Stairs
Karen |
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| Hi Karen..I wish I had an answer for you, but I hope someone else has had a similar experience that they have worked through and can give you some advice.
Maggie was a little leary of going down the stairs when she first woke up in the morning..that lasted for a few days after we got her so I would carry her. The up was never a poblem. We have wood stairs also and I know how slippery they can be when she is flying up or down them. I wonder if it's like the cat that went up the tree? If he can go up, he should be able to go down. He may be so used to you carrying him that he will automatically not try. Maggie learned so quickly that when we go out the front door I would make her sit. Now as soon as she walks out, even without the leash she sits in the same spot. Good luck, I know you will get some help from this awesome forum! |
I don't know, I did try shutting all the doors upstairs to kind of "make" him do it on his own and he ended up peeing on the carpet in the upstairs hallway. When we're out we gate him in the kitchen, and he got that down once and we came home to find him stuck upstairs. We were gone most of the day, so I don't know that he'll ever do it on his own. We'll figure something out - I hope! I had treats on most of the stairs one day and my big fat cat came along and started eating them! I thought for sure, that would have pursuaded him to come down - but no! Poor Bob 
Karen |
I had Panda try stairs for the second time last night...she raced pell mell upstairs just fine, it took a LOT of coaxing to get her down....me, Brian and 4 other firemen  with cookies and knee patting...what a site that was....Brian decided that Panda is coming on vacation with us and our unit is on the second floor....I am NOT carrying that dog down the stairs every time.....I set my limits on spoiling ....she had the wobbliest legs that I have ever seen coming down those stairs...at least they didnt make her try to use the pole....lol.....wish I had a camera, 4 big burly men on their knees crooning to my baby...... |
It could be his perspective that is freaking him out. Probably feels like he is going to fall or that his backside is going to catch up and pass his front side! 
Try carrying him down to the last two steps and then putting him down and making him finish on his own. It won't look like so much of a drop and if he does slip the fall won't be so far and he'll realize that it isn't so bad. You'll probably want to put a leash on him so that he doesn't run right back up the stairs! |
Thanks! That's a good idea, I never even thought of that. Then I can just increase the number of steps each time. It's funny because he's even leary of going up now that he knows mommy is not so keen on carrying him back down. He actually will do a double take before he chases the cat up. Doesn't stop him, but slows him down!  |
| I have no idea what to suggest... I don't let my dogs go upstairs, so their inability to do it has only helped me to make sure they don't. |
| Don't worry, he'll get it-- and when he does, you'll cringe like I do when Clyde takes the whole 12 step staircase and 3 giant leaps. He also was scared to come down and when he did finally start, it was one of the funniest sights I'd ever seen. All wobbly, using the wall to hold himelf up-- he looked like he was drunk. We did what Mandy suggested about taking him up a few stairs and letting him come down, combined with the treats. Once he got a couple stairs, he tried the top on his own. It took him about a month to really feel confident about the descent. Now I wish he was a little more apprehensive. He goes down so fast now, sometimes he smashes into the closet at the bottom of the stairs because he's going too fast to stop! |
| Yeah, I'm a little concerned about that too! There's a landing at the bottom for the last 2 steps which go in a different direction. I can just see him come smashing down into the wall and not making the turn. Boy, are the cats going to be bumming when he does figure this out. When he's upstairs now, they just get all sprauled out on the stairs because they know he won't come down! |
| Lol. Clyde remembers the turn (we have a similar setup) but he's already skidding and misses it. Sometimes he makes part of the turn and winds up at the front door instead of the living room. I always tell him he's going to get hurt but he doesn't seem to care. |
Barney wasn't very good at the steps in teh beginning when we first got him (at 6 months). He went up very slowly the first time and had to be carried down the first couple of times, but he was already too big for me to do it, so he learned by coaxing pretty fast. Now he's like Clyde and just tears down the stairs. Our stairs are directly to the left of the front door, so there is only about 2 feet between the wall and the bottom step so Barney has definitely crashed a few times!  And, since he has bad hips, he has also ended up doing the splits! 
