John Aiton wrote 05/31/2006 03:48 PM Dog hates stairs!? #107535 - 05/31/2006 03:48 PM
John Aiton Webboard User Reg: 09-23-2005 Posts: 331 Loc: Glasgow, Scotland Offline	Hi All, Just figured out recently that my dog HATES stairs, either going up or down and will throw himself down to avoid them. He's just about 1 year old and we don't have any stairs anywhere, and have never really had the need to use them when out with the dog either. Is there a good way I can overcome this without stressing the dog out too much? Cheers John
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Candi Campbell wrote 05/31/2006 05:11 PM Re: Dog hates stairs!? [Re: John Aiton ] #107536 - 05/31/2006 05:11 PM
Candi Campbell Webboard User Reg: 02-06-2006 Posts: 696 Loc: San Francisco, CA Offline	Take numerous small pieces of his absolutely favorite FOOD/S and place one bite on each step -- repeat this exercise frequently & he'll soon lose his fear of stairs, IMHO How anyone can live without a dog is beyond me...
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Roger Kutzler wrote 05/31/2006 05:14 PM Re: Dog hates stairs!? [Re: John Aiton ] #107537 - 05/31/2006 05:14 PM
Roger Kutzler Webboard User Reg: 03-03-2002 Posts: 178 Loc: Pocono Mountains, Pa Offline	Are they open stairs where you can see between the risers? The only thing needed for evil to exist is for good men to stand by and do nothing!!!
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Bill Mecholsky wrote 05/31/2006 07:57 PM Re: Dog hates stairs!? [Re: John Aiton ] #107538 - 05/31/2006 07:57 PM
Bill Mecholsky Webboard User Reg: 09-10-2005 Posts: 7 Loc: New Jersey Offline	I've had the same problem with all my GSD's (4). It's only the basement stairs. They have no problems with any other place in the house. And it's happened in both houses i've lived in???? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
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Maren Bell wrote 05/31/2006 08:42 PM Re: Dog hates stairs!? [Re: Candi Campbell ] #107539 - 05/31/2006 08:42 PM
Maren Bell Webboard User Reg: 03-12-2006 Posts: 184 Loc: Columbia, MO Offline	I agree, Candi. My Mal refused to budge going either up or down the steps as a 4 month old. This was something we had to overcome as I lived on the third floor of an apartment building then and we had to go out all the time for potty training. Using a really good treat to lure him when he was hungry (and he didn't have to go super badly) was helpful. A few days later, he forgot the scary stairs and realized that going down the stairs means going out for walkies. "You don't have to train a dog as much as you have to train a human."--Cesar Millan
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Glenn Brown wrote 05/31/2006 08:53 PM Re: Dog hates stairs!? [Re: John Aiton ] #107540 - 05/31/2006 08:53 PM
Glenn Brown Webboard User Reg: 04-04-2006 Posts: 112 Loc: Pegram, TN Offline	Had to coax my puppy (he was 12 or 13 weeks old). Didn't tug him just went up a couple of stairs and he tried to follow. He went back down a couple of times before he got to the top but eventually made it. When he made it all the way up I gave him a whole chicken jerky strip (he was more food motivated then) as a reward. The other thing that made the stairs no big deal at all was when he saw my other dog go down them with no hesitation at all, he just followed along behind the other dog and me. You might want to use another dog as an example along with a treat. Hope this helps.
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John Aiton wrote 06/01/2006 03:44 AM Re: Dog hates stairs!? [Re: Roger Kutzler ] #107541 - 06/01/2006 03:44 AM
John Aiton Webboard User Reg: 09-23-2005 Posts: 331 Loc: Glasgow, Scotland Offline	Hi Roger, They are all closed stairs, nothing that fancy in this neck of the woods <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />. I'll try the treats but he absolutley throws himself on the ground and won't go near them. Maybe I'll fast for a day before trying that! It's good to find something that he's scared of as he usually charges into everything and everyone head first....especially other dogs. Cheers John
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Mike J Schoonbrood wrote 06/01/2006 09:31 AM Re: Dog hates stairs!? [Re: John Aiton ] #107542 - 06/01/2006 09:31 AM
Mike J Schoonbrood Webboard User Reg: 04-30-2005 Posts: 2784 Loc: Toronto, ON Offline	When my GSD was 4 months old I had to carry him up/down stairs for the first few days, I got sick of it, n he didn't like being picked up either, so one day I just set him down in the middle of the staircase n walked upstairs n left him there... he soon figured out how to do it on his own. My dutchie doesn't care, she'll climb up anything <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I introduced my GSD to "open stairs" (like the metal ones outside apartment buildings) when he was about 1 year old, all I had to do was run up the stairs n he followed me with a minor hesitation. Within a week of his first ever stair introduction he scared the heck outta me with the speed at which he'll fly down those stairs, never used any food for it, just left him in the middle n let him figure it out.
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Red Thomas wrote 06/01/2006 10:35 AM Re: Dog hates stairs!? [Re: John Aiton ] #107543 - 06/01/2006 10:35 AM
Red Thomas Webboard User Reg: 11-04-2005 Posts: 199 Loc: Mesa, AZ Offline	When Jäger was a little fellow he tried to jump in the bed of the truck on his own and crashed, after that he didn't want any part of the truck unless I picked him up. I have a camper that goes in the bed of the truck sitting almost on the ground next to my house so I began coaxing him into and out of the camper with treats. Every week I'd raise the camper a few inches and repeated the process until the camper was as high as it would go. Now Jäger jumps in and out of the truck bed for fun. The moral of this shaggy dog story is, get him/her to go over one step a bunch of times, then go find two. A dog doesn't think about where his hinds legs go they're like a trailer He/she just plants them and pushes off. Jäger didn't like stairs at first, now I have to stake him out because he's racing up and down the range tower stairs so much he gets in the way. Red Thomas Mesa, AZ
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Martin Espericueta wrote 06/01/2006 10:42 AM Re: Dog hates stairs!? [Re: John Aiton ] #107544 - 06/01/2006 10:42 AM
Martin Espericueta Webboard User Reg: 02-07-2006 Posts: 109 Loc: Central Valley, CA, USA Offline	Quote: John wrote:  Quote: Maybe I'll fast for a day before trying that! Sounds good, but how will you fasting help your dog? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Sorry, couldn't resist!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> God Bless, Martin Schatzie!
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