PabloDH Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) I adopted my greyhound Pablo almost 2 months ago. It took a couple of weeks to teach Pablo how to climb stairs and he eventually became very comfortable with it. Soon after, however, he had an accident in our upstairs bedroom. My husband stopped him immediately, and I think Pablo knew he did something wrong because he ran downstairs as fast as he could, straight into his crate. We took him outside to relieve himself and praised him profusely. After that, he became a little more hesitant about going upstairs, but still did make his way up there every once in awhile. Then, a few weeks ago, I had to give Pablo a bath and our bathroom is upstairs. He does not like baths and tried to run downstairs as fast as possible when he saw the tub. I eventually had to drag him into the bathroom to give him the bath. I tried to give him a treat afterward, but he didn't want it. I think he has been traumatized by the upstairs ever since and won't go anywhere near the stairs. Even if I am at the base of the stairs holding treats, he will start to come toward me and then immediately retreat. The only thing that has worked is putting a peanut-butter filled kong on the first or second step of the stairs and me walking away. I'm thinking about continuing this and slowly putting the kong on a higher step each day (please let me know if you think this is a bad idea!) Does anybody have any advice on how to make him comfortable going up/down stairs in our house again? He has always slept downstairs, which I am fine with, but I want him to feel comfortable coming upstairs if he needs something from us or just wants to be around us. Thanks! Edited January 11, 2019 by PabloDH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greysmom Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Stop pushing him. If there's no reason for him to go upstairs, just let him figure it out on his own. Rewarding him for coming to the area of the stairs is a great idea, but don't try and lure him up until he's more comfortable. Keep a little bowl of treats near the stairs and toss him one whenever he makes the decision to investigate. After a few months (or maybe longer), when he's calmed down and forgotten his trauma, you can try again to get him upstairs. Quote Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora) siggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatterseaBrindl Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 (edited) Agree...he'll do it when he's ready. Nixon would not do stairs no matter how much we tried to encourage and help. We gave up and after a couple of weeks, he just did it all on his own. Edited January 12, 2019 by BatterseaBrindl Quote Nancy...Mom to Sid (Peteles Tiger), Kibo (112 Carlota Galgos) and Joshi. Missing Casey, Gomer, Mona, Penelope, BillieJean, Bandit, Nixon (Starz Sammie), Ruby (Watch Me Dash) Nigel (Nigel), and especially little Mario, waiting at the Bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robinw Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Just leave him and let him do it on his own. Quote Xavi the galgo and Peter the cat. Missing Iker the galgo ?-Feb.9/19, Treasure (USS Treasure) April 12/01-May 6/13, Phoenix (Hallo Top Son) Dec.14/99-June 4/11 and Loca (Reko Swahili) Oct.9/95 - June 1/09, Allen the boss cat, died late November, 2021, age 19. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PabloDH Posted January 12, 2019 Author Share Posted January 12, 2019 That's what I figured- just wanted to get your thoughts. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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