# Going Up and Down Stairs



## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

Bentley would go up the stairs but not down them. He would get down about 3 stairs and sit there and cry. I spent one day working with him, I put his favorite treat on the next stair and after much whining he would step down to get it. We kept doing this until we got down all the stairs. It took him a few days to realize that he could actually go down them all by himself now he's a pro  Good luck


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## shallwemichele (Apr 28, 2012)

I did just what Bentley's Mom did. It did take awhile, but was necessary because we live on the second floor. Good luck!


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## Shalva (Jul 16, 2008)

is there any other way for him to get out ... even if it is not as convenient... at 4.5 mos. I wouldn't honestly push the stair issue unless it is absolutely necessary ...


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

I taught all my puppies to do the stairs one step at a time. I would sit on each stair as they did them, and then would ascend or descend to the next step. I sometimes does take a while.

A young puppy doing a flight of stairs once or twice a day, probably won't hurt them, but I would discourage it multiple times. It really is not good for their hips and joints.


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## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

I agree with this. I don't let Bentley do stairs on a regular basis, in fact outside he has a ramp because I don't want him to hurt his joints at this age. The only reason that I wanted to teach him about the basement stairs is that we've had two GR's in the past that were petrified of the basement. I'm assuming it was due to their abuse but during tornado time we need to get the dogs down there.



Shalva said:


> is there any other way for him to get out ... even if it is not as convenient... at 4.5 mos. I wouldn't honestly push the stair issue unless it is absolutely necessary ...


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

I was "mean" to Buddy teaching him to go downstairs- He never had a problem with up. The stairs was only 10 steps from garage to basement so I went down the stairs and called him. I used food and praise. He cried and whined but after an hour he started to comedown on his belly- I had a harness on him so I could control the speed he went down and keep him safe but he had to do it himself. FYI He was an adult at the time- Not a puppy. My family room with TV is downstairs so he needed a crash course- Down the stairs is the only way to get there. 

For my puppies I go super-slow though. We start at the bottom an go up/down 1 step at a time- Lots of praise and treats . Even the little Yorkies do stairs- Would have been much easier to just carry them but they can walk- Tough love.


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## mlbdenver (Jun 26, 2012)

Wally was going up stairs (I have 4-5 stairs at either end of the house) at 7 1/2 weeks. Down took a little longer. We started by me setting him on the very first step, so all he had to do was go down one. Not too bad, right? So lets try two. He was OK with 2 steps for a few days, then he was ready for 3. Once he was comfortable with three, it just took him a few days to be confident on all of them. 

I do have one long set of stairs (12 or so) to the bedroom and he goes up them (slowly) at the end of the day, and then down (slowly) at the beginning of the day. Then its just the short staircase the rest of the day. He is 12 weeks old now and 20lbs.


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## xoerika620xo (May 25, 2012)

sorry i cant be help chester is STILL giving me a hard time going down the stairs lol and hes 10 weeks old.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Pups*

It takes Pups quite a while to be able to do stairs as their legs aren't long enough.
I did read something that they shouldn't do it too soon, or they can hurt their joints.

http://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...f.&fp=5988fe0ce707769a&biw=1246&bih=598&ion=1


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## Bolledeig (Aug 10, 2012)

Bolla learned to walk up and down stairs in Oklahoma City (river walk thing?) when she was about 5 months or so. 
She had never seen stairs before, and she thought they were pretty scary the first time we ran into stairs going down (a pretty long one, about 20 steps maybe).

What we did was that we simply turned around and walked a few meters back, then started walking the same path towards the stairs again with a short leash and treats in one hand as if we we're doing leash training.
Walked straight towards the stairs pretty fast, and when we got to them, she walked right down next to me like she had done it all her life.
I did the whole confident, happy, nose in the air -attitude, like I've learned from watching Cesar Millan (yeap!).
Never an issue with stairs again.


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## Yaichi's Mom (Jul 21, 2012)

I am having this same problem with Brisby who will be 5 months old tomorrow.

I have tried just about everything. I have tried her favorite treats up and down the stairs, I have tried one of us beside her and one of us up or down two steps, coaxing and trying to reassure her etc., however she seems terrified and all she wants to do is bolt.

She has no problem doing 4 or 5 steps, however I have 2 long 13 step staircases at my house both up to the second floor and down to the basement and she won't go near them except to lie down and look.

It really isn't a problem right now, because my laundry room is on the main floor so I can bathe her there if I need to, however soon she'll be too large for that and too large and heavy for me to carry without hurting her.

What else can I do to teach her stairs? Help!!!


