My dogs can come in if they want. They will usually just come in to say hi. I do make sure nothing is on the floor or I close the door when I am not quilting. The other day I dropped one of my marking pencils and I thought to myself I should pick this up before Rosey comes in here. But I got distracted and sure enough both dogs came in and I turned around she had just started to chew on the pencil! :)