# going down stairs



## Holli (Mar 31, 2008)

Zippy is now 7 months old, and while he will gleefully climb up a short sequence of steps (<= 4 steps), he is still fearful of going down steps. Can someone tell me when I can expect him to risk climbing down a short sequence of steps.

Also, what about the longer staircases. We have about 13 steps between our first and second floors. Any guesses on how old he will be before he decides to walk up and down those steps on his own ... instead of being carried?


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## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

When we brought Benji home (13 weeks), he wasn't familiar with staircases. Our house has split levels too, but steps are just about 5-6. The breeder had come home to get him settled so she put treats on each step and slowly coaxed him to climb up and down and praised him a lot when he descended or aschended. She kind of made it game and he got over his fear in just a few minutes. We repeated the same with our deck steps too and it had only three steps! :biggrin1:


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## momtwoboys (Jan 28, 2008)

My little girl had to go up and down two steps to get out of the house right away and she did that fine. However, down the basement steps (13), no way! At first, really she was just too little, lol, but when she was about your doggy's age I just started her at the bottom and put her about four up and went back down to the bottom and sat there egging her on with treats and love. As she braved those four, I moved her up and few, and so on, till she made it all the way to the top and came down by herself. Now she zooms!


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## JanB (Oct 26, 2007)

I'm no help, Tessa flew both up and down from the first day.

But she will not go down our unfinished basement steps - maybe they look scarier? And it's fine with me, it's just storage and an extra fridge down there. So she sits at the top and whines for me when I go down to get something. :biggrin1:

Good luck, I suspect he will go down when he's ready.


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## luv3havs (Jul 27, 2007)

Cali had very little trouble going up the steps.

She was very fearful of going down the (14) steep wooden steps. Her furry paws and the wood created a slippery slope. I'd carry her so she wouldn't slip, as I was afraid she'd go tumbling down and break a bone.

I eventually carried her as far down as the 3rd step and let her go the rest of the way. No problem.
Gradually, as she got more comfortable and slid less, I began adding an additional step.
When she was 10 months old she just ran after the other dogs and down the entire flight.
it just took time.


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## havaluv (Oct 15, 2007)

I'm wondering if you have carpeted steps, or are they wood...looks in your picture like they might be wood. My chihuahua would never go up OR down the wood steps in our house...for over a year, we tried to get her over her fear. We put a wool carpet runner on the stairs and she was gleefully going up and down the same day. It could be that he's afraid of slipping and falling.


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## ama0722 (Nov 28, 2006)

I will say, to this day, when it is a lot of steps, I carry my dogs down. I know it might be something paranoid on my part but I have had two friends whose dogs tore their ACL on the stairs and one was an agility dog so definitely in great shape. I just think it even looks unnatural. I have my girls so trained that outdoors they run down our area of 4 steps to the big staircase and stand there till I pick them up. At home, they used to run down the basement and fly down the stairs but I just never liked them doing that.

Amanda


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## Holli (Mar 31, 2008)

Whoever guessed that our stairs are hardwood gets the prize. We have hardwood throughout our house, with area rugs in various rooms. I'm thinking that perhaps I should put carpeting on each of the steps, as I think that Zippy might be afraid of slipping and falling ... those tiny bones of his are so delicate, he'd be sure to injure himself.

The steps leading from the deck to the yard is another case. While they, too, are wood, it's not the highly polished slippery type that's in the house; so I think I'll get him to go down those steps by using treats ... he'll do *anything* for treats.


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## Leeann (Feb 28, 2007)

Holli just drop Zippy off at my house. I promise you can have him back after I train him on the stairs, it just may take a few years that's all.

My suggestion would be to start at the bottom, maybe one or two steps up and lure him down with the treat. Good luck.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Interesting thread.

Gucci went up the stairs much easier than down, but she DID eventually go down with some coaxing (treats)...around 5 months old, I think

HowEVER, when we were at my SIL's house (when she was about 7-8mo), she had wood stairs that curved and Gucci would NOT go down them. She'd stand at the top and whimper so they did scare her. I thought it was the fact that she couldn't see down to the bottom because of the circular stairs, but ehh...I'm thinking it was the wood.

Kara


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## Holli (Mar 31, 2008)

Leeann said:


> Holli just drop Zippy off at my house. I promise you can have him back after I train him on the stairs, it just may take a few years that's all.
> 
> My suggestion would be to start at the bottom, maybe one or two steps up and lure him down with the treat. Good luck.


Leann - you are too funny.

I think I'll carpet the stairs going from the first floor ... heck ... have already spent a fortune on this dog and we've only had him for 3 months! At least we won't have to put him through college.


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

we did the coaxing with treats too. and even helped him out - taking the front paws to the next step and then the back paws... pretty soon he was flying. I can't wait to meet you and Zippy ---he is so stinkin cute.


