A case of the no-good, horrible, very bad stairs

[Krista, Angel, and Toby]

Ok, so I got Angel home today and so far she has lived up to her name. She is sweet as a button, has been sleeping in her crate like a star, but she can't or won't do stairs, which is a bit of a problem. In order to get to the potty spot, she needs to go down a flight of steps and through the garage to the dogrun. So how do I teach an 11Lb, 8 week-old puppy to use stairs?

Thanks!

[Dot, Maggie and KoKo]

I'm so happy to learn that others have had a stair problem. Maggie, 6 mth old mini GD, won't do stairs either. She's only been here two days and she is now comfortable with coming up stairs but refuses to go down. She has to use the stairs to go outside to potty so I have been carrying her. She is still getting to know me and the routine here so, after reading all these posts, will just continue with carrying and coaxing and hope that she catches on to stairs quickly. I had another mini GD that has gone to live with my granddaughter and I keep comparing the two doodles. Rosie, the other one, used to leap off the top step (there are 4 steps) into the yard, zoom around and back up the stairs again so to have this new doodle be afraid of the stairs is so surprising. I have to stop comparing the two dogs I guess. Wish me luck...

[Kim Drury]

Try putting her on the bottom step first so she only has to go one step - then when she steps down, put her on the next step, then the third step, etc. It is scary for them to learn for the first time at the top of the staircase. We did this with out puppy and she learned within a day.

[Lorraine Bromley]

It will come. It will take them awhile before it happens. I would be scared if I stood at the top of a mountain and looked over. It is pretty much the same for them. It is probably a good idea for them to wait until their bodies are in a better position to take the stress of the stairs on their joints.

[shelly]

Tori flies down our main stairs which lead up to the bedrooms, but she will NOT go down either set of basement stairs - which I am glad about as one set leads to a very messy playroom and the other to a semi- unfinished basement. She'll actually just stand and wait at the top of them, but never attempts to go down. I hope she never gets brave enough to try. To tell you the truth... I remember that we had to carry her up and down our bedroom stairs, but can't remember how or when she actually attempted on her own - just one day she did - and so will your puppy.