Fear of Stairs

[Hbrika]

This one is really sad.

I have a wonderful rescue yellow lab girl

Gully is terrified of stairs however.

We have talked to trainers and other dog owners and here is what we have tried and not tried.

1) Just walk up the stairs and get her to follow you. This doesn't work at all. She loves walks (on or off leash) but pulls violently if you go near stairs.

2) Put food on the steps and encourage her.
This can get her to go up one step sometimes but never more. She loves the food, she loves the praise but will not budge.

In addition our cats try to help as well. They sit up one step higher and tease her. She has a lot of incentive to go up those stairs!

She loves the cats and really wants to play but will NOT go up one more step.
The cats every so often bop her on top of the head and she still doesn't move after them.

3) Medicine - the obedience school recommended a medicine that temporarily takes away her fear. Is this a good idea?

When we first got her we took her to the basement to bath her. Even just carrying her downstairs caused her to moan in fear, not bark or whine moaning and cowering and violent trembling.

Needless to say it broke my heart.

She will let me carry her to a tub and bath her (she is very very good with baths) but not go up or down stairs.

I think she was either kicked down the stairs, or dragged by the leash. I also think she slept in a basement

Any ideas??

Oh yeah, needless to say Gully has it made now She has more friends then I do and the neighbourhood kids love to play with her.

[Dixieland Dancer]

Gully not wanting to get out of her crate makes sense to me now. It was a place she was actually SAFE! Be patient with her! It sounds like her former owners (abusers) have left emotional issues that go to her very core. You have no idea what abuse was inflicted on her and since she is a rescue this is just one of the things that need to be understood by you!

I personally would not try to MAKE her do stairs. When her trust in you out weighs the pain of her past she will try to do steps on her own if it is a necessity in her life. You just need to be loving and understanding that this is a pain she can not bear! My heart breaks for her!

In the mean time work towards building her trust and love and give her every reason to know you would never do anything to harm her.

She is lucky you are in her life now! Give her a hug and kiss for me, please!

[Bobbie]

My parents have a black lab and have had him since he was a pup. Recently my parents have separated and I will be taking the dogs. My parents did not have stairs in their house. I do in mine. We have a lot of trouble with Chester getting him to go up and down stairs. Our stairs are a little slipperey and Chesters paws are so big that he slides easily. He will cry when he wants to go up or down, it takes a lot of encouragement to get him to do so. I think that any dog needs a lot of patience and love to overcome their fears. I don't think that medicine is the answer.

[carrie]

Stairs are hard for dogs.

The best way for a dog to cope with stairs is to go as fast as possible.
This is also the best way to get hurt on stairs!

The first thing to teach your dog is to go, "SSSSSSSteady". Before that it has to learn the , "Sit". Then the, "SSSSit".

Practice it at every oppotunity - going for dinner get the dog to sit three times. Next feed time get the dog to sit once, sssssssit once, and sit again before dinner is put down.
Walking on the lead sit, prefix by name if you need to, several times. Next day get three sits, a sssssssit, two sits.
Next day get a sit, a ssssssit, a sit, then when she gets a little way off proper position just say, "SSSSSSSS." As soon as she starts to slow down, expecting the "sit" command say, "SSSSSSSSSSS...teady." Then, "That's the gooood giiirrrllll." All very calm, all very quiet and carry on.
Next a sit, then a SSSSit, then a sit, then a sssssteady.

Mix and match until she responds to both the SSSS and the SSSSteady by slowing down slighty. As soon as she atarts to listen to these walk by as many stairways as you can - she will have something else to think about. Time your SSSSSSits to happen at the foot of stairs. After a few of these make sure that she has to put a foot on the bottom stair after a sit to follow you as you change direction ( go back the way you just came) - do not give her the option to avoid this ( make sure you are very tight to the bottom step and the lead is short without putting pressure on her when she is sitting). Praise for the correct sit and then move calmly and ignore tension on the lead. Stay relaxed and as soon as she is over the step command a sit and praise.

