i own  2 shih-tzu, one 2 years the other 11months--(both done)
since having both dogs we have always had stairgates up, one on the stairs the other on the kitchen door -as the children were still young
a few months ago as the kids are older we decided to take the gates down
but now we have a big problem
the dogs have decided to use my sons bed as there toilet area and i cannot understand why
i come home from work let and them out in the garden, prepare tea then take them for a walk on returning to the house they will go upstairs and do their business
if i follow them upstairs they do nothing and will follow me back down,but at some stage in the evening they will do the deed

i really dont want to keep the stair gates up all the time

any suggestions will help 

thanks

Although stairgates are a nuisance, I would personally prefer that to dogpoo upstairs!

All my kids are old enough not to have a stairgate up, but top of my stairs had a stair gate on,the reason being is our little dog will pee on top of the stairs if the gate is open . little horror.lol
Carol

I've found many dogs do this as a reaction to stress in their household - one lady even discovered that once the wedding they were planning was over, the behaviour stopped!  Maybe you are aware of a similar problem in your house?

My youngest child is 10...still use a stairgate though
Archer