Stair issues
I have an OES who will turn 2 in July. I can not get him to go up and down stairs. If it is more than 4 stairs he will not attempt. I have tried to easing him into it or providing little rewards and or treats to lure him up or down but he will not budge. Any suggestions on how to get him over his terror of stairs. I would like for him to sleep upstairs with the boys Cheers Greg |
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| Have you tried taking him upstairs on a leash? Just wondering how he reacts. I wonder if it would help to put a harness on him. Hold the back strap and quickly take him up the steps. He might feel safer or supported. Maybe have one person support him with the harness and another coaxing with treats up higher on the steps. (Be careful you don't fall!) It sounds like you may have already done this but I put super tasty treats on each step... on a paper plate if you need to protect the treads. http://oesusa.com/213053.jpg Maybe something really good at the top that he can be bribed with.  Eventually eliminate treats on the steps he will willingly do. Keep the sessions brief so he doesn't feel overwhelmed. Praise like crazy when he goes a step beyond his comfort zone, then take him back to the bottom to start again. If you can get him to do it a couple of times, he'll likely feel more confident. Do brief sessions a couple of times a day to help ease him into it. Hopefully he'll learn there's nothing to be afraid of. Later, work with him on turning around on the steps. |
| I have carpeted and enclosed stair case at home, lot of stairs leading to the upper level and no problems with the dogs going up or down them. At the farm to outside is 3 wooden steps not enclosed and they jump over them and jump up them to get back inside. There not confident and dont like the open 3 little stairs to outside at the farm. So with your stairs are they enclosed or open style? If open or wooden, either and not carpeted can be a bit slippery can make them fearfull of them and the surface. So building confidence and not pushing them too much is the way to go. On a lead at the bottom, leave the lead loose with you at the top, pop a treat on the first step, leaving the lead loose and no pressure on him let him take the treat off that first step with a command "Come" and a gentle small tug on then lead, if he takes the treat off the first step then say "Good Boy" then let the lead go. Do that a few times then then progress another day to the next step till he is willing to accept all 4 steps as a good thing and not scary. Then reverse the process to him gaining confidence to go down them. Take it step by step as they say  without pressuring him. Once he knows there OK you wont be able to stop him charging up and down.  Thank goodness he only has to master 4 steps up and down  |
| They may be too slippery for his confidence. Patience and Jaci's tricks. I remember crawling up and down steps with a rescue at the new owner's house as the bitch was terrified. After a lot of giggles, treats and games (and very sore knees for me) the girl figured it out. |
| Stairs can be very scary things. Simon had no problem figuring how to go up the stairs but going down was a whole other story. My Dh decided one evening that it was time for him to learn how to go down. He spent hours that night to gently teach Simon how to go down. Kudo's to him. At the end of the night Simon was going down the stairs. Now Simon and I race down the stairs...He wins. |
| I agree that slow and steady wins the race. Does he have a doggy friend that can "teach" him? When Bingley was little we carried him up and down our stairs for 6 months - we were being extra cautious with his growing hips. At the end of the 6 months he had no idea what to do with the stairs. We did the treat thing again . . . and again . . . and again. Eventually he got it! |
Thanks all for your suggestions I will try. When my sister in laws dog come over he is a little yippe dog that Harry loves to play with not so much the other way though The little dog has figured out that Harry will not go up the stairs so he goes up about 4 or 5 stairs just to the point Harry won't go and lays there. It is not enough to get Harry up the stairs. I will try the treats on each stair and see if that works. At 80 + lbs he is to heavy to cart up and down stairs to often  Thanks again for you suggestions and encouragement. Greg |
I was curious to see the responses. I live in a ranch style house with no stairs. My dogs never learned to use stairs since we never had any and I never thought to teach them  While on vacation a few years ago, we had to go up a steep flight of stairs to go to bed...They were wood and not carpeted and very steep, like you find in an old house. My poor baby went up okay and coming down slipped and broke one of his his "digits"...I call it a finger or toe...But wow did I feel bad!I think carpeting helps and I think the "closed" stairs help as well...But I will admit, we have avoided stairs since that fall... |
| Brick had problems with stairs when he was young. When he was very young, he wouldn't go up or down them. We had to carry him up & down the stairs. If he was misbehaving or driving us nuts, I'd put him on the stoop outside the door. He would just sit there. As he got a bit older, he was more confident going up & down stairs. Open stairs (with no riser between the treads) were another story. He was terrified of those. Just coaxing over time made him realize he could navigate them. Actually to this day, he still goes up & down them funny. His fron legs walk (one after the other, alternating) but he moves his back legs together, lke he's hopping. Kinda funny. |
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