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Post by Heather (& KC) on Feb 4, 2009 6:25:20 GMT -5
Clearly I need to get another hound! With my luck I'd have 2 to carry. LOL.
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Post by Gigi on Feb 4, 2009 7:14:12 GMT -5
Our boy Rocky came from a foster group & aleady did stairs like a pro when we got him. JJ or Jane (Jeds Julie Jane) came from GRA & knew nothing about stairs, slippery floors, etc. Rocky taught her the stairs & floors the very first day. By the second day, she was up & down inside & outside stairs like she had been doing it her whole life. She even learned to go slowly on the floors when she first comes in from outside. I agree with KJW that learning from another hound really helps. Hey - welcome to the forum!!! Rocky is adorable...how about some pictures of JJ / Jane? That's pretty neat about her learning so fast from Rocky!
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Post by kristin725 on Feb 4, 2009 9:11:10 GMT -5
We have had Ruby for just over 3 weeks and she has mastered the stairs both inside and outside. She was able to go up the stairs by the second day of being home. Going down took a few days longer but she learned quickly and is now flying up and down the stairs. She was able to learn all on her own without much coaching from us. Our entire house is either hardwood (including our stairs) or tile and she has had no problems with any of our floors.
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Post by dreamseat on Feb 24, 2009 18:16:14 GMT -5
Our Rose took about a week to figure it out. One night I spent hours (split up with breaks) just going up and down, step by step. She got it soon after that.
although she still tumbles from time to time...sometimes she freaks herself out I think!
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jason
Hound Nut
Posts: 1,708
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Post by jason on Feb 27, 2009 15:08:29 GMT -5
Our big guy Jack took a tumble going up our stairs about 4 months ago and hasn't gone anywhere near them again...that is until last night. Mind you we did get the stairs carpeted in the meantime but he still didn't want to have anything to do with them. I was out last night and when J went upstairs and I guess Jack couldn't stand to be separated from him so he gave the stairs a go (quite succesffully). We actually had both pups up in our room for the first time in about half a year. yeah!
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Post by Heather (& KC) on Mar 7, 2009 8:33:38 GMT -5
A Max update. He's been showing interest in the hardwood stairs going upstairs. The master bedroom is on the main floor so he has no need to go upstairs but, I go up there periodically and that's where the guest room is. When I've been going up there he'd put his front paws on the first step, then the second. Before I knew it one back leg was tentatively stepping up. Then yesterday he decided to climb. He got 2/3rds of the way up, stopping periodically. I went into the office because he didn't seem to want me there (he stopped when I was at the top encouraging him). Then I heard SCRATCH SCRATCH SCRATCH....thud and he was at the bottom. Not sure how he got to the bottom but it was likely kamikaze style. He's fine. Scared but fine.
I could put treads on the stairs and that would make it much easier but he really has no need to go up there other than to quench his curiosity. He's such a big boy. ;D
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Post by Heather (& KC) on Apr 21, 2009 5:50:24 GMT -5
A full week stay at Auntie Tina's and Max is up and down stairs without hesitation. Oh, and up and down on my bed too.
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Post by lmcallen74 on Apr 21, 2009 6:16:21 GMT -5
Max probably couldn't stand the idea that Tina's dogs were going somewhere he couldn't get to. Curiousity fixed the Max.
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Post by greyhoundfan on Apr 21, 2009 18:07:47 GMT -5
We just moved to a new place last Thursday with stairs. We have a large set of wooden stairs and at first he wasn't so sure. We put down double sided tape with a light weight indoor/outdoor carpet on each step. Now he runs up and down them. I am such a proud mom ;D
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Post by BlingDogs on Jun 14, 2009 18:34:31 GMT -5
It takes a while, but most get the idea pretty fast. Sometimes if they fall they get really set back. Treats help!
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Post by BirdNerd on Dec 27, 2013 13:17:48 GMT -5
Over Christmas I took Willow to meet her gramma, and 2 doggie uncles (aka my mom and her dogs), and over the course of the first day Willow not only figured out the stairs, but mastered them. Since arriving home I took her into the stairwell of my building, and she transferred those skills easily. What a star
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greysrgreat
Junior Grey Lover
Bently (racing name Dreckly) & Holly (racing name Ears Comer)
Posts: 160
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Post by greysrgreat on Dec 27, 2013 16:51:14 GMT -5
With all our greys we did the third stair with the front paws and then gently put their back foot on the stairs, that seemed to work ok, but the confidence was not there. I know some of the boys are big but I think the trick is to put them on the steps close to the top and thats what gives them the confidence. Holly aka Ears Comer does it like a pro, a definate one foot firmly planted at a time, we only have 5 steps up to the main level which we carpeted for Deva and about 8 stairs down which are also carpeted. Patience is key with these greys!
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Post by BirdNerd on Dec 27, 2013 21:10:59 GMT -5
I should also mention that I used my mom's two dogs to help teach Willow. I had the other two go up and down the stairs in front of her, and she just followed the pack. She learned the 4 wide, paved steps up to the front door much quicker than the 3 tall, linoleum steps down to the side door, and the 10 steep and narrow carpeted stairs down to the basement. At one point in the process she was using her back legs like skis to slide her butt down the carpeted stairs, wish I had thought to get that on video as it was pretty funny. After the first few times following the other dogs example, and then some trips up and down under close supervision (to make sure she wouldn't panic and jump), she was able to do all the stairs in my mom's house confidently.
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Tipsy
Grey Puppy
Posts: 91
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Post by Tipsy on Jan 13, 2014 17:12:37 GMT -5
Booker is working stairs pretty well! When we first got him, it took a few days for him to understand what stairs were. We did one paw at a time, with a treat for every time he shifted his weight up, and he seemed to get the hang of it. Down stairs took much longer, but we never had to carry him. We got him at the end of September, and he's only just starting to go up and down the stairs without one of us being at the opposite end cheering him on.
The first time he used them by himself, we were both sitting on the main floor, and heard him go upstairs. We were so confused and baffled! "Why is Booker going upstairs...? What is he up to?" He was just sniffing around and exploring, but we were sure he had sniffed out some food or something! Nope, just wanted to explore.
Strangely enough, he doesn't like carpeted stairs. I've taken him to my parent's house, where the stairs have a medium-pile carpet, and he absolutely won't even put a paw down the first step. He goes up them easily enough, with the incentive of something interesting happening up there, but we have to take him down around to the back entrance to get him into the basement! All other types of stairs seem fine - concrete, tile, wood - even the stairs in our apartment are polished wood, so they're fairly slick, but for some reason he doesn't want to have anything to do with the carpets!
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craftycrafter
Grey Lover
Holstein 2008-2011 "gone too soon" Lola 2003-2014 "sweetheart"
Posts: 726
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Post by craftycrafter on Feb 15, 2014 17:20:50 GMT -5
It definitely helps having one that can do stairs if you bring one home out of the adoption kennel. Ramone learned in about 4 days because Lola was going up and down them like a pro. Holstein who was our first dog was the only grey here and it took him about a month of us half carrying half pushing and pulling, it was a big ordeal and he never really enjoyed stairs ever.
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