# Dangerous For My Dog To Drink From The Toilet?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-for-my-dog-to-drink-from-the-toilet/312029>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 11, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-for-my-dog-to-drink-from-the-toilet/312029 "2005-07-11T17:40:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![tygerbryght](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)\
**Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dangerous-for-my-dog-to-drink-from-the-toilet/312029/21 "2005-07-13T18:32:09Z")

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> [@Lissa](#):
>
> \<snip\>  
> Though she’s very capable of it, Polaris has never tried to jump a gate. (She can jump higher than any dog I’ve ever seen.)
> 
> The thing I use to block the top of the stairs is only six inches high, but she respects it. I think it’s because when she was younger, she knocked against a gate accidently, and it fell on top of her. Though it didn’t hurt her, she screamed in terror, and it must have stuck in her two-watt brain that a gate is a Dangerous Scary Thing.
> 
> She watches passively as the older dog nimbly steps over the stairs gate, and will whine in frustration. It’s odd.

Wonderful! Get another gate and put it across the bathroom doorframe.

> [@](#):
>
> Trying to stop that puppy from kissing my face is like trying to stave off an attack of killer bees. …
> 
> I am trying, though. Actually, Bean tries even harder _for_ me. The puppy gets a very stern bark if she jumps up on Mommy if Bean is in the room.

:chuckle: That’s wonderful. Bean is taking the role that older dogs (or sometimes, dogs who merely have more seniority in the household) will take - teacher.

> [@](#):
>
> Bean, the older dog, was Queen Victoria in a former life. She is _not amused_ by the puppy’s bubbly displays of affection. An attempt at a kiss will likely earn her a stern growl, if not being knocked onto her back with Bean’s entire mouth around her throat. (The puppy is learning the proper deferential approach, which is really much akin to approaching the monarchs of old-- much bowing and grovelling, and even then, a snapping reproach should she dare to venture too closely.)

Good for Bean. She is doing most of the work for you. But I suspect that when Polaris finally learns Queen Vic - Bean’s rules, she will be permitted to show proper homage. Eventually, Polaris will learn Proper Behavior from Bean’s etiquette book, and things will be much calmer, trust me. 😉

Meantime, a gate, and switching to vinegar or the like for regular cleaning, with some Clorox in the house for those occasions when it’s really needed, will keep the toilet as safe as you can make it for when Polaris manages to evade everything and gets to her favorite drinkin’ hole.

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