My Dog Is Afraid Of The Stairs…?
In my old house, the stairs were big and carpeted. My dog, who was about 9 months old, had no hard time going up and down the stairs. I moved in June, and my new house has hardwood stairs, and they are really steep. At first, he was scared to go up and down, then I gradually taught him how to go up, and then he was only afraid fo going down. He finnaly learned how to go up and down. Then a few times, when his paws were wet, or when he was really excited, he would run up the stairs, and slipp and fall, this happened about four or five times. He can go up the stairs sometimes, but other times, he just sits at the bottom and cries for a long time, until someone brings him up. (He still goes down the stairs with no problem). I’ve tried teaching him how to go up, but i could be there for about 20 minutes, and i can’t move on unless he’s relaxed, but he is always tense, ALWAYS. Will he eventually learn to trust the stairs again, should I try training him to climb up, or should i just carry him up when he doesn’t go by himself?
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He might not like the wood stairs. He is scared to slip while going down and thinks he would crash to the wall or floor. So that might be why he may not like the stairs. My dog has the same issue, when going to my friends place. They have slippery wooden stairs. Don’t carry him, it could give him back problems.
Dogs are animals that have to be trusted and needs trust. Simply, just train him again. Teach him how to wipe off his paw before he goes up. That way if it is wet he don’t slip and fall again or won’t hurt himself. Once, you train him again. You won’t have any problem. That way when you are busy you don’t have to stop what you are doing nor worry about him.
I would gradually train him but I would do it with one of those sling’s that go around his waist with handles. This will make him feel more secure and be easier than carrying him. You put it around his middle and it has 2 handles and gives him a little extra lift. They are not expensive and work well for many things.
It sounds like your dog’s toenails are too long and he can’t get good footing on the wood. The carpet was longer and softer and he could walk better on it. Walking on wood with long toenails makes dogs slip and fall and it sounds like that’s the problem for your dog.
In our house, with our breed, it has always been a no-no for them to go up, and especially down, stairs. So personally I’d be thrilled if they’d stay off ‘em. I don’t know what breed you have, but do be careful. Injuries can and do occur on the stairs.
you can always ignore him till he comes up on his own.. just be strong about the crying.. he will remember where his food is : )
One thing you might consider is that they sell no-slip pads and decorative rug slips for wooden stairs. I’ve seen them used a lot in houses with small children to prevent slipping on the stairs, or just in houses where they want it a little more decorative. If you go the rug route, obviously you want to make sure you get the no-slip pad underneath!
To actually combat the fear, I can recommend how we trained our newest dog. He was a stray intake at the shelter, and I don’t think he’d ever seen stairs before in his short little life. He was terrified of the very idea.
So one of the pet nurses at our vet recommended we put treats on each stair and it worked great (he’s very food motivated though). It took awhile for him to get confident enough to go up each stair to get the next treat, but after much patience he was going up and down stairs like a pro.
Whenever a dog develops a fear response to something, you really need to restart training on that thing. It may go much faster than initial training, which is good, but you just need to change their perspective of that Scary Thing. When you change things up, it’s easier for dogs to forget the fear response they basically practice each time it comes up.