Those stairs

[elaine]

Hi there
I am a new member and need some advice. I have two ex-racers, Dusty & Joe. Got Dusty first and she is fine with stairs but Joe (who we have had about 10 months now) is still scared stiff (literally) of them. When I try to get him to go up he just braces himself against me and goes rigid. I can get him up the first one or two but after that he just wants to turn round and get back down asap. We have carpeted the stairs and blocked them in as they were open tread and he can do concrete steps. Would be really grateful for any suggestions.

Thanks very much

Elaine

[Nettie]

Elaine, is it really necessary for him to come upstairs? If he really doesn't feel comfortable doing stairs then I wouldn't force the issue. If he really wanted to he would do it.

However if it is necessary then have you tried putting a lead on him and encouraging him that way rather than the hands on approach. You might try tasty treats and treat him every time he takes a step, a treat on the step just out of his reach might encourage him to try. If you get him up and he refuses to come back down would you be able to get him downstairs safely?

[katbillycleo]

Hi Elaine

I had the same issue with Bill my second. Cleo (the first) was up and down the strains from day one and I assumed Bill would be the same but he would just stand at the bottom and whine. I tried walking him up on the lead but he really wasn't have it and even with treats it wasn't going to happen. So I started on stairs outside of the house, in the park, in town etc and he managed to do those if I just continued walking and didn't make an issue out of the steps.

Once I had established that he was physically capable of climbing up and down I started on the stairs at home. This time I just carried him up (he is fine being picked up) and then called Cleo up too and they had lots of treats and fuss. I carried this on for a few days so Bill knew that happy things happened upstairs. After a few days with no encouragement at all he just followed Cleo up, obviously not wanting to miss out on the fun.

Now he is up and down all the time as if he is making up for lost time!

Good luck! x

[paulawright]

it took molly just over a year to try coming up the stairs, as has been said before if he really wants to do it im sure he will eventually

[michele]

Hi, I take my dog to work with me, when we got him in Jan I borough him for the first time. I took me about 2 hours outside before I gave in and carried him up the outside stairs. I tried filling the gaps, putting blankets over the stairs allsorts. As he put on weight I just couldn't keep varrying him 3 times a day.

I started by moving him one paw at a time up the stairs, always with a treat at the top, which he could see. At first he was almost sitting on my knee, as I always stand behind just in case. Bit now, if the mood takes him, I just need to put the first 2 paws on the stairs and he will go up. Such a major achievement for us! I always praise him, but don't put a treat out every time now.