Puppy Training - Going Up and Down the Stairs

Training your puppy to go up and down the stairs is not difficult at all. In fact it can be time well spent together with your puppy and it definitely enjoy the session. When you puppy first encounter the stairs, it might be quite intimidating for it. So if possible, try to start your puppy training on a short flight of stairs. If you have no choice, you can try using only the first 5 to 6 steps from the bottom of the flight of stairs.

Puppies have not developed their sense of perception and depth reading in their early years. Thus navigating up and down a long stairway is frightening to the young puppies. In the beginning, it is always recommended to use a short stairway to prevent your puppy from freezing in fear and uneasiness when it is on the higher stairs. Always be positive and encouraging to your puppy and avoid rushing your puppy too fast up or down the stairs. Such impatience may result in your puppy injuring itself and it may induce an association of fear with any staircase that she may come across, even after she grow up into an adult dog.

Step by Step: Taking One Step At A Time

For a start, in order to have your puppy follow you up and down a set of stairs, you have to use a motivator like a nice treat that it loves. Use only small piece of the treat at a time (break the bigger treat into several pieces) to motivate your puppy up and down the stairs. Using smaller amounts of treat is to prevent your puppy from getting full too quickly and lose interest.

Start by placing the treat on the step which is one step above or below where your puppy is at. Again if possible, start with your puppy at the bottom step. Then slowly help her work her way up the 5 steps before descending back down the flight of steps. For example, if you try to start your puppy from the top of the stairs, it will get extremely hard to get it to climb down. Many people find that if you can get your puppy to follow the treats up the stairs, it seemed natural for the puppy to follow the trail of treats back down.

Remember to be patient with your puppy. Every time it makes to a new step, give your puppy attention by enthusiastically petting it and giving it a lot of praise with a happy and bright tone of voice. This way your puppy will be encouraged and it will want to do it again. Repeat this puppy training on the stairs until your puppy can successfully go up and down the stairs.

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