Chicken Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 Hello I adopted our first retired greyhound two days ago. She is doing wonderful learning to go up the stairs but is terrified of going down. Unfortunately, she has to go down to go outside (2 flights). We will gladly carry her down until she is able to learn to navigate the stairs but are their any tips on helping her not be terrified of us even carrying her down. I hate seeing her so afraid. She is almost 14 months old. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BatterseaBrindl Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 A harness with a handle on the top will help you guide her. Ruffwear makes a couple different ones. https://ruffwear.com/collections/dog-harnesses Go slowly and encourage her to do one step at a time. 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...
Chicken Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 1 hour ago, BatterseaBrindl said: A harness with a handle on the top will help you guide her. Ruffwear makes a couple different ones. https://ruffwear.com/collections/dog-harnesses Go slowly and encourage her to do one step at a time. Thank you. I just ordered one for delivery today. I hate seeing her so scared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EllenEveBaz Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 In addition to the harness, a cheerful, upbeat attitude. And lots of treats. Quote Ellen, with brindle Milo and the blonde ballerina, Gelsey remembering Eve, Baz, Scout, Romie, Nutmeg, and Jeter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onyfalk Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 My girl completely refused to go down stairs. She went up pretty easily, I just went straight up the stairs after our walk and she followed the lead. I tried everything to get her down, all kinds of treats, holding her harness so she had support, manually moving her feet one by one, carrying her almost to the bottom of the stairs so she only had to do a couple of steps. I even put down a runner to make the stairs easier to grip but nothing worked and the more I tried to coax her the more scared she got. Just as I thought she would never do it I heard her coming down the stairs without me. I watched as she carefully went all the way to the bottom of the stairs before going back up and doing it again like she was practicing. She still isn't super comfortable going downstairs and won't do it if people are too close. I think she just needed a bit of time without me hovering over her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Posted July 13, 2021 Author Share Posted July 13, 2021 18 hours ago, Onyfalk said: My girl completely refused to go down stairs. She went up pretty easily, I just went straight up the stairs after our walk and she followed the lead. I tried everything to get her down, all kinds of treats, holding her harness so she had support, manually moving her feet one by one, carrying her almost to the bottom of the stairs so she only had to do a couple of steps. I even put down a runner to make the stairs easier to grip but nothing worked and the more I tried to coax her the more scared she got. Just as I thought she would never do it I heard her coming down the stairs without me. I watched as she carefully went all the way to the bottom of the stairs before going back up and doing it again like she was practicing. She still isn't super comfortable going downstairs and won't do it if people are too close. I think she just needed a bit of time without me hovering over her. Right now ours won’t even go near the stairs if we are going down. Going up is getting better. She will walk to the steps and put her paws on the first step then look over her shoulder as if we aren’t coming to help her quick enough. I am hoping with time she will be confident to go down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Posted July 13, 2021 Author Share Posted July 13, 2021 On 7/12/2021 at 10:05 AM, EllenEveBaz said: In addition to the harness, a cheerful, upbeat attitude. And lots of treats. Definitely lots of praise and treats. the harness came in and we are getting her used to it and then will give it a go. 😊 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trudy Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 Do you have anywhere near by that has a smaller flight of stairs - just a few? This way, you can work with just a few stairs, though she may just jump down them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Posted July 13, 2021 Author Share Posted July 13, 2021 15 minutes ago, Trudy said: Do you have anywhere near by that has a smaller flight of stairs - just a few? This way, you can work with just a few stairs, though she may just jump down them. She actually is able to navigate the steps at my mothers house. There are two outside and three inside. She walks them without jumping. They are more open than these. She gets scared when she knows we are going down the stairs but unfortunately we have to in order to get outside. I am at a loss and really hate putting her through this every time she goes out. She actively wants to go up, but hates the down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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