covering the couch you don't want them on and only allowing them on it when it's covered.  When company comes over, just remove the blanket/sheet.  To keep them off all furniture you would need to removed them each time they jump up.  Who knows what they would do when you are not home. 

I am sure you could look up clicker training and see if it is possible to train the cats to stay off the furniture. 

I like the idea of covering the guest couch. Also, I agree that if you want them off a particular piece of furniture, it's best to try and keep them off all of it.

As far as clicker training, I've never tried it. But imho, a very similar way to go is just simple positive reinforcement. Cats respond much better to this kind of training than actually punishing them when they do something bad.

Rule #1 No timeouts, no squirt pistols

Rule #2 a firm NO is all they get when they do something incorrectly.

Rule #3 Praise, Praise, Praise and if food motivated an occasional treat when they do good things.

Sleep in their bed... Yay! Good girls!

Play with their toys... Yay! GG!

You get the idea. Don't be afraid to praise them a lot, so when something undesirable happens, their is a notable difference in your voice inflection.

This may sound silly, but it works and usually pretty quickly. I promise.

As far as keeping them out of tight hiding places... Good luck with that. It's a primal part of their DNA. Cats in the wild do the same thing. I started keeping the door to my bedroom closed to keep my girls from hiding under my bed. It's obviously harder to do that with a couch.

Do you have a cat tree or somewhere they can go up high? Cats will often hide under something if they don't feel they have a safe thing to own. My Frida now spends tons of time in her cat tree. Another idea to get them sleeping in a desired place is perhaps a heated pad or bed. Why sleep on the couch when the cat bed is so warm and cozy. Here is a pic of Frida enjoying her heat pad. I promise furry cats like them too. Frida only sleeps on the heat pad the cat tree or me.