Is there a trick to helping her adjust to stairs that we could try?
We recently adopted a second dog from our local humane society. Zoe is a 2-year-old smooth Collie mix who has an absolutely wonderful, gentle and loving personality. She seems to adore our first dog, Duncan, who is a 10-year-old Shetland Sheepdog, and he is getting used to the idea of sharing us with Zoe. Zoe appears never to have been around stairs, and although she goes up OK, she is petrified of coming down on her own. I got down on my hands and knees at the top of the stairs to show her how to do it and realized how scary it is from that angle. Is there a trick to helping her adjust to stairs that we could try? I would be very appreciative to hear your suggestions. In the meantime, we are carrying her down each morning.
The way I teach dogs to go down stairs is to start near the bottom and work our way up once the dog seems to be getting the hang of it. Try placing the dog on the second to last stair, after having carried her most of the way down. Be sure to put her on a leash to prevent her from running back up! Don't talk or coax; just wait and prevent her from going the wrong way. Once she makes the "big jump," praise her and act impressed! Then do the same thing several more times. Each day, start a little higher, only increasing difficulty once she seems very comfortable with the lower-level accomplishment. Don't allow her to leap down; use the leash to slow her and require her to proceed carefully, so she learns she actually can do this scary thing, step by step. If the stairs are not carpeted you probably will have a more difficult time, because dogs seem to panic and dig their nails in when unsure of their footing. Unfortunately this only makes matters worse on hard surfaces where the dog basically is "skating" across the surface on toenails at the end of rigid braced legs! If the stairs are not carpeted, be sure to invest in a runner, which will make life safer and more pleasant for both of you.
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