Cassiel Socks
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- Posted: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:54:53 +0000
Howdy!
Well, as the title goes, I have a 4 year old Chocolate Lab who is afraid of going down stairs. For some reason, it has gotten worse. Before, she would hesitate, back up, go forward, repeat 1-2 times, before going down. For some reason, recently (roughly twice in a matter of 1-2 weeks), she has been so scared to go down that the stairs, that she sits there, shaking, and giving me the sad face. I don't know what happened. I think maybe one or two tumbles have scared her for life, but I don't know. There are only 3 steps to the stairs that leads her outside.
This is what we have done:
- Positive reinforcement/ support (the whole good girl, you can do it, who is the best doggie, etc)
- Treats in hand and on the steps themselves (sadly, she is too focused on the stairs to pay attention to such)
- Using different leashes.(Usually we take her out with a harness type leash, but we also have shorter ones that click onto her neck)
We are not going to pick her up and lift her down the stairs since she is big, and if she is sitting, she is putting all her weight onto the spot so that she does not move.
Sadly, the wrong thing my parents have done has been getting frustrated and trying to drag her down the stairs while yelling at her. I know that is wrong. I try to calm them down when they do and try to comfort the dog (positive reinforcement,etc).
I am not sure if we should invest in a ramp or build one that is carpeted (dog also does not like tile floors, but that is easy to deal with. Also, the stairs are carpeted). Is it something that is worth it?
Also, she is fine going UP the stairs. No problems or hesitations
Well, as the title goes, I have a 4 year old Chocolate Lab who is afraid of going down stairs. For some reason, it has gotten worse. Before, she would hesitate, back up, go forward, repeat 1-2 times, before going down. For some reason, recently (roughly twice in a matter of 1-2 weeks), she has been so scared to go down that the stairs, that she sits there, shaking, and giving me the sad face. I don't know what happened. I think maybe one or two tumbles have scared her for life, but I don't know. There are only 3 steps to the stairs that leads her outside.
This is what we have done:
- Positive reinforcement/ support (the whole good girl, you can do it, who is the best doggie, etc)
- Treats in hand and on the steps themselves (sadly, she is too focused on the stairs to pay attention to such)
- Using different leashes.(Usually we take her out with a harness type leash, but we also have shorter ones that click onto her neck)
We are not going to pick her up and lift her down the stairs since she is big, and if she is sitting, she is putting all her weight onto the spot so that she does not move.
Sadly, the wrong thing my parents have done has been getting frustrated and trying to drag her down the stairs while yelling at her. I know that is wrong. I try to calm them down when they do and try to comfort the dog (positive reinforcement,etc).
I am not sure if we should invest in a ramp or build one that is carpeted (dog also does not like tile floors, but that is easy to deal with. Also, the stairs are carpeted). Is it something that is worth it?
Also, she is fine going UP the stairs. No problems or hesitations
