Dog training in Centreville, VA for a dog that is fearful of stairs: This was a very gratifying day! Duke is a 7-year-old Labrador. His family moved to a new apartment on the third floor. Sadly, Duke had never been to the new apartment because he was terrified of the steps.
For almost a month he has been staying with his grandparents. No amount of treats was getting him up those stairs. Duke would only put his front paws on the bottom step and then stop. Nothing was getting him to move. Within 20 minutes we took this video of him going up and down the steps. As you see in the video he is now calm enough to show some interest in the treat bag! It was really nice to see his fear alleviate and wonderful to see how happy he was to see his kitties again.
So how do you help a dog that is fearful of stairs that refuses treats? You have to retrain his brain. Duke was overwhelmed and would freeze. If you look at Duke, you can tell he loves his treats! Unfortunately, Duke’s refusal of treats while on the steps was a sign that he was too stressed. When a dog has a phobia and won’t take treats I have to help them get through their fears and retrain their brains. MOST dogs can get past fears like this rather easily after they do it once or twice.
I usually train the owners to train their dogs, but this was a case where I had to do it. Once I used my techniques, Duke was going up and down the stairs like a pro. I was there to simply use the leash to slow him down if he got going too fast or lost his footing.
If you have any questions, need any help, or have a dog fearful of stairs, please contact me!
