Stairs
George. |
|
|
| Hi,
Merlin was a bit shy of going down my back stairs off my porch when he was young. Now he bounds down them with no fear. Don't worry your little fellow will be able to master them when his legs grow a bit longer. 
A suggestion perhaps is to place kibble on every second or third stair...then eventually every 4-6...then at the bottom but make sure he sees you doing it. He may not want to go down on his own as with all my dogs for the first couple months I had to go down with them. They take the lead from the Alpha in the household...(YOU). Even now with my three dogs..none will go up the stairs if I don't go first...then it's Merlin whom is alpha amongst the dogs...both Panda and Blue always race to see who is going to be second. If I'm not out in the yard the Alpha dog (Merlin) always goes up the stairs first. Hope this helps |
| Sorry George! Presley is 5 years old and STILL won't go down (or up) stairs!
I think I remember someone posting about this in the past - maybe they'll have some suggestions on what worked! Kristen |
| I've never allowed my dogs to go up or down stairs. They live on the main floor, and my room is on the main floor as well so they are always with us anyway. The kids rooms are all upstairs so there is no need for the dogs to go up there anyway and our basement is just for storage....
My first OES had no problems going up or down stairs, once she got the hang of them she flew! LOL She wadn't supposed to either, but she did anyway...  |
| Wow I didn't know you guys had so many problems with stairs. Dumb question though, I guess you've tried starting him at the bottom to climb up the stairs regular first? It seems as though it is much easier for them to learn upstairs and then downstairs.
I wouldn't force the issue. 12 weeks is still pretty young and I would just let him see if he will do it naturally as he grows. I don't think we had Frank going down the stairs at that age. Also, once he gets the hang of the stairs I think it would be a while for me to trust him to know better than falling off the side of the stairs so I would not let him go up and down unattended for a long time. I'm not sure how well their depth perception is at that age. |
| I should mention that my house has two levels. On the mainfloor, the enterance way is quite large with stairs leading up to the main living area - living room, kitchen and more bedrooms. So no matter when I enter with the dogs I always go upstairs every single day and of course they follow.
That's the thing is they want to be near their family and even now at 15 Blue would never venture to the rec room downstairs on his own unless my son or I are down there. I think that's perhaps it..your little fellow is still so young and as he views you as the Alpha he would not dare to attempt going off on his own unless you provided the lead. The other would be he wants to be near the rest of the pack. If he's at home all day long he may eventually find a favorite spot and it may be downstairs but he'd have had to gone there a few times with you previously. Marianne and the boys |
| Louie learned to go up stairs almost immediatly. Teaching him to go down was another matter. I had to stand on the next step down and then he would stretch and sort of let himself slide down. After the initial hurdle of the first step he took about two days for it to be no big deal. |
| Going up is much easier than down. Have you tried putting a great, to die for treat on couple steps up? That will give Barney enough motivation to go get it. Once he's up there, take him down, rinse and repeat.
He should get the idea pretty quick. Are your basement stairs full, our just the steps? Dogs are afraid of stairs that show open spaces and will be harder to make them go down or up some of these... I still have lots of trouble with those with Lennon. Sofa, on the other side, is an athlete, I've seen her trying to climb rope monkey cages in the park just to reach a candy wrapper a kid left there.  |
| My personal experience with a great dane was it was easier to go down than up (for us). My small dog still won't go up unless she's on a leash and i'm gently pulling her ...otherwise, she will just want "up" in my arms.
I've seen that most people were right. After awhile, my dogs wanted to be with mommy. So, when the timing was right, they conquered their own fear because their desire to be with me was greater. I usually start on the second or third stair and make them go down that (with leash on). Or second stair from the top (to learn up... then either way, they have no choice but to go up a stair or down). I did make sure the staircase was one with SMALL gaps, so they didn't fall through. A clinic down the street had one dog come in with a broken leg because it fell through (between the stairs). yikes. |
| I would wait with Barney. We got our first sheepie to go down at 6 months and he would run up and down the stairs especially since he had a cat to chase. Oliver and Oreo are on the main floor have no desire to go down the steps. The deck steps were new to Oreo but he goes up and down those just fine. |
| I agree - it's best described with a snippet from "the rules" for OES, one of which is:
"I must not race up and down the stairs. They are NOT a NASCAR race track" It's also kind of like raising human children - we spend a year or two teaching them to stand and to talk and the rest of our lives telling them to sit down and shut up.....  |
| Mikeyg - you made me laugh out loud at my desk!
Went to your website - Woof is such a gorgeous dog! Thanks for the link! As for the stairs - all the dogs we've had have learned the full steps easier than the ones with open backs (basement steps). Going down the open back steps was okay, but when they stood at the bottom and looked up, it scared them. Drez won't do the basement steps at all any more, and hasn't for a few years. Since her surgery, even the regular stairs are more of a challenge.  What a sight to see her going up each step one at a time, and sideways! Puts her two front paws on a step, then brings her left rear leg up, then uses that to bring her right rear leg up. She looks like a crab walking up the steps!  My husband's home office is on the second floor, and most days she's content to stay on the first floor, but as we all know, sheepies want to be with their uprights, so a few times a week she's tackle the steps to go up to be with daddy. What a trooper!!
Chris |
| Mike I love your site too... Woof is gorgeous! How do you keep his beard and feet so beautifully white? You've done an amazing job grooming him. |
| I'm going to have to teach Sofa that rule, Mikeyg!
When she goes downstairs, she flies and lands on the bottom of the stairs turn, then she jumps again to land on the living room... She needs an air traffic controller! |
| w/o reading the replies AFTER your post mikey, I was about to reply and tell you how beautiful your dog is. wowza. |
| You're all too kind - I'm embarrassed!
I groom him myself mostly now because it's so expensive ($90 a time approx) at the only groomer we've found locally who will take large dogs! Anyway, Stairs - the only way I know to slow Woofer down is to slow down myself - he never wants to be more than a few stairs away so I tell him to go slowly as i myself gingerley creep down them. it doesn't work very often of course...... |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|