2 Level House - What door to use for potty???

eilenej1 · 12-16-2006, 04:51 PM

I'm new to dogs and feel so ignorant sometimes

. I'm reading a basic - cover all the topics related to puppies - type of book. It suggested that I always use the same door to take Max out to use the bathroom. That makes sense - except for the fact that we have 2 levels with doors and we spend about equal amounts of time on each level. If we're in the basement - it sure would be quicker to make an exit out the sliding door down here for his potty trips. He's already had 1 accident because we couldn't get up the stairs to the front door in time. I generally take him out every 1 - 2 hours and after meals.

Has anyone else house trained and used 2 doors on 2 different levels? If so, were there any problems related to that?

Thanks!
Eilene

britishbandit · 12-16-2006, 04:57 PM

Wow, I've never heard of that. I've had numerous doors in my houses too, and never had a problem potty training because I used both or all of them to take out pups. The goal is to make your pup realize that it is supposed to eliminate outside, it shouldn't matter which door you use to get it there. I always used/use the door closest for when I knew/know the pup had/has to go quick!

I have a 10 week old Rottweiler, and we go out back and out front at about the same frequency.

eilenej1 · 12-16-2006, 07:57 PM

Thanks for the info. We'll begin to use the basement door when we're in the basement.

drfong · 12-16-2006, 10:22 PM

I believe it is always better to use the same door because it is less confussing for the pup. That said, in you situation I think it is just as good to use the same technics at an upstairs door and a basement door. The dog should generalize to both doors, and since it is where you are to see it, it should work ok.

skunkstripe · 12-17-2006, 11:48 AM

Yeah, we have three ways to get in and out of the house. I think the book is making things more complicated than they need to be. What you might do is say loudly "front door" or "back door" to try to teach the dog where you want him to appear when it is time to go out. This could come in handy. But basically it sounds like a non-issue!

eilenej1 · 12-17-2006, 04:54 PM

I got to thinking about this after I posted yesterday, and including sliding doors, we have 7 doors to the exterior. Only 1 from the basement and several of the ones on the main level go to the garage, porch, or deck - so aren't good options. So we will stick with one for each level.