Any advise on how to teach a puppy to go down stairs?

[Jessica and Ava]

My 10 week old puppy Ava has no problem going up the two steps I have that lead to the door but she will not go down them, so I have to carry her into the backyard every time she has to potty. It's not a problem of her being to short to reach the next step, she just doesn't want to go down. Did any one else have this problem with their puppy, if so how did you teach your dog to go down the stairs or did they just over come this fear once they got older. 

[Cyndi, The Boys & Callie]

Yes!  Two of ours had issues, the other one zipped up/down without a care in the world.   Our stairs have a small landing between the top and bottom stairs.  We would carry the reluctant ones to the bottom three stairs and then let them go down by themselves. We would move up a few stairs every day. In a couple of days, he was zipping around without issues.  We tried walking down down with a leash (to make him feel secure) and one of us being a couple of steps down with a treat.  However, gradually increasing the distance worked the best for us.   Good luck. 

[Jessica and Ava]

I have tried treats and leash but she is horrified of the stairs and just barks at me the whole time! haha I'm hoping she will catch on eventually

[Laurie, Wally & Charlotte]

I thought that puppies were not supposed to go up and down stairs until they are older, though I can't remember the magic age when it's alright for them to transverse stairs.  I'd suggest carrying her until your vet says that it's safe for her to use them herself.  

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I always used the fact that the dog wanted to be with me as incentive to go up and down stairs.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

It really is kind of early. She will have these steps ' down' ( pun intended) in about a month. 

[Jessica and Ava]

Ok good to hear, I havent had a puppy since I was a kid so wasn't sure. My friend has a dog that was afraid of stairs as a puppy and even as an adult she still won't go near them so I was a bit worried!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Some dogs are afraid of the stairs later on ( I've had two that had a lot of trouble but most don't) , but this is typical for a tiny, clumsy puppy.  Those muscles just learned to walk a few weeks ago. 

I have a very athletic doodle and he could not take steps for a few months.  Even months later, if you would reach out to pet him, he fell over.  Seriously, just feel over.   It really was awful to watch.  And you baby puppy is ... at the crawling stage I would say.

It wasn't until he was even 5-6 months of age he was coordinated to play ball. 

This is him last year

As a puppy, he could not go down stairs or sit without falling over

So, my suggestion, Pick Her Up and help this little baby out.  That way, nothing bad happens right now to start a bad memory of steps.  Then, once she matures physically with those muscles, and has some strength she will be taking stairs with confidence. Right now, she probably can't coordinate the downward momentum.  Scarey really.

Please write me in a month and let me know if she has taken them   :)  I'll look forward to hearing from you.

[Jessica and Ava]

I don't mind having to carry her outside, she gets so snuggly when she is being held. I can't wait until my puppy can leap through the air like yours :) so graceful! She is definetely more coordinated than 2 weeks ago when she first came home, like you said it seems like you breath at her the wrong way and she would fall over. I have snow hills in my backyard and she just loves climbing up and down those, you would think after that stairs wouldn't be so scary haha.

[Suzann, Rosey & Bandit]

I had to carry both of mine until 3-4 months they will get over it in time

[Kendra K. Rhoton]

I think this will go away with time. We carried Remington probably until he was 5 months old. He soon got up the courage on his own :) Good luck!

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

http://youtu.be/M9k8MenROUM

Someone else taught their doodle to go down the stairs.

[Janie & Sadie Mae]

Give her time. I got Sadie when she was older than your dog. She was actually 4 1/2 mo and was very timid of the stairs. She avoided going down at first and so I carried her. Then I noticed she was attempting to follow me up the stairs first. So, I then put her two paws on a step above her and lifted one back leg at a time to let her see that she could go up. She caught on pretty fast to that. Then she would whimper at the top of the stairs as I was going down. I then slowly started coaxing her down step by step. A couple of times she turned and ran into the bedroom but ultimately didn't like not being around me. That was the catalyst that pushed her over the edge. Now, she is still afraid of getting into the car. Getting out is no problem but getting in is awkward. I know she will get it in time.