Fear of stairs

[jdumin]

In the last couple of weeks, my 10 month old Pyr has developed a strange fear of inside stairs.  He didn't fall or stumble on any steps, as far as I know.  When we go upstairs at night with our other dog, he stands at the bottom and whimpers.  He'll only come up if we go down and push him from behind - if we try to pull him with a leash he just puts the breaks on or runs to another room.  It's really strange - once he gets going he bounds up exitedly and runs into the bedroom where he knows he'll get a treat.  Anyone have any idea what's going on?  We're at the shore this week and he will come right up the outside stairs with no problem, but the inside stairs it's the same thing - whimpers or barks and refuses to come up with us or after we go up.  I've got no ideas here - anyone out there have any?

He also will jump up on couches by himself with no problems, but he has always asked to get up on the bed by putting his front feet up and waiting for us to give him a boost with his back legs - I think he learned this because it's how our 12 year old Shepherd gets into the car.  I wonder if it's related to the stairs thing, since he'll put his front feet on the first step - but it's a new development.  Hmm.

[GR8DAME]

Is the house dark when he gets freaky abiut the stairs? My 9 year old dobie wouldn't walk down the hallway when the lights were out and we discovered that she had developed some cataracts and couldn't see well enough to securely negotiate. Maybe it is a visual acuity issue?
Stella

[Sheeps]

Our female Sheepdog went through something similar, but seems to have conquered it. Our inside stairs are slippery hard wood...no carpet. When she and her brother ran down FAST one time, her feet slipped all over the place and she sort of slid down the stairs. For about a month after that, she would go up the stairs without a problem, but would stand at the top and whimper. If we got her going a little, her back feet would begin to slie out sideways. I was holding her shoulders guiding her down the stairs as she slid on her stomach.

When I determined it was not physical...she walked, ran, jumped on the bed, etc., I figured it was psychological. Instead of taking her to a shrink, I did the most logical thing. I bribed her with bits of kibble at the bottom of the stairs. I urged her to come, and would say, "slowly...slowl y..." until she began to carefully take the steps one by one. She now does fine without the treats, but likes to stick close to the left wall. We're working on that now.

Once they slip or fall, they don't forget...excep t maybe treats will help them to forget.Good luck,

Nancy

[awo]

We have the same problem with our Saint, Dudley.  I don't know how steep your stairs are, but maybe he has a broken toe nail or hurt his hip.  Dudley will go up the stairs, but he wimpers all the way up, due to a hurt hip.  He doesn't have a problem with the outside stairs either, but I think it's because of how many there are.  Hope this helps.

awo

[jdumin]

Wow, thanks for all the replies.

He does have the same issue going down the stairs, but it's easier to get him going down.

I don't think it's a darkness/visual issue - we always turn on the stairway light for the older dog before we head up at night, and he fights going up during the day too.  I wonder though because in general it is much lighter outside.  Hmm.  

The inside stairs are hard wood, so maybe they are harder to walk on than the outside wood steps, which are painted and probably not as slippery.  I know he hasn't slipped or anything on the inside steps here at the shore and I'm fairly sure he never fell at home, but it could have happened.  He does tend to take the stairs two at a time - I don't really know how to stop that though, and get him to slow down!  Once he gets going he is GOING.    I'm thinking you're probably right, Sheeps, it's got to be psychological - he's definitely not hurt.  We just got back from a 45 minute walk and he jumped right up on the couch.

I wish it would work to bribe him up (and down) with treats, but he doesn't really care that much about treats.  He actually doesn't care much about any food.  I was going to start a topic about that - sometimes I hand-feed him because I worry he doesn't eat enough.  He is rarely interested in eating and when he is he takes a couple bites and then leaves it, where his sister will go immediately for it, so his food bowl always ends up on the counter.  The vet says he just has really good metabolism.