Then, after a few times, it is up to you to practice kerbs. Down and up on sidewalks (see how American I talk!!!) she must sit. As soon as you go to put your leading foot up or down and she gets up give the, "SSSSteady." Again, the key is consistant information to the dog - every time you get to a down step you say, "SSSSSteady" and every time you get to an up step you say, "SSSSSteady."

Next you have to find a short two or three step series to practice on with the same principle in mind. A sit, a sssssteady and walk very slowly, one step at a time, repeating the ssssssteady at each step.

Once she gets over the fright of two or three steps it is a short hop to a flight of stairs...as long as the same signals are given and you remain clam and give her the confidence.

One of the most common problems in puppies that are going to be trained as guide dogs is rushing at or fear of stairs. It is a long term and time consuming thing to over come but give it a week of intense focus and you will never look back - I promise!!!!

[carrie]

Resist medication at all costs for this problem!

Wild canids never encounter stairs and they are not equipped to negotiate them. The closest they get is rough hillsides that have been eroded by water into layers. These they either rush at, or, if in a stable territory, learn how to get up more slowly.

Your dog's fear may be the simple fact of never having encountered them before.

[mary_jsn]

I had a yellow lab too and he was pretty much crazy. What you should do is somehow show her that there's nothing to be scared about the stairs. Maybe you could do everyday is put her front paws in front of one stair and if she does not put them back were they were before reward her with a treat or her favorite game and praise her. Keep doing that until at least she walks a flight of stairs. You could also by the help of someone put her in the middle of the stairs her front paws in one stair and the back paws on the other stair. Courage her to either climb or go down by showing her her favorite toy or her favorite treat or snatch something that she will get angry about and become posesive maybe she will snatch it off you..... that's all the advice I have, hope it helps a little (I know its a bit silly but with the most silly things that you have to make your dog do he at last learns well )

[carrie]

I don't meant to be rude at all - but please do not ever force your dog onto stairs or rely on her "being possesive and snatching" toys, food or anything from you. It is asking for trouble!
Sorry.

[lizbud]

I can understand why Gully fears stairs.
From what you say, she was probably dragged
or forced down a stairway(with great pain)
in doing so & then forced to sleep down there
alone & away from her people.
Wouldn't rush her on this issue at all.Dogs
have very long memories !!!
I will say that some dogs just don't like
stairs for any reason.I've tried to get my
dog to go down to the basement with me
during tornado warnings, but he will NOT
do it.I tried once to lead him down on leash
but he resisted so much and seemed so scared
that I stopped.I've since decided on
another place to sit out bad weather within
the house.Point being; my dog has been with
me since he was 10 wks old & has never shown
any interest in going down to the basement.
He will however navigate the 4 steps up &
down the outside steps to come in or out of
the house.

[jackiesdaisy1935]

When the groomer brought Perry to our house he was nine months old, we have about 7 or 8 stairs going up to our back door, I was waiting for Perry to go up the stairs and she said oh he doesn't know how to go up stairs and I carried him up the stairs. I thought oh oh what is wrong with this dog, actually I had never seen that before.
Well when he got with Daisy, in a short period of time on his own he was running up the stairs to our bedroom, and down the stairs on the patio. We didn't rush him or make a big deal out of it, I guess just by watching what Daisy did he followed. He had never played with toys before, but watching her before long he was running and playing with toys. I think they do need to get self confident and I think they eventually get the idea especially if there is another dog in the house.
Jackie

[Angels3]

There was a TV program here about a sheltie who was too frightened to go up & down an internal flight of stairs in a house.
A vet figured out what the sheltie's problem was caused by & came up with a solution.
He said that some dogs are frightened to go up & down stairs because there's nothing on the smooth steps for their claws to grip. This makes them feel they will slip & skid & fall. He said the trick was to put something on the stairs that the dog's claws could grip.
He got the owners to securely instal a runner of carpet down the stairs. Then he got the owners to put 1 of the sheltie's favourite treats on the first step (going up) for her to independently retrieve. When she did that confidently, then a treat was placed on the 2nd step & so on. By the time, the treats got up to the 5th step, the sheltie had lost her fear of the steps as she now had a grip underfoot & she'd had practice of using the stairs without any bad experiences.
The owners could then stand at the top of the stairs & call her & she'd come bounding up (or down, too).
The vet said that rubber matting could be installed on external steps. It would need to be the rubber matting with indentations for a secure 'foot grip'. Smooth, slippery when wet rubber, was not suitable.
This sheltie had never been badly treated...she'd come from the kennels of a top sheltie breeder. She needed to feel a secure footing on the stairs & to learn that she'd be OK.
I guess each case would be different...but maybe this info about the sheltie might be useful.
Marie

[Hbrika]

Here is an additional item.

