Is allowing a dog upstairs into just one room possible!?

[spottydottygal]

Hello! Could anyone offer some advice please. Our lovely Romanian rescue isn't allowed upstairs (yet!). She's fourteen months and still has some destructive tendancies so trying to limit her access. My problem is that my office is right at top of house in the attic . This means that during the day I'm ending up setting up my office in the kitchen then moving it all back upstairs in the evening. Also sometimes I have to run up and down stairs to get stuff blah blah blah. It's such a drag! I was wondering whether or not it would be confusing to invite my dog upstairs to hang out with me in my office while I'm working even though she wouldn't be allowed upstairs in any other circumstances. Sorry if that's a bit long winded and hope it makes sense. Any thoughts or suggestions very welcome. Thank you

Just shut all the other doors - presumably you just don’t allow her access just now anyway rather than expecting her to just know not to go up? So I can’t see why it would be confusing?...

can she do stairs though? I had to teach mine

I think it would be fine OP - take her bed up and settle her down at your feet and close the door so she cant roam
Close the doors to the other bedrooms and maybe think about a stair gate if she tries creeping up and you dont want her to

She’ll soon learn to adapt to you. Be firm, be kind and give commands and treats every single time she listens
Wonderful of you to have adopted her.. she sounds as though she has the perfect home x

Thank you both for your replies. I really appreciate the input.

Tabulahrasa - yes shutting all the other doors makes sense. We have a stair gate at the moment so I think I'd just take her up on an indoor lead. (Yes she's fine with stairs)

Big Slippers - thanks for kind words. She's a real sweetheart although can be a bit of a handful sometimes obvs being a pup! I guess if I take her bed up there, shut all the other doors, she'll get the idea.

xx

Our dog only has a access to one room upstairs - we shut the other (it's a tub terrace) and bolt it as he can open doors 🤣

I just shut the other doors. The door to downstairs and he generally migrates back down there anyway. But he has the option to come up if he wants. And I can hear him ring his bell when he needs a pee

Thanks Lobster and Lagat. All good to hear. I think because I'm basically on the third floor if she does decide to go downstairs then she's a long way from my beady eye. So I think if she's going to be upstairs while I work then the deal is that she's got to stay there!. But I defo think shutting all the doors is a sensible idea. I'll just massively cosy up a bed for her, sling her the yummiest (long lasting) treat I can find and hopefully she'll be good as gold! I guess my main worry is that once we've allowed her upstairs she'll be always thinking it's fine to go there but I guess if I just have very definite boundaries it'll all be fine. I hope! Thank you!! x

My one is upstairs but not in the kids bedrooms as I can't trust them not to leave apple carts/chocolate/other disgusting things lying around that the dog would eat. I also don't want him in the spare bedroom for other reasons (clean clothes never being put away ;-)) all these rooms have doors though so just make sure they are closed.

I am sure in time she will just want to be with you, my one is velcro so he is always where I am

As she is still only young it is a good idea to get her used to settling somewhere - maybe the kitchen/downstairs - away from you, so that she doesn't feel like she has to be beside you all the time and doesn't get anxious then at being left.

But in imo, there is no problem taking her to your office.

Mine is (for incredibly boring reasons) only allowed in one room downstairs. It's enforced using baby gates, but he doesn't even bother to try and follow me in nowadays as he knows he isn't allowed in there ever.

Baby gates and / or closed doors are the way to go.