Here is a picture of Barney going down the steps very very very slowly. We have about 12 steps and I think it took him 5 minutes...  |
| What a sweetie!! That's an adorable, touching photo. |
| Wow, he's so grey so young! I've never seen them change that young... unless of course he was shaved down, but even then! What a cutie.... |
| Oh isnt that sooo funny....at least he learned to scoot down on his butt...lol
Im glad you got a picture of that....its worth framing!! |
We took a video of Clyde and as soon as he saw the camera, it was the first time he did it without looking intoxicated. It was almost like he knew we were going to show it to other people and giggle.  |
| That's so cute!!! I wish Bob would get the hang of scooting, his back legs just kind of slide in opposite directions on the step while his whole body shakes - very drunk dog!! |
| When Toby first started doing the steps he would lay flat, all four limbs splayed out and slide down like a flying squirrel. I was laughing so hard I couldn't open the door for him.
Now he runs so fast that I'm not sure he touches any of the steps. We have the split staircase, half flight with a landing and a turn then the other half flight, He has ran down the first half, hit the landing and jumped before, just to catch up with Carl. I'm waiting for the day that he lands and does a front roll. |
Quote: Wow, he's so grey so young! I've never seen them change that young... unless of course he was shaved down, but even then! What a cutie....
I know--I thought that he was really grey early too...Of course we didn't have him as a puppy-puppy so I've sometimes wondered if his age was a little falsified and he was older than they said he was...But he still looks like about a 6 month old puppy (besides color) in that picture, so I guess maybe he just got grey early...He's now very grey. My parent's sheepdog is 8 and she is much darker than Barney is... |
| How's he doing? Any improvements? I was wondering is there any place on your walks that have only 2-5 stairs he could practice on? (ideally start with 2-3 then find a place that has 3-5, and so on) Maybe in another context, he might get the hang of it? When I got Chumley, I thought Oh My she's really old because she looked so tense and arthritic on the stairs. Now she is bouncing up and down them. I think she just needed to get accustomed. . . Good luck! |
| Thanks for asking. Actually, I've been carrying him down about halfway and he'll go from there. He still freaks out when he's up at the top by himself!! He's getting there though!
Karen |
Get down on your hands and knees at the top of the stairs. Get the "dog's eye view." And, they expect me to do that? 
I put mine several steps from the bottom, get in front, help move the legs down one at a time to the next step, leaving one step to master on their own. Walk away like its no big deal, when they came, got praised and an occasional treat. Repeat awhile, going higher and leaving a few more steps to master coming down on their own. After awhile, I'd go downstairs, go about my business and eventually they got the courage to come down. They did't wanna miss out on too much.  Upstairs is the same process only in reverse and easier.
If steps are slick its wise to do something about it. May not seem to affect them now, but as they get older you may see the results of some damage that was done from a slip you didn't know about. Most important thing of all to remember about steps after they've mastered them, especially if you have more than one dog is: ALWAYS MAKE THEM GO DOWN FIRST!!! Prevents you from being knocked down and injured when they make the mad dash to see who makes it the to bottom first! And, avoids the nose in the back of the knee, drop to you're feet falls. |
| We went through this with Bailey too. Definitely the best approach is to start from the bottom and work your way up. It took us a while - 2 steps, three steps, 4 steps... but eventually he got brave and now he takes them three at a time |
| Hi everyone! I find it funny that I had to search google just to come back to OES.org. We recently rescued our new gal Lucy, who is almost 2 and so far she is adjusting pretty well except the stairs in our house are freaking her out, big time. When we first brought her home, she saw me go down the stairs and was like what and then we I came buck up the stairs she flipped out, it scared her big time. Needless to say she won't go up and down the stairs, which there are only 6 steps, but they are kind of steep. I will try the suggestions here however we will probably wait to tackle the stairs just because she is a rescue and we don't want her to have to take one more than she can chew at this point. -Jason |
| Good luck with Lucy and the steps. I took a look at your pictures - she's adorable! She still looks fluffy after her cut - how nice the groomer didn't have to clip her naked! |
| when sadie was little she couldnt figure out the down the stairs part ... she went up them fine .. but when it came to going down she would do it backwards ...
it was soo funny to look at ... but if you laughed at her she would pout on the steps and go up them and cry till you carried her down all i have to say is thank goodness the cat taught her how to use them |
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