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## Amberbark (Oct 5, 2011)

*Amber*

Amber needed to learn the stairs as her 10x20 kennel is there for the days when we work. We have a dogsitter that comes in at lunch for an hour. We started slow as some suggested, concentrating on sitting on the stairs going down one-at-a-time and treating, ONLY when we had time to spend that was not rushed. It took about a week before she would take that first step, but good after that. Coming up was never an issue. Vicki :wave:


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

My biggest tip would be to make sure the stairs are well-lit; the top and bottom landings as well. Do not face the pup full front; this is intimidating to many pups - either leave the landing or turn your shoulder to them.

If they are open stairs, consider hanging blankets or something so they appear more solid.

I never actually teach my pups about steps - I just go up or down them and the pups follow  Once they get a bit older, they will be taught to take stairs one step at a time as part of rear-end awareness but just to navigate the stairs, they want to be with me so they just follow. If they don't follow, its okay they might the next time.

They are lifted in and out of vehicles until they are probably 50 pounds, but not steps. My Brady even climbs up the steps to the grooming table and has since he was 11 weeks old.


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## Me11yC (Apr 15, 2012)

Charlie never liked the stairs, and as much as he wanted to be with us, he just waited for us on top of the stairs, instead of going down to the basement. I couple times I "made" him go down the stairs but he was never comfortable. 
Then one time, he just turned a year or maybe just before, we were all downstairs and he all the sudden came down all by himself. Since then he keeps going up and down all the time. I don't know if he feels just proud of him self or not but it's becoming a bit of a problem because he goes down even if nobody is there to look around. We have to keep the door closed  But ya, I think eventually your dog will be fine. Don't make a big thing about it and it will be ok for them.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Flip doesn't like to do stairs either. He finds it much simpler to leap from the top step to the ground :doh:


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Loisiana said:


> Flip doesn't like to do stairs either. He finds it much simpler to leap from the top step to the ground :doh:


Ditto for my Tobynator- he frightens the daylights out of me now at his age too!


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## Claudia M (Aug 8, 2012)

Rose is 5 months now. For the past month she has been going up and down the stairs. At first she was a bit scared and she wold just sit at the top and bark at me. I took her and put her down one step sideways so she can go up if she wanted to. At the same time I just tapped each stair with my hand and she would follow my hand. For the first couple weeks we only did it one time a day and now she is free to go up and down as she pleases.


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## tania (Dec 22, 2011)

Hi guys, sometime ago I posted my experience with training Pira to go down a spiral staircase. here it is: http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com...ion/121691-scary-spiral-staircase-x-pira.html

I am not sure about what would be the appropriate age (joints). My dog learned when she was almost 8 months because we didn't have stair before.

In general:
1) making sure the fear is not sound related
2) making sure the paws are not going to slip (nails..) and the she is going to fall or feel unbalanced
3) one step at a time during a long period (maybe months)
4) no more than 5 minutes a day
5) premack principle: she went down one step? Omg! Awesome! Now immediately send her back up as a reward! Give a low value treat when she is the first step. High value treats for going down. 
6) no pressure, no rush, your dog has a fear and you should respect that and help her in the best way you can. Imagine someone would ask you to put your hand in a bow with spiders and snakes. The dog does not know if the stairs bite or not. hehehehe

: o )

Have a wonderful day!


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## Lilliam (Apr 28, 2010)

Bolledeig said:


> Bolla learned to walk up and down stairs in Oklahoma City (river walk thing?) when she was about 5 months or so.
> She had never seen stairs before, and she thought they were pretty scary the first time we ran into stairs going down (a pretty long one, about 20 steps maybe).
> 
> What we did was that we simply turned around and walked a few meters back, then started walking the same path towards the stairs again with a short leash and treats in one hand as if we we're doing leash training.
> ...


 
This is what I did with Max.

He wasn't keen on the stairs to the basement, but didn't mind the ones in the house. So over the course of one weekend I went down the stairs with Dru and Billy watching, while Max stayed at the top, unsure to follow.

After several times, I took the leash and put it on Max, walked to the basement as if it was the most natural thing in the world to have a leash inside the house, and just went down the stairs. He went with me, no questions asked.

Over the following hours we went down to the basement together many tiems.

Now....you understand....I don't like the basement because of the ghosts down there....so that was quite a chore for me....


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## JayBen (Aug 30, 2012)

Bentleysmom said:


> Bentley would go up the stairs but not down them. He would get down about 3 stairs and sit there and cry. I spent one day working with him, I put his favorite treat on the next stair and after much whining he would step down to get it. We kept doing this until we got down all the stairs. It took him a few days to realize that he could actually go down them all by himself now he's a pro  Good luck


Same thing here, Lucy would not go down them. Just bark and cry at the top of the stairs. I started from the bottom and took her up 2 stairs and back down with a treat. Then 3 stairs and back down with a treat and so on. I just had to give her a gentle tug on her leash to get her to do it. Now she's fine with them.


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