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For the 6 and a half years of his life, our fearless chocolate Lab, Bosco, has lived in a flat ranch style home in FL. He is now in a two story log cabin in TN and is afraid of the stairs. No matter what we try, all he will do is stand back from them and bark at us. He really is one of the family so we'll work it out. He is actually much better behaved and more dependable than my two college aged children. Any suggestions on how to get him over this stair phobia?
Try using treats or a favorite toy. I had a female that was scared of going up and down the stairs, she was ball crazy so I would throw her ball up and down the stairs and after some time she would go after it without a thought.
For the 6 and a half years of his life, our fearless chocolate Lab, Bosco, has lived in a flat ranch style home in FL. He is now in a two story log cabin in TN and is afraid of the stairs. No matter what we try, all he will do is stand back from them and bark at us. He really is one of the family so we'll work it out. He is actually much better behaved and more dependable than my two college aged children. Any suggestions on how to get him over this stair phobia?
My APBT is deathly afraid of stairs...I recently moved into a new house and it has a basement and a 2nd floor and a few steps in the back hall to get to the basement/ side door.
She'll go down the few steps that leads to the outside, but she wants nothing to do with the basement or the 2nd floor steps.
I've tried everything. Treats, toys, letting her watch 'Abby' {my other doggie} run up and down the steps...she just sits there and gives me this look like...'you're not getting me up there'.
I figure I'll let her do it on her own time and not force the issue.
My only advice would be to have patience...he may just surprise you and one day take that first step and discover it's not all that bad afterall.
IF your dog has A strong confident heel. Then put her in heel and heel her all around the house the do not stop think or hesatate heel him up & around the 2nd floor then down again, do this several times. If you are confident he will be too. Do not make a big deal over it!
Are the stairs in the log house open between the steps or closed with risers or carpeting?
Both of my dogs are afraid of open stairs that go to the basement, but they aren't afraid of the regular stairs in the house because those stairs are closed with risers and/or carpeting.
Treats did not work for encouraging our dogs to go down the basement stairs. We've often wondered what we would do if there was a tornado. We wouldn't be able to get them to safety.
My dogs have no reason to go into the basement so we took advantage of their fear by putting the garbage can on the landing. They can stand there and drool at the garbage can, but they don't have the courage to actually try to reach the garbage can! LOL
I wouldn't push your dog. He'll eventually give it a try if you don't stress him out about it. If your stairs are an open design, consider closing them off with risers or carpeting.
He's family so we never try to force him. I've been working with him with treats; he'll go down two steps, but he won't get that back end off the top landing. In the end he just backs off and barks at us until we give up and start laughing. If he never does the stairs, we'll all still manage.
True story here. I lived with my grandmother for much of my early life - from childhood until mid-twenties. Grandma's house was old, built in the late 1890s. We always had a feeling that there was something..."there". Lights would turn on and off, window shades would suddenly snap up, and there was a distinct feeling that something was hovering over you as you came down the staircase from upstairs, ready to pitch you out the windows on the landing. Although strange things could be experienced throughout the house, the upstairs seemed to be especially active. Many people who visited the house also commented on this as well.
Years after I married and moved away, I visited my mom there. She had inherited the house. I had my dog with me, a bichon. While Mom and I visited in the kitchen, he stood at the foot of the steps and growled, a long and low growl that I had never heard before. He would not come to me and would not stop. When Mom and I went upstairs to sort through some of the things in the bedroom, his growl became louder, and he acted as if he would charge the stairs, but something held him back. Even as I stood on the landing and called to him, he moved as if he was going to run up the stairs, but stopped short each time. No amount of coaxing could get him to follow me.
I am not one to think in terms of "haunted houses", but I am convinced that the dog picked up on something and was reacting to it. There is simply no other explanation - and no, he did not have a fear of stairs. It was just something about those stairs in that house. He never would venture up them.
For the 6 and a half years of his life, our fearless chocolate Lab, Bosco, has lived in a flat ranch style home in FL. He is now in a two story log cabin in TN and is afraid of the stairs. No matter what we try, all he will do is stand back from them and bark at us. He really is one of the family so we'll work it out. He is actually much better behaved and more dependable than my two college aged children. Any suggestions on how to get him over this stair phobia?
I moved into a house with stairs last year. My black lab wouldnt go up them for about 4 months. She finally decided to come up when it was cold and she was lonely. I didnt coerce or call her. she did it on her own. maybe bosco will get lonely enought to do it on his own.
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