A reader asked..

I’m worried sick about my dog and I have no idea how to handle this frustrating problem. Our house is two stories high, and my dog is having extreme difficulty getting up and down the stairs. I don’t know if she’s in pain, or if she’s afraid of injuring herself, or if her depth perception is off… but it’s upsetting me so much.

Otherwise, her health seems good… I want her to be happy and not suffer, but I’m so frustrated because I don’t know what to do.

My mom shut her up in the kitchen downstairs, but it seems so cruel to isolate her like that, and I worry it could make her depressed.
I feel so guilty making her spend the night downstairs because my bedroom is upstairs and I imagine how lonely she must feel by herself all night. On the other hand, if I let her spend the night upstairs in my room, she won’t come downstairs in the morning and I’m always late for work, trying to coax her down the stairs.

My dog recently went to the vet’s, and they didn’t find anything wrong with her.

It breaks my heart to see my poor little dog stand at the foot of the stairs and cry. I just can’t bear it anymore, and I have no idea what could be wrong with Gretchen.

I love Gretchen more than life and to see her in pain or distress is more than I can bear. I’ve decided to save up the money that I would have spent on something else, and see about getting her to a specialist, but I’m so afraid that I’m taking shots at the dark and that the money, which is rather tight, will be wasted.

I can’t think of how to get her up and down the stairs, I have no way of knowing why she has trouble with the staircase, and I don’t know what to do. It’s driving me crazy because I love her and I would do anything for her, and to helplessly watch her suffer is torture.

We asked at the vet’s and they seemed to think that she has a behavioral problem… and I don’t understand what could have caused her to develop behavioral problems, and how they can be sure that there’s nothing physically wrong with her.

Gretchen is a very large dog (a 75 pound German Shepherd), so I can’t carry her.

Has anyone else ever had a similar problem with their dog? What was wrong?? What did you do about it?

I’d do anything for Gretchen. Thanks if you can help me!