She is still skittish of stairs. The cats have been letting her chse them around quitre comically and with lots of noise but she still breaks off of the stairs.

However I was visiting a friend and went up her stairway this creaky old rickety fire escape and Gully followed me halfway up

Huh. Even I was scared of those stairs.

I won't force her up the stairs but am going to try more training. She is getting way too big to carry up for a bath anymore

She is fine when up there if she gets tons of attention With her cute face that isn't a problem.

[Dixieland Dancer]

Originally posted by carrie:
<STRONG>I don't meant to be rude at all - but please do not ever force your dog onto stairs or rely on her "being possesive and snatching" toys, food or anything from you. It is asking for trouble!
Sorry.</STRONG>

Carrie,
You were not being rude, just caring and thoughtful on behalf of a dog that has been abused already and the added pressure of forcing the dog to do stairs is unnecessary. The advice you gave on getting the dog use to commands of SSSSSteady were excellent! I wish I had thought of it! LOL

[Pam]

Bella has not ventured down the basement stairs since she came to live here 10 months ago. I think it is because they aren't carpeted and maybe seem like they'd be difficult to manage.

My other poodles (at the Rainbow Bridge) did not want to go down there either because that's where we use to groom them and it wasn't their idea of a particularly good time! Bella has only been groomed upstairs so I think her concern is just the fact that the stairs are wooden and have no traction.

[ December 23, 2001: Message edited by: Pam ]

[Karen]

We had a similar - seemed-like-fear - problem with one of our dogs once. She went up and down stairs at home with no problem. She was a St. Bernard, and just shambled up and down, never a hesitation. Well, then one day we brought her with us to a relatives house in the mountains. It was a big, rambling place, everything on one floor, but the attic was big, and all we girls slept up there on a row of old steel-framed beds. Well, we went up there, it was a narrow steep stairwell, and Freckles followed. We came down, and she stayed at the top, front feet down a step, and whimpered. Wouldn't budge. We called her and called her, and she just cried and stood there. Finally we got my Dad to come over, and he walked up the stairs and took her by the collar and lead her down. What was the problem? we asked him. When he got to the top of the stairs with ther, he noticed that the stairs were so steep that when she had started down, the extra loose hide that St. Bernards have slid forward and was obstructing her vision - poor baby couldn't see! Once she knew it was okay, anyway, she went right down with Dad there to "help."

I would do as Carrie suggested, and otherwise not worry about it too much, I bet if you do that, and she has the added incentive of the cats taunting her, one day she'll just be so annoyed she'll chase the cat and forget that those are scary stairs!

Dad's current Saint, Bruni, won't go down the basement stairs, though they are at the same angle, pitch and width of the upstairs stairs which she goes up and down quite happily. His theory for that is that not only do monsters (furnace, washer, dryer) live down there, but also that there's no railing, and that's just too scary - those monsters could just grab her right off the stairs! When I'm there and go to the basement with him, she stands with her front feet on the second stair down, dripping drool on the third step. Every time. Silly girl!

[4 feline house]

Sorry, I know this is the dog board, but I never realized dogs had such a problem with stairs. Cats don't. In fact, my mom had a cat that was OBSESSED with stairs and ladders. She used to love to hear the attic door opening, because that meant she could run up and down the ladder! It was difficult when me and my dad painted the house one summer, we couldn't keep Musette off the ladders!

I had another kitty that used to love throwing himself down the stairs! The first time he did it I yelled at my son, because I thought for sure he had done it! He insisted Brie did it himself, and I soon realized he was right when I saw him do it again!

Anyway, thought maybe this distressing topic could use a little comic relief!