[cursedthing]

Hi, I'm new here. My dog Mary is a 2 year old Pyr/shepherd mix. She also has a fear of stairs. She will sit at the bottom (or top) and whimper until we touch her back. She also has the same fear on any hard surface. We had to buy rugs for our entire house. Funny enough, when we have other dogs over playing, she suddenly "forgets" her fear. She also has NO interest in treats. So food rewards just don't work. The more I've read about it, the more it seems to just be part of their traits

[jdumin]

Oh my goodness your dog is SOOO GORGEOUS!!!!!  I have a white shepherd and a white pyr - I've never seen them mixed!!!  That was so exciting to see the picture - do you have any more?  Here's another one of my dogs.  Isn't it frustrating about the stairs?  It's weird because my pyr is not anxious about anything else.  The shepherd used to be really anxious but ever since Freddie came along she has been much more calm.  (Or maybe just exhausted from playing with him.)

[cursedthing]

Goodness, what an Adorable Picture. Thank you for sharing. I only have the one dog. I'll try to fish up some more pictures of her.  Her best friend is a 210 lb Great Dane. He makes my dog look like a shrimp.
 I think she is a fantastic mix of breeds. We got her from a shelter after she was confiscated from a farm with about 80 dogs. She was about 4 months old, covered in maggots. It took her about a year before she really trusted us.
I love the classic Pyr traits, even if they are a bit neurotic. Although I could do without the blowing of the fur. 

[Leah-n-boy-os]

My baby Apollo, has the same hesitancy about going down stairs. We lived in a two story house, and he would NOT go down the stairs unless I led him and kept one hand on him at all times. The stairs were carpeted, so no slip issues. Bounded up them just fine, no vision problems either.

We just moved into a single story house, and he's *much* happier, but we have steps off the back deck. While he's gotten over needing my to "guide" him down, he still goes *very* slow.

Hope your baby grows out of it.

[pyrmom420]

We went through the same thing with Gandalf when he was younger, and he still has some issues. When he was little, he did have knee problems, but he is still afraid of heights.

Once when Gandalf was about 5 months old, he got onto the top of the picnic table, by walking on to it from the upper level of our deck. The neighbor said he heard Gandalf crying like he was in pain. The neighbor ran around to the back yard and saw this BIG puppy too scared to step down 6-8 inches to get off the table! After he finally stopped laughing, he was able to help Gandalf down off the table. Gandalf has NEVER gotten back up there again.

[GYPSY JAZMINE]

LOL about Gandalf on the table...It breaks my heart what he must have been feeling but I can't help but laugh too!...The poor oaf!...Samson came out of a barn at 14 weeks old...He had never seen steps but he also weighed almost 45 lbs. already...I carried him up once, carried him down once, then I carried him to the middle of the steps (only 7 or & set him down...I told him, "you're gonna come up, go down, or sit there & whine"...I know I'm a big meanie!...He came up pretty awkwardly after about 15 minutes...He was so proud!..lol!

[nickerbokker]

im not kidding, and dont hate me....1/2 the reason i got a puppy was so i could watch him go up stairs!  ITS SOOO CUTE!

im a bad mom lol.

angus is 6, wait 7 months?, and he is still terrified of the darned things.  not good.

he's like a friggin cow....he'll go up them, but not down them!

[Saintgirl]

Just a thought, but you said that your baby was only 11 months old, maybe the pup has reached a size where the incline and decline seem more drastic. Imagine having your bum so far below or above your head!! That is the case with Hutch. Going up we can usually coax him to do, but the going down inside a house is nearly impossible. We don't have a problem outside because we don't encounter as many stairs out there, and thank god we have one story home. So wit Hutch he just doesn't get as much practice. But 180 lbs of momentum can really push him down the stairs, and he always seems to miss a couple with his back legs!!Good luck with your dog...and oh yeah, beutiful pics!

[GYPSY JAZMINE]

That makes pretty good sense Saintgirl!...Come to think of it Samson who is 10 months old seems more reluctant to go down steps than up...In fact now that I think of it I am 100% sure he has more issues going down.