Charlie/Marley foster doodle blog 2

[Linda and Murphy]

Last night Charlie/Marley wanted to come upstairs to bed with me for the first time. He refused to go up the stairs. I left a treat trail up the stairs but he would not come. He slept downstairs, but he whined for a while wanting to come up but not willing to do it. I guess I will address whatever phobia that is tonight.

Meeting of the minds or just hard heads...

[Linda and Murphy]

He is 22-3 inches at the withers and about 50 lbs. Murphy is doing better. He taught him to swim in the fountain today.
He doesn't share, though. There is no food guarding by either thank goodness.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I think he will eventually get over his fear of the stairs. In the meantime, he is adorable and seems to be very happy. He must be a pretty big guy; I know Murphy is huge, so it's hard to judge by looking at the photos. And Murphy seems to be warming to him!

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Sophie is 2.5 y/o now and still, inside a house she will go up the stairs, but WILL NOT come down them. Took a while to get her to go up. It seems that outside stairs are usually not as narrow and steep as indoor ones can be sometimes. Picture DH carrying 54 lb Sophie down our friends stairs in Alabama because she flew up, but there was no coaxing her down!

[Leigh & Allie]

He is a real cutey!!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Some people would love a dog that stayed on the first floor so if he doesn't get over it, it may become an asset.

[Linda and Murphy]

He does seem really happy. And he really wanted to come up those stairs..but his fear is so great. The outdoor front stairs (10) he does ok on. They seemed to be new to him and he was hesitant, but not fearful. Thanks for the insights.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

First of all, he's so handsome...and he looks like a really happy Dood. Thanks for that. Here's a thought. What if you sat down on the bottom stair, and just kept petting and "lovin him up" as you slowly moved up one at a time? I'm thinking right about now, you're all he can trust, and if you're there to help him and comfort him stair by stair he might figure out that it's okay.

[Camilla and Darwin]

He looks like he's having a ball!

[Liz Syring]

Sometimes the rescue dogs that come into my home are afraid of stairs, for what reason we'll never know. One rescue lab puppy who came to my house at 3 months (and now at 10 months I accept he is staying for the long haul) is very fearful of the stairs. He will easily climb the outdoor stairs of 5 steps but those fearful steps up to the 2nd level just scare him. We are gradually working with cheese in trying to entice him up. He now is up to 5 steps, but he quickly grabs that cheese and runs down to the bottom and eats it there. For me it's not a deal breaker, in fact it keeps a whole level of the house much safer from puppy mayhem.

[Linda and Murphy]

He doesn't mind the outside stairs. The stairs are hardwood, but the floor downstairs is also hardwood. Appreciate any insights.