How do you teachyour dog to walk down the stairs

[DEBRA GWINN]

How do you teachyour dog to walk down the stairs

 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there,

Welcome to the forums! Is your dog fearful of walking down the stairs? How old is your dog? Asking because dogs may suffer from depth perception issues. Do you have see-through steps? Is going down the stairs something necessary to go out, or are you just wanting to teach your dog just in case?

With fear of the stairs, I have noticed that simply placing treats on the steps so that the dog goes down on his/her choice works best because the dog is given agency and there is no pressure versus using treats to lure/bribe the dog to go down, which can cause approach/avoidance, where they'll feel like following the food, but then realize it's something scary.