[Doodlebug]

I wish mine would use the potty pad In the winter. They wake me up in the night to go outside. I worry that they will slip on the ice going up or down the steps, which they have done many times. I can see that they are scared and both have arthritis. Sometimes I go out and carry them down the steps. Last winter I stepped down onto a sheet of ice at the bottom of the steps and my legs flew out from under me in different directions. I barely managed to scoot myself up the steps on my rear and scooted into the house, but I couldn't even get up and walk. I was lucky that I wasn't carrying the pups or that I didn't hit my head on the steps when I fell. i am thinking about trying to come up with something to put on the deck that they will use and block the stairs so they don't go down. I just wish they would use a pee pad but they wont, they will whine to go outside.