This dog has no problem with stairs!
Dear Trainer,
In our house before this one, my dog Tucker went up and down the stairs to and from the 2nd to 1st floors with no problems whatsoever--But NEVER in the basement. In this house, he will NOT go up the stairs to the 2nd floor, and if I carry him up there, which I have done, he does his coyote slink to the stairs and rushes back down. Only thing we can think of is the loft just has a railing and he can see out over the living room from the loft. Maybe too scary for a dog? What can I do?
Signed,
Not a Stair Master
Dear Stair,
Dogs always present interesting quandaries for us humans, and since we can’t ask them what the problem might be, we can only observe behavior and work within those parameters. Your dog may be frightened by the open space as you say, so you can experiment by blocking the view with some newspaper or cardboard to see if that makes things better for him. If so, you can then begin to desensitize him so you can gradually remove the paper or cardboard.
In case that is not the problem, let’s take a look at other things that might also be suspect for Tucker’s fear.
Other possible reasons a dog doesn’t want to go up the stairs:
- Open stairs—being able to see through each stair bothers some dogs.
- Medical issues—it hurts to go up and the stairs become associated with that (always good to check hips, knees and elbows for any problems).
- Something happened to frighten a dog once he got to the top of the stairs (a sudden loud noise, someone yelled at the dog, someone came around a corner and wasn’t expected, etc)
- Strange smells that humans might not be able to smell, (a previous dog or cat that marked somewhere, someone that is ill, someone died in the house, etc.) but the dog can. Remember that dogs can detect things like cancer, so it’s not such a stretch. You might be able to tell if this is the case is your dog does a lot of air sniffing when you take him up there.
Those are some ideas, but for the most part, the solution will be similar. Your choices are to help Tucker become more comfortable with the stairs or just let him be downstairs and not worry about it. However, since you may have to encounter stairs with Tucker during the course of his life, and carrying a dog up flights of stairs seems pretty inconvenient, I would vote to desensitize him to the stairs.
How to begin
Start at the bottom of the stairs with a stash of really wonderful food rewards. Since this is so scary for Tucker, think about really exceptional treats such as cooked chicken, beef or even fish. If you are familiar with clicker training, I would recommend that, but if not, you can easily use a marker word to inform Tucker when he gets the right answer. Begin to move toward the stairs, keeping enough distance from them so Tucker doesn’t feel like he has to go up them. In other words, keep his fear below the tipping point so he is able to focus and learn.
You are going to build the final behavior of going up the stairs in small steps—no pun intended—so he never feels forced to overcome this issue, so go slow.
Begin training
You will stand near the stairs where Tucker is comfortable and when Tucker looks at the stairs, you will click or say a marker word, such as, “Yip,” and then toss a small treat slightly toward the stairs so he has to move a tiny bit closer to get the treat. It doesn’t have to be a long look, just a fleeting glace is okay at first. Stay at this level until you see that Tucker is offering to look at the stairs on his own to get the marker word or the click and treat.
Tucker is allowed to stop training at any time, but don’t give him any treats if he walks away at any point. Simply say, all done, take a short break and try again. Be sure that as you train you do take breaks, working for no more than 10 minutes at a time to avoid boredom or filling him up, and training only once or twice a day to keep it fresh for Tucker.
After Tucker is readily looking at the stairs, move a little closer and repeat, tossing the food closer to the stairs for each session. You are showing Tucker that if he faces his fears, he will be rewarded.
Keep progressing until you are right next to the stairs (this could several days, so be patient) you will then begin to toss or place his reward on the very first step. You may have to move back a little after you put the treat on the step so he doesn’t feel like you might ambush him. Keep a happy voice and praise each time he gets his treat from the step. Stay at this level until you can see that Tucker is easily retrieving the treat after your marker word or the click. Keep the sessions short, even if you are making great progress, as you want Tucker to be a little disappointed that you are not going to train for awhile. This way, when you go back to train, he will be more excited about it.
If he is doing well, start the next section with tossing or placing the treat on the 2nd step and stay there until he seems relaxed at that level. Work all the way up the stairs, doing one stair at a time until you reach the top.
You should be able to convince him that going up the stairs is not all that scary after all, and he is highly rewarded for doing so. This makes a fun game for dogs, and you can eventually teach Tucker a verbal cue, such as, “Up the stairs,” once you see he is able to go all the way to the top.
Once you have Tucker to that point, you can also toss a favorite toy up the stairs where he has to run up and retrieve it in order to play fetch again.
If you find that Tucker is unable to process through this, you should then consider bringing in a professional behavior expert that can help you, one-on-one, to problem solve this issue.
The following are resources where you can find someone to help:
www.sandiegodogtrainers.com
www.iaabc.org
www.apdt.com
Good luck
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