# Spiral Staircase



## Priskies (Aug 6, 2013)

Hey there everyone! 

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of how to train my 5 months old lab to go up and down a metal spiral staircase. He's terrified of it. He doesn't have any problems with regular stairs anywhere else, but there's no amount of treats, praise, petting, soft voice, reassuring tone that will make him climb up or down to my place. There's no way around it. It's the only way to get to my apartment. I've been carrying him up and down so far, but he is getting bigger and heavier, and it's getting harder for me to do so. Plus, he's not really crazy about being carried, so it's always a negotiation to take him out and bring him back in every day...

I have tried clicking and treating him with every imaginable snack, putting them on the steps to see if he'll follow them up, running up to see if he gives chase, carrying him up step by step to see if he gets more comfortable with them... No success. He freezes and trembles and won't budge... Same lack of results when trying to bring him down the steps... 

Has anyone ever had that problem? Anyone ever figured how to deal with it? Any suggestions will be much appreciated... Running out of ideas here...

Thanks for any input, guys


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## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

Wow, tough situation! It sounds like you're doing a lot of the right things. I really don't know how to solve it, but I do have a couple of things that you could consider. 

Have you tried doing nothing recently, as in don't make a big deal of it, approach the staircase as though you were alone. No coaxing no nothing, just walk up the stairs. I'm not a fan of the CM "energy" stuff, but I will say if you are getting tense about it, your dog could pick up on that. Though if you try it, maybe set up ahead of time and make sure there are a couple of treats on the stairs before you get there. 

You could try putting your dog down half way up (with a pre placed treat nearby or at the top...that can't hurt!). Not sure how that would go....could help, could make it worse. 

If your dog has a decent idea about recall (or really wants to be with you if you walk away) you could try a "restrained recall", which is basically getting someone else to hold onto her for you, you walk away (part way up the stairs), and call for her and once she is really obviously hyped to get to you, the person releases him.

It could be a game too....play with his favorite toy at the bottom of the stairs and toss it on the second or third step until he isn't as scared and progress up that way. Maybe set it up like a game of fetch, and lots of treat when the toy is brought back.

The best I can think of is get someone else with a dog that WILL go up and down the stairs. This got Caeda going over a metal grating that she refused to go over previously.

I have a funny feeling that (like Caeda and the grating) the metal might be the issue. If possible you could maybe cover the treads with carpeting temporarily. You could also practice going over metal that isn't stairs, and also practice stairs that aren't metal. Be careful with those metal stairs though....they could be slippery, teaching your dog, make sure he learns to go slowly up and down, not run. No need for an injury!

I dunno if any of this will help you any, just stuff I might try if I were in your situation. No matter what you do, try to figure out which direction, up or down, is easier for your dog to do and practice in that direction first (Caeda used to be fine going up, but uncomfortable going down). I would bet either way, if you can get another dog involved that would help the most. Worst case you could see if you can find a trainer that will do in-home sessions and help you out (and maybe bring their dog!). Good luck!


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

When we got our dog at 5 1/2 months, she had limited experience with steps. She was fine with the exterior steps, but refused to use the interior ones. I tried all the slow encouragement tricks - treats, coaxing, trying just one step at a time - nothing worked. My husband got frustrated and borrowed a sling-type contraption* from a colleague. It was designed to assist older dogs with health problems (e.g., arthritis) with navigating stairs, but he put Katie in it, walked her up and down a few times, and now she races up and down with no hesitation. It's not a method I'd recommend until every other option has been exhausted and I would never use it on a shy or timid dog. Still, for all my fears of terrifying her, Katie did fine.

* It was similar to this one, but seemed like it was wider to offer more support at both ends.


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## Kathyy (Jun 15, 2008)

I would approach from both ends. First approaching it and touching it and at the top going up the last step. Same for going down, touching the top step and going down the very last step. And I would be patient and only do this when he is empty.

There are a bunch of things going on to make this really hard for him. First he is an uncoordinated pup and not sure where his rear end is going. Second, the metal makes a horrible sound. Third, the open steps are really scary as he can see through them. Fourth, the varying width of the treads can be disconcerting.

First day I would work on touching the step top and bottom and put him down on the last tread to go up and down. You carry him the rest of the way. Touching means approaching - sometimes dogs have sticky places in behavior chains and you don't want him to be just fine getting up and down but be unable to approach the stairs. If he is really a mess c/t for looking>approaching>touching and toss the treat away from the scary step. Do this often, at least twice as many times as he needs to go outside. I would keep him on the outside wider treads so he has more room. Next day work on touching the step top and bottom but put him down on the second tread to finish the exercise. Don't let him jump to the top, keep his head down so he needs to touch the top tread as well. I bet after he gets over the seeing through and nasty noises the metal makes he will be up and down with no problem after you do this for 2-4 steps.

Since your pup is fine on regular steps, bet he will decide the staircase isn't a problem before you even get to try this.


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## Priskies (Aug 6, 2013)

Hey guys,

Thank you all very much for the suggestions. Will try them all and see if I can convince Zé Mané that the stairs are not the monster they seem to be


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