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