At home, on the street, in public transport...In the day by day of our dogs, it is almost inevitable not to find some stairs.How many times we have met a scared dog in front of the steps and dragged by force or in the arms of his owner in front of the paralysis, caused by the simple View of the stairs?
In this article of Animals and Pets Online, we will explain why your dog is afraid of stairs, what are the causes of fear and what solutions you can apply so that , little by little, your dog gains confidence and security.
Why are dogs afraid of stairs?
The fear of going up and/or going down stairs is very common in dogs and there are several causes that cause it.To begin with, it is important to highlight that the appearance of fear has its origin at the end of the socialization stage of the puppy, around 12 weeks of life.
It is vitally important to accustom the puppy to all kinds of stimuli during this phase of his life: people, noise, objects, animals, children, in order to avoid the manifestation of negative emotions such as fears and phobias .Precisely because of this, due to the lack of early exposure to the stairs, dogs often experience fear.
Another cause that can cause your dog to associate the stairs in a negative way is to have suffered a traumatic experience .Perhaps it has ever fallen and has been damaged in one leg or the pad has been hooked on the parquet wood when raised.It may also happen that the Noise when you lower them scare you or, simply, the sight of the stairs represents an immensity for your dog worthy of chills.
The genetic factor is not minor : a puppy of fearful parents will tend to have the same behavior as their parents and reproduce by imitating their mother's attitudes, acting as a mirror at an early age.
How to eradicate the problem of fear of stairs?
As the saying goes, " patience is the mother of all sciences ".Unfortunately, there are no miraculous solutions to solve your problem, but you'll see that with some time and calm, the nightmare of the stairs will soon be a bad memory.
Even if you could not work the stairs in previous stages, do not worry, you can help your dog to associate positively the stairs, making him understand that they do not represent any danger or threat to him.
This learning will be based on positive reinforcement and consists in rewarding our friend whenever he has a desired attitude, calm or correct, for on the contrary, at no time we will use aversive techniques , punishments or obligation, since these methods generate stress and inhibition of behavior.And worse still, an accident could occur, in which the dog and you you hurt yourself.
Do not forget that, in fear, the dog has two options: hui ro attack.If we force something you do not want to do, most likely we take a good bite, although we can also cause a loss of confidence in the animal or a totally inhibited attitude, that is, unable to learn and move forward.
Guidelines to follow
We will recommend you to follow this step by step, which will help you work with your dog the fear of the stairs progressively .Remember, you can apply the same guidelines whether you are afraid to go up the stairs as if you are afraid to go down the stairs:
We will start the exercise by calling you to come to us, we will be sitting near the stairs.We can use prizes or toys to encourage you to approach, but if you observe him reluctantly , it would be best to use a very high reinforcement, such as a piece of cheese or chicken, something irresistible to him.Do short sessions, in which you will spend time playing or rewarding him near the stairs.The idea is to associate the stairs with the prizes You can also throw the ball, do a massage or play near them, and that is undoubtedly the game is one of the best exercises to forget about fears and to build a bond of trust with its owner.Each day we will reduce the space that separates the dog from the stairs, that is, we will try to play closer and closer every day, but always without forcing him, we must make our dog will approach on its own will.The next step will be to put a small path of treats, as if it were the story of Hansel and Gretel, from the ground to the first step.If the dog progresses little by little, we will reinforce it with the voice.We will continue doing the same exercise for a few days, without trying to climb more steps, so that the dog gains confidence and does not believe that we are cheating.Once your dog catches without fear and without any problem the prizes from the first step, we will do the same, but this time until the second, we will continue to reinforce each step with the voice, although we can also use direct prizes by hand.We will continue working progressively all the steps, for example, one a day, but remember that in some cases it will be slower.If at any time you see fear or reticence in the dog, it is that you are going too fast, go back to the previous step.Once the dog has climbed all the steps without fear with you, it is time to wait for him above.Call him with a prize or tasty toy in his hand to cheer him up.Once upstairs congratulate him effusively so that he understands that he has done it excellently.Do not forget to repeat the exercise daily so that do not lose the confidence you have gained.Once you are used to it at home, it will be much easier for your dog to lose fear in other environments, although we advise you to take some prizes on the next walks!
If you want to read more articles similar to My dog is afraid of the stairs , we recommend that you enter our section of Behavioral Problems.
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