fear of stairs and elevators

Question
Hi Kathleen,

My pup, Murdoch, is apparently scared of going down long flights of stairs and into elevators. He is fine coming on the front and back stairs (2-5 stairs)of our house, but not very keen on traversing longer flights of stairs and also not happy with elevator travel.

Murdoch is a Vizsla/ Labrador mix and very explorative otherwise. He doesn't respond to treats very well in these situations.

Any suggestions for helping him through this.

Regards,
Charles

Answer
Stairs
I always like to start pups on the stairs by placing them a few from the bottom to learn how to go down and a few from the top to learn how to go up. Use your hand to "lead" the pup up or down. Usually trailing ahead of them will help the dog to figure out what you want fairly quickly.

You can use tasty treats or a favorite toy as a lure, placing one on the "target" step as you work with your dog. Make sure the treats are desirable so the process goes better for you.

You will want to position yourself either next to your dog or just behind on the way upstairs. Practice going up and down a few steps at a time until pup has that mastered and then add a few more steps.

When you're ready to climb to the top of a stairway, make sure you have several really tasty treats at the top (or bottom) so pup knows that there are good things involved with going up or down.

Be patient, your pup will figure this out, usually with a few days of practice.

When your dog is comfortable heading in one direction (such as down the steps), reverse direction and take things slowly to teach the other direction. Most dogs are more comfortable going upstairs rather than downstairs, so you can always start on up if that is simpler.  

Once pup is working well on your steps, remember to go and practice on other steps too. Dogs are situational so new steps may not mean that same things as your home stairs do.


Elevators
I take dogs to the back corner of the elevator and have them sit facing the doors. By sitting next to you, they are usually more comfortable and with their butt on the floor their body is more stable. The key to being successful in the elevator is to have the dog confident and capable at the sit or down with a stay. If they trust that you are confident, they will be too and the elevator becomes less of a challenge.


Let me know if you have additional questions. Good Luck!

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