Help a Dog Overcome Its Fear of Stairs

Stairs can be quite a daunting task for dogs to undertake – especially for smaller dogs and puppies. Adding carpet to your stairs or relocating your dog’s feeding location may help it adjust. Taking the process slowly and using positive reinforcement will help your dog gain the confidence it needs to master the stairs in your home.

Steps

Adjusting Your Home

1. Change the texture of the stairs. Your dog may be afraid of the surface material of the stairs in your home. If this is the case, you can try to change it up so your dog can feel more comfortable. If you have uncarpeted stairs, consider adding carpet squares or another kind of surface gripping product to the stairs.
   • Dogs can easily slip on stairs made out of wood, marble, or tile. This is why carpeting is the best option to help your scared dog adjust to using the stairs.
2. Place the feeding location near the stairs. If your dog is afraid of the stairs, you need to start altering how it thinks about the area. Move your dog’s feeding location to the base of the stairs so that your dog will begin associating the stairs with the pleasurable experience of eating instead of their existing fear.
   • If your dog is resistant to eating near the stairs at first, make the move more gradually. Move it a few feet closer to the stairs each day until it is finally eating directly next to the stairs.
3. Put a blanket over see-through stairs. Some dogs are afraid of stairs that they can see through – like slatted wooden stairs on decks or other kinds of stairs with gaps in them. To help your dog overcome their fear of these kinds of stairs, consider placing a blanket over the surface of the stairs and working with your dog to go up them that way.
   • Make sure that you shape the blanket around the stairs so that they retain their natural shape. This will help keep your dog safe and used to the stair shape.
   • Once your dog has mastered the blanket technique, you can remove the blanket and attempt the normal stairs together.

Counter-Conditioning Your Dog

1. Start at the bottom. Looking down a flight of stairs can be quite intimidating to a dog – especially a small dog or a puppy. The stairs can look much steeper from the top than from the bottom. Start at the bottom of the staircase to help give your dog more confidence in tackling the feat.
   • Your dog will feel more secure about going up one stair at a time then it will going down, especially at first.
   • It is also less dangerous for your dog to start at the bottom. There is a lower risk of falling down the stairs if you start at the bottom.
2. Break it up into smaller tasks. If your dog is afraid of the stairs, it may because they seem so large and daunting. Try breaking the exercise up into smaller, more easily accomplishable tasks to boost your dog’s confidence.
   • Work with your dog to make it more comfortable simply approaching the stairs at first. Play with the dog near the stairs and give it treats.
   • Encourage your dog to go up just one stair. Then reward the dog with a treat and call it to come back down the one stair. Once your dog has mastered this, move on to two stairs (and so on).
3. Use positive reinforcement. When your dog successfully completes a task, reward it with a treat and praise it out loud. Keep rewarding your dog with things it likes (treats, your attention, your praise, etc.) whenever it moves a step closer to overcoming its fear of the stairs.
   • Never physically hit or yell at your dog if it doesn’t behave the way you want it to during training. This will only reinforce the negative feeling it has already associated with the stairs.

Managing Your Expectations

1. Start slow. It’s unreasonable to expect your dog to overcome its fear of stairs in a short period of time. Begin by slowly introducing your dog to the idea of using the stairs and start the often lengthy process of counter-conditioning. Don’t rush into it. Give your dog time to adjust.
   • Don’t get discouraged if your dog doesn’t make quick progress. You have to spend some time supporting your dog and helping it overcome this fear.
2. Avoid forcing your dog. Dogs don’t respond well to force; they often learn much better when they have full control of what happens to their bodies. This means that you should never drag your dog up (or down) the stairs by its leash. This will only reinforce the negative feelings your dog already has about the stairs.
   • If you must keep your dog on a leash while using the stairs, make sure there is enough slack in the leash to let the dog still feel in control of itself during the situation.
3. Begin conditioning your puppy early. One of the best ways to avoid a fear of stairs is to get your puppy used to it during their crucial conditioning stage early on. From four to sixteen weeks, puppies adapt more easily to new experiences than they will later in adulthood. It’s important to expose your new puppy to as many things, people, animals, and experiences as possible during this time to ensure that it will develop into a well-adjusted dog.
   • The earlier you tackle this problem, the easier it will be for your puppy to outgrow the fear.

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Sources and Citations

See also

• Bathe a Dog and Keep It Calm
• Train a Scared Dog to Go Down the Stairs
• Calm a Nervous Dog in the Car
• Help a Dog with Separation Anxiety
• Calm a Dog During Thunderstorms
• Reduce Anxiety in Dogs
• Recognize Signs of Anxiety in Dogs
• Rehabilitate an Overly Shy Dog
• Stop Your Dog from Being Frightened During a Storm
• Make Your Dog Relax Completely

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