11 month old male neutered dog is afraid of stairs
In October, we moved from a one story house to a 2 story house with a basement and walk up finished attic. Its on a hill, too, and we have to go up one flight of outside stairs to even get in the house. Our dog hadn't ever been on stairs before except 3 steps to get into the old house. He's terrified of stairs.
He's a Australian shepherd mix. We cured him of trying to herd us by just walking right past him when he got out in front and started trying to herd us or got behind and started bumping us. We got him a gross of practice golf balls to herd. He herds them around the house and herds them into corners. He's happy with that.
We want to use positive training methods on our dog Meatball. He's a very passive mellow dog generally. He's a picky eater and is not really into treats so we have been training him by praising him, giving him lots of hugs and cuddles and ignoring his bad behavior. He's so mellow even our 2 10 year old cats like him. The worst treatment he's had is the occasional swear when one of us slips and runs out of patience.
He's so mellow that I put his pills right in his throat by hand and knock them down his throat. He wasn't falling for pill pockets and doesn't get into treats anyway. If he isn't hungry, he won't eat. Yes, he's so laid back I put my hand in his mouth 4 times a day to give him antibiotics and pain pills. That's what makes this so puzzling.
We know the people that found his mama and we know they never mistreated her or any of the puppies. They did not have stairs. He was adopted at 4 months old and was neutered immediately.
He got a weird lumpy thing on the top of his front left paw right before we moved which was removed last week after it did not respond to lotions and potions. It turned out to be grit embedded in his foot complicated by a fungal infection. We had taken him to a sandy place to run free once and it looks like he got a lesion, which got sand in it and so on. Its possible this thing on his foot caused him pain and he connects it to the stairs. We don't think he's in pain anymore because of the way he runs laps around the back yard when the mood takes him.
This is how he goes up stairs. He stands at the bottom and gathers up all his nerve. Then he charges up to the landing breathing hard and wild-eyed. Unlucky for this purpose, there are 2 half stair cases that join at the landing and then turn and go up. If he loses his nerve, he runs down the other side. If he can gather up his nerve again, he dashes to the top, madly scrambles into his bed and lays there panting and drooling.
Putting him on a leash to go up stairs seems to make him worse. Last night he almost knocked my husband downstairs because DH decided to put him on a leash and get in his way and not allow him to escape. That was a very bad idea. Meatball is 65 lbs. now and we are retired people. The dog could accidentally hurt somebody at his size.
We bought this house so this is a permanent problem. The house is very vertical. Its actually 4 very small stories including basement and finished attic. The dog doesn't have any business in the attic, but he sleeps upstairs in our room leashed to the dresser leg on a giant pillow dog bed. If we let him run free at night, he chews things up. We keep a kennel in the basement for when we leave the house. Yes, the house is too small to put it on the main floor.
Meatball is extremely friendly and has a licking mania. He will lick anyone or anything to death. He was potty trained in record time,and has learned all the standard dog commands very fast. There is one oddity that both of us have to teach him the command or he will only do it for the person that taught it to him.
I am thinking of getting a rope and putting it on him and then going up stairs myself and calling him and gently tugging on the leash at the same time. If I stop at the landing, he can possibly knock me down the other side of the stairs and if I go all the way to the top, he can't see me.
He's not even a year old until Feb. 2. He can't be too old to learn new tricks.
One other problem is that the old house was mostly carpeted and this one is mostly tile and hardwood. He slips on tile, and hardwood but he's getting better at it. The stairs have plastic nonslip thingies on them. The basement stairs have ugly carpet but I am not going to remove it and put down the nonslip thingies until Meatball is over being scared of the stairs.
He's never ever gone up or down the stairs in a normal manner. He has to at least go down in the morning and up at night. If we go to the store or have to go to an appointment or visit a friend, he has to go in the basement. How do I help our dog?
He's a Australian shepherd mix. We cured him of trying to herd us by just walking right past him when he got out in front and started trying to herd us or got behind and started bumping us. We got him a gross of practice golf balls to herd. He herds them around the house and herds them into corners. He's happy with that.
We want to use positive training methods on our dog Meatball. He's a very passive mellow dog generally. He's a picky eater and is not really into treats so we have been training him by praising him, giving him lots of hugs and cuddles and ignoring his bad behavior. He's so mellow even our 2 10 year old cats like him. The worst treatment he's had is the occasional swear when one of us slips and runs out of patience.
He's so mellow that I put his pills right in his throat by hand and knock them down his throat. He wasn't falling for pill pockets and doesn't get into treats anyway. If he isn't hungry, he won't eat. Yes, he's so laid back I put my hand in his mouth 4 times a day to give him antibiotics and pain pills. That's what makes this so puzzling.
We know the people that found his mama and we know they never mistreated her or any of the puppies. They did not have stairs. He was adopted at 4 months old and was neutered immediately.
He got a weird lumpy thing on the top of his front left paw right before we moved which was removed last week after it did not respond to lotions and potions. It turned out to be grit embedded in his foot complicated by a fungal infection. We had taken him to a sandy place to run free once and it looks like he got a lesion, which got sand in it and so on. Its possible this thing on his foot caused him pain and he connects it to the stairs. We don't think he's in pain anymore because of the way he runs laps around the back yard when the mood takes him.
This is how he goes up stairs. He stands at the bottom and gathers up all his nerve. Then he charges up to the landing breathing hard and wild-eyed. Unlucky for this purpose, there are 2 half stair cases that join at the landing and then turn and go up. If he loses his nerve, he runs down the other side. If he can gather up his nerve again, he dashes to the top, madly scrambles into his bed and lays there panting and drooling.
Putting him on a leash to go up stairs seems to make him worse. Last night he almost knocked my husband downstairs because DH decided to put him on a leash and get in his way and not allow him to escape. That was a very bad idea. Meatball is 65 lbs. now and we are retired people. The dog could accidentally hurt somebody at his size.
We bought this house so this is a permanent problem. The house is very vertical. Its actually 4 very small stories including basement and finished attic. The dog doesn't have any business in the attic, but he sleeps upstairs in our room leashed to the dresser leg on a giant pillow dog bed. If we let him run free at night, he chews things up. We keep a kennel in the basement for when we leave the house. Yes, the house is too small to put it on the main floor.
Meatball is extremely friendly and has a licking mania. He will lick anyone or anything to death. He was potty trained in record time,and has learned all the standard dog commands very fast. There is one oddity that both of us have to teach him the command or he will only do it for the person that taught it to him.
I am thinking of getting a rope and putting it on him and then going up stairs myself and calling him and gently tugging on the leash at the same time. If I stop at the landing, he can possibly knock me down the other side of the stairs and if I go all the way to the top, he can't see me.
He's not even a year old until Feb. 2. He can't be too old to learn new tricks.
One other problem is that the old house was mostly carpeted and this one is mostly tile and hardwood. He slips on tile, and hardwood but he's getting better at it. The stairs have plastic nonslip thingies on them. The basement stairs have ugly carpet but I am not going to remove it and put down the nonslip thingies until Meatball is over being scared of the stairs.
He's never ever gone up or down the stairs in a normal manner. He has to at least go down in the morning and up at night. If we go to the store or have to go to an appointment or visit a friend, he has to go in the basement. How do I help our dog?