Helpful hints on getting my dog to use the stairs

[Loviedovie]

I have 2 shih tzu's and my oldest picked up the stairs once we got home in 2 days... My youngest, not so quickly.

Cookie, 4 1/2 months at about 7 1/2 pounds can't figure it out. I have put her on the steps facing down and up on the 2nd step, 3rd, etc. and still she's frozen in time. I sit in front of her and try to get her to do it (even with cookies) and still she is frozen looking at me like "I HATE YOU MOM".

She is now doing this Flying leep thing off the 3rd step from the bottom and will sore into the air and hopefully land in your arms, however one time she went straight over my head! I have to say it is the funniest thing ever seen. (Working on getting it into Home video's) but in the mean time any suggestions.

Kindof hard to potty train her when she is stuck upstairs.

 

[BarkingM*d]

I assume there is no physiological problem, sore back etc. that would make performing the obstacle difficult given your descriptions of Cookie leaping off the steps…

Can you think of anything that would make the steps scary for a dog? Ie. What material are the steps made of? Do they have an unusual surface covering? Are they slatted so at “dog height” you can see through them to the ground? Do they wobble? How many steps are there one, or two or a whole load to a second floor?

Forget the cookies, and use a really high value reward… Frankfurters, polony, cheese I find generally the slimier and smellier the better and treat the task same as you would any training exercise. If your dog can target this can be a useful tool.

Try and make the exercise easy for the dog to complete. Start off with a single step, a curb, or even a plank of wood with a brick under one end, then increase the difficulty of the exercise by finding a couple of low steps somewhere else locally etc.

 

[Doberluv]

All great suggestions from BarkingM*d. That is normally the concept of how I approach most training tasks. But do you know what I did with my little Chihuahuas? I used "force." LOL. I picked them up with their legs hanging down and air lifted them and bumped their little feet on one step, then the next up, then the next, saying in my squeeky, play, happy voice, "da dump, da dump, da dump." And then made a big fuss over them. It just sort of expediated things in that case. But they weren't fearful or terribly sensative. So, you can use your judgement there.

Don't make too much of a consoling fuss over her when she doesn't move. Maybe you're worrying or trying too hard is worrying to her or she's just picking something like that up from you. Just act like this is so fun and cool. "Come'n let's go." No big deal. That is, if she's physically able. Like BarkingM said, make sure there's nothing wrong with the stairs or the dog first. Is the dog too small to do steps? Or not agile enough? I'm not too familiar with shih tzu's although I know what they look like. My smallest Chi is about 5 or 6 Lbs and she's tough as nails. But anyhow....let us know how it goes.

 

[BlackPuppy]

I used force also, but gentle, "good boy!" force. My dogs are big, so a secure collar and leash are needed and a lot of persistent tugging. Don't let her get a way with not doing it. After one or maybe two times of the "tugging" method and my dogs were loving the stairs.

(Just happens to be how the trainer did it with my first dog.)

 

[Doberluv]

I wouldn't tug, or drag a dog, especially a Shih tzu. It turned out OK for your dogs BlackPuppy, but some dogs might be more sensative and that could make them dislike a leash or training in general. What I was describing as force was more in the way of picking up the little, tiny dog and bobbing him along up the stairs.

It would be optimum to achieve this the way BarkingM described it....letting the figure it out all by himself.