Need advise please - Page 1

I have a 7 month old male that absolutely will not go up or down the stairs inside my house. He has no problem with the outside deck steps. I have tried putting his raw food half way up the steps and still have had no luck. He would normally do anything to get at his food. I have this image of carrying a 100 lb dog up and down stairs and i would love to correct this.

there is a ghost.

One small step at a time...put his food on the first step and see if he'll reach up and eat it...then the next step...the hard part is to get him started...Who knows why he won't go up the stairs...but you have to work him through it now or he will be 100 lbs. and you'll be carrying him up the steps...

I know  Advice not Advise

7 month old pup i would not worry about stairs.  bones are not all the way calcified, which means they can still be damaged to overstressing, ie too much jumping, climbing, etc.

john

I had the same problem, but i had  a teenager in the house who ran up and down ,laughing and having a good time, but would leave the bedroom door open and would not responed to her cries, so like most  young ones her drive could not keep her from her kid and after about 3 days of this she was caught stuck in the middle of the stairs, my son got her and made a big deal (upstairs) next day she arrived at the top on her own. He will go up when there is something he wants, just try and fiqure out what it is. Good Luck

This should work but requires some effort on your part.

Go locate and start him on a small set of wide stairs such as on a front porch or even a office building. Small enough that he may not even realize he is on steps. Do this for a day or two and then find a slightly steeper set of stairs. Advance slowly over  a series of more difficult ones. Give him a treat for going both up and down. Do not force him. Make it fun. Over a timespan of 3-4 weeks you should be able to get him to most stairs. Hopefully he has not been hurt, forced or otherwise tramatized in the past as this will make it much more difficult.

Make sure the steps are entirely solid so the dog cannot see thru them. You can advance him on these later as he gains confidence.

hope this helps....

Outlaw,
He's frightened of the stairs. Maybe they are steeper then your outside stairs to the deck, maybe it's cause they are enclosed, who knows. Point being he needs to get over this. How is his obedience? Is he solid on heal? Will he heal enough with the help of a ball or his favorite toy? He needs to be distracted from what he percieves is a threat to his safety. I don't like the food idea, it does not distract him. Can you break it down to playing with his toy ( ball or whatever) near the steps, then increase it to the begining steps. The point being that he needs to be in high drive to get him to conquer the steps without realizing he is doing it. If you break it down and get him pumped up you should be able to get through this. Make sure it is always a win win thing. You must be the one to motivate him and figure out what it is that will get him in drive. Small steps lots of praise and wins toy. Good luck

Actually I think doing what olskoolgsds suggested is  totally wrong on his approach but you are welcome to try. Anytime doing agility type training I want my dogs slow and under control. If they are distracted by chasing a ball and get hurt then you could have a problem since this is a young pup with a confidence problem. Once they understand what to do and have built their confidence then you can speed it up with chasing a ball etc.

Just (off leash if possible) call your dog as you go up the small steps and praise him and reward with treat.  He will learn quickly wha the reward is. If you do throw the ball do it after he is back on level ground and he gets to chase the ball then. Again, if you try to force him, push too hard, or allow him to fall / stumble a pup may be scared of that activity for life.

I have advanced dogs by going out to a drilling rig at night and training my dogs. If you are famalier with a drilling rig then you know how loud it is, how steep the stairs are that are made out of grating and are open so the back. My dogs advanced enough so they would eagerily climb these stairs.  I would never throw a ball around a rig, much too dangerous.