I'd go with leather. Wipes clean easily.

Need a cat scratching post if have leather. Am Aussie. Please post pic of Australian Shepherd as have seen them mentioned on Houzz before, but not heard of them here. It could be what we call Blue Heelers or cattle dogs. Maybe distressed leather?

My daughter has two dogs and has Microfibre suede - doesn't snag, tough as nails, and easy to clean. She just puts on a rubber glove and wipes off the dog hairs.

Here Chook, prepare to say "awwwwwww" :)

If the cats aren't scratchers, then Chook is right, distressed leather would be ok, keep animals claws filed. Rounded claws will not destroy your fabric or leather

Microfibers are the best.

chookchook, Australian shepherds are completely misnamed. They have little if anything to do with Australia in their history. They are an energetic herding breed that was mostly employed (and bred) on farms and ranches in the Western United States, though the original stock is speculated to have come from Basque shepherds who moved to the US via Australia. They are lovely dogs (we have two) and come in many color combinations.

I'll say it for her: Aawwww!

How about a sofa with Crypton Home Fabric on it? Some of the major features of the fabric are stain, moisture, and odor resistance and can be found at Calico Corners! http://www.calicocorners.com/storelocator.do

We have three dogs and two cats. We had a microfiber sofa. I hated it. But my dogs would chew their rawhide bones on it and it didn't seem to clean of and the finish always looked uneven. I have had cats destroy two leather reproduction Eames chairs with ottomans in the past also. I have one wing chair that I had treated for stain resistance when we bought it. Pet hair refuses to get stuck in it. Our white Jack Russell terrier sheds horribly and that is the one piece of furniture that doesn't keep her hair stuck in it. I believe Australian shepherds are the smartest dogs, next to standard poodles.

How about keeping the pets off the sofa? Sorry, that was my laugh of the day! We use washable slipcovers. Ours are a popular brand but I saw some in a magazine once that were made of denim and, man I would love some of those!

Mircofiber leaves butt prints and IMHO looks very cheap. Laz-Boy has a line of fabrics called Renewed leather. They're about 10% leather and do not scratch, they look like distressed leather but are a good deal less expensive. Flexsteel has a line of fabrics called Kashmira...it's designed for households with pets. I would recommend using Crypton as it is anti-static which helps repel pet hair. I would consider something from either of these two companies. As for leather with cats, regularly I hear from customers whose cat destroyed a good piece of leather. I have a slipcovered sofa which is not for everyone and it's great for dogs. Just throw it in the wash ever so often. A trade secret, most companies are having good sales right now and are taking a price increase March 1st.

Leather would work best, or buy a sofa with washable slipcovers

Thanks for the tip, Comforts! :)

All this is useless. I bought anti-scratch sofa cover that resists perfectly cat claws. I have it more than 1 year and it solved my problem with scratching. This is it http://www.catfriendlysofa.com/en/the-solution/

WOW, it works perfectly! Thank you so much for the advice. I gave them my sofa measurements and, just in one week, catfriendlysofa.com sent me a scratch resistant cover for my sofa arms. Problem solved! Great :)

Scratching problem solved! It is really cat-proof. No more concerns to see my cat on our couch. Thank you so much www.catfriendlysofa.com!

Echoing a number of the other commenters here - Leather is definitely a good choice.

We often get questions like this, and teamed up with the experts at Dogs of Instagram to come up with the top 5 tips for selecting pet-friendly furniture.