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## mugsy & me (Feb 3, 2008)

my last puppy did not like stairs very much but i had read that if you put them in the middle of a staircase that eventually they would either go up or down the staircase. worked for her.

mugsy has four steps to get off my tiny deck and he walks down 2 and jumps the other 2. to climb up he justs runs like hell and pretty much flies up though i'm sure i've seen his feet touch...

as for the stairs to the basement he has not even tried to come down on his own. i have carried him so he could see what's down there but he didn't seem to like it much (the basement). now he just quietly waits up at the top for me to come back.

joe


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

I remember the days when Gucci would go UP, but not down. ACK! :frusty: I probably lost 15 lbs just going to get her! Especially when the maid was here, she'd go up to check on her and then whimper for me to come get her. lol.Boy, am I glad she can go DOWN now.

Sitting right on the steps and helping her and reassuring her (and treats) really did work. It only took 3-4 days of that and she was flying down them like nobody's business.

She had mastered the outdoor steps atleast a month prior.

Kara


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## Shada (Feb 4, 2007)

My old fella has never done stairs in my home. He is a 40lb. muttley. I call him my back up dog. LOL.. he is apparently scared of my stairway down to the basement. Their water bowl is in kitchen about 3 feet from stairs. He goes in without a problem to get his drink. Then backs up across the kitchen floor until he reaches dining room, then turns around. He won't turn his back on that stairway! Then my lab in her previous home ran up and down stairs all the time with no problem. I have had her now for 7 years, and she will not go downstairs at all! I kid around that my downstairs must be haunted! 
Actually I am glad they won't go down, the cats litter boxes are down there, so they leave that alone! 

I do have stairs on my deck that are no problem, Sara flys over them. Keller is 16 years old now, so slowing down, and I often have to pick up up and carry him up those 3 stairs. Going down is no problem for him.. yet.

I hate watching the aging process... pool old fella.


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## JanB (Oct 26, 2007)

Amanda, great point! I would never forgive myself if Tessa hurt herself on the steps.

And speaking of curved steps, esp all wood ones...My DH had a colleague whose wife at age 53 slipped on curved wooden steps when she was in her stocking feet and she was dead at age 53 from the fall. Terrible tragedy, she laid there all day at the bottom of the staircase until her DH found her when he got home from work and she lingered in the hospital brain dead for nearly one week.

On another lighter note....Kara, you lost 15# from carrying Gucci down the steps? That's it then for sure, Tessa is being carried from now on, LOL!


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

Conformation has a lot to do with going down steps. Twinkle, who has a "straight" shoulder at 25 degrees layback has never comfortably gone down stairs-although she does have a great strong rear assembly and flies up stairs. Our dogs with 35 degrees layback and Twinkle's strong rear end breeze up and down stairs easily. The straighter shouldered dogs can't extend their front legs out as far or easily as dogs with "moderate angulation" which has a direct effect on going down steps.

When I built the steps that go down from the dog room to the dog porch I made them with 6" rise (normal is 7 to 7 1/2") so Twinkle and puppies could easily negotiate them.


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## Moko (Dec 11, 2007)

Molly still, at 18 months, is cautious going UP the steps to our bedroom.

Coming down, though, she's a hoot...she takes one step at a time, but hops down with both front feet at the same time with her hind end doing the same thing! Then, she stops at the third step from the bottom, thinks about it for a second, and FLIES down the rest! My heart is always in my throat, but she loves the jump!


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## Redorr (Feb 2, 2008)

_Tom King said: When I built the steps that go down from the dog room to the dog porch I made them with 6" rise (normal is 7 to 7 1/2") so Twinkle and puppies could easily negotiate them._

See, Holli, college would be cheaper than rebuilding your house to American Havanese Standards!!


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## littlebuddy (May 30, 2007)

our dog was about 7 months before he felt comfortable going up and down stairs, we would just carry him up and down the stairs.


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

I am thinking if he can't negotiate stairs, he can't get into trouble when you are not around. This is one trick your dog does not have to learn. So what, you carry him up to bed at night, and downstairs in the morning. 

This is all said from somebody whose Havs had no problem with steps.


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## Jacklyn Weeks (Dec 23, 2007)

I think the key to it is practice. I have 3 flights of grand large stairs in my house and I thought 'the dogs will NEVER be able to climb these." they figured out up in a week and down in about 2 months. (Nick even shorter because he is so attached to me.) Whenever I shower they find a way to break out of the kitchen and come visit me upstairs. With them doing it everyday it just came to them I guess. See if you can get them to go down with encouragement and practice at least once a day so they don't become fearful. If they're motivated enough, they seem to figure it out...


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