Climbing Stairs with Your Dog

We moved across town recently, and all our daily routines have been blown to smithereens. Setting up new routines is a real bother. But, with a headstrong dog it's especially important.

We now have to climb a flight of stairs to get to our front door. In the past it was only 3 or 4 steps up the porch. Now we've got a whole flight.

Stairs aren't a problem for Krystal. She's always been totally unfazed by them. When I brought her home from the shelter, we were living in a two story house. I was really concerned she would get tangled in my feet, so I trained her to "STAY" at the bottom of the stairs while I climbed the stairs first. When I reached the top stair, I would turn and say "COME," and she would bound up the stairs.

Now we are living in a one story home, but we've got a full flight of stairs before we get to the front door. I rarely let Krystal off the leash, because she's incredibly curious and a bit headstrong. So how do we get up those stairs without having the leash get all tangled up in my legs and causing an accident?

My solution was to copy how we cross busy streets. I tell her to "WAIT" on my right. When the time is right, I tell her to "CROSS." Together we walk straight across the street. She does a great job of it at least 90% of the time. That 10% of the time includes finding food bits in our path, the sudden appearance of another dog or a child, a car with a particular engine sound that needs investigating, etc. For a curious dog, life can be very interesting....

So I started that crossing-the-street pattern, with a short leash, trying to keep her under control at my side while we climbed the stairs.Well, it sort of worked.But it was clear that in her mind, climbing the stairs was completely different from crossing the street.

She had a lot of trouble dealing with waiting on my right, she didn't like the short leash, and didn't want to walk right beside me--in front or behind were her preferences. I didn't like her behind me because she could always speed up and decide to try to walk between me feet--a disaster waiting to happen.

On the third day, I got distracted by a new neighbor. Without my direct control, Krystal just bounded up the stairs ahead of me.

It was so easy, I had to laugh. I had been creating a training nightmare, which Krystal solved with her direct simplicity.

I now make her "WAIT" on my right (so we have an agreed upon start place--very important if you've got a bag of groceries), and then I say "GO!" And, off she goes ahead of me.

I'm glad I listened to my dog. She's a smart cookie.What has your dog been telling you lately?

Image by Elsie esq.

Comments

[tim]

I've got my dog trained with finger snaps... two for stay, one for go/come.

- T

http://MostEmailedNews.com

[dog ramps]

If your dog is afraid of stairs, or simply does not know how to climb them, then begin slowly to build her confidence. Start off at the bottom of a flight of steps. A wide, shallow stairway will probably be least frightening for your dog.

[dog stairs]

Hi,
Nice article.I think this is very similar to training new puppies to climb the stairs. The only difference is that puppies walk on four! So you can’t hold your new pup’s paw to guide him up the stairs.