Help with a dog and stairs

[Sunshine's Mom]

Sunshine's nails are always clipped. We check them everyday and if they need a little snip - she gets it. Good thought though.

[vaknitter]

So how's Sunshine doing on the stairs these days?
We just had a health scare with our oldest dog and he is less and less inclined to take the stairs now. It made me wonder how you guys were fairing.

[Sunshine's Mom]

Thanks for asking for an update. She's doing better, but still driving us crazy, though not as nuts as earlier.

She will get her butt up the stairs for dinner and treats with only minimal times having to go out the doggie door, bust through it and run up the stairs. So we figure it's a mental block/"baby me" issue. It's probably our fault somehow, by maybe having unknowingly made a game out of going up the stairs, you know?

I was real proud of her yesterday after our walk and she got lots of lovins' for it. I went upstairs to look at the mail, etc., and she laid down in the foyer to rest on the cool linoleum. I wasn't trying to get her upstairs at all (she's got fresh water on the porch for just this reason) and the next thing I know she's up the stairs next to me! She didn't even do the "doggie door" routine.

Then I remembered that she had left her "after dinner toothpick" (which is a little rolled-up, chicken flavored rawhide) on the bed and was going for that. Either way - she came up the stairs on her own and it's a step in the right direction.

She's such a good girl in every other way that we have no reason to complain about this one quirk.

I'm sorry to hear about your health scare, vaknitter. Hope all is well. I have to say that everytime my Sunshine is laying with her head in my lap and softly snoring while I'm knitting away, I think about when I won't have her anymore. Because of that feeling that we know is inevitable, we don't take one second for granted that we have her and have promised each other that we'll try REAL HARD not to get mad at her for the stair thing. I don't care if she ever walks the stairs willingly again. I'm working out. I'll get all muscled-up and carry her 83 pound mass up the stairs if it comes to that. I love pasta.....so carbo-loading should be no problem, right?

[bailsmom]

Thanks for asking for an update. She's doing better, but still driving us crazy, though not as nuts as earlier.

She will get her butt up the stairs for dinner and treats with only minimal times having to go out the doggie door, bust through it and run up the stairs. So we figure it's a mental block/"baby me" issue. It's probably our fault somehow, by maybe having unknowingly made a game out of going up the stairs, you know?

I was real proud of her yesterday after our walk and she got lots of lovins' for it. I went upstairs to look at the mail, etc., and she laid down in the foyer to rest on the cool linoleum. I wasn't trying to get her upstairs at all (she's got fresh water on the porch for just this reason) and the next thing I know she's up the stairs next to me! She didn't even do the "doggie door" routine.

Then I remembered that she had left her "after dinner toothpick" (which is a little rolled-up, chicken flavored rawhide) on the bed and was going for that. Either way - she came up the stairs on her own and it's a step in the right direction.

She's such a good girl in every other way that we have no reason to complain about this one quirk.

I'm sorry to hear about your health scare, vaknitter. Hope all is well. I have to say that everytime my Sunshine is laying with her head in my lap and softly snoring while I'm knitting away, I think about when I won't have her anymore. Because of that feeling that we know is inevitable, we don't take one second for granted that we have her and have promised each other that we'll try REAL HARD not to get mad at her for the stair thing. I don't care if she ever walks the stairs willingly again. I'm working out. I'll get all muscled-up and carry her 83 pound mass up the stairs if it comes to that. I love pasta.....so carbo-loading should be no problem, right?

This is such a true statement. I started doing that with my Duke before he passed and am so grateful I did because when he got sick he passed away in less than a month, it was horrible. But knowing that I savored every second I could and didn't get annoyed by some things he did was the best thing I could have done. They are only here for such a short time, it's really unfair. They should live as long as some birds do, or even turtles! I wonder what we can do to change that!

Glad to hear your pup is doing well.

[vaknitter]

That's great that she is making progress !! I love that you savor every minute with her - my hubby sometimes thinks I'm crazy for being like that. Unfortunately our 'ole boy is getting pretty sick and at 13yrs old so we are savoring everyday with him. There are nights I get up just to make sure he's still breathing (I'm a bit of a worrier). For right now he is responding to antibiotics and back to loving his walks and playing tug with the puppy.

[Inis]

Do dogs have phobias? Could just be a simple phobia -- hopefully the more she does it, the easier it will be for her.

We have a 15 year old cat who won't go up the stairs anymore. She can't leap up on the bed anymore either. For her it's just old age. She hangs out at the bottom of the stairs and meows to be carried up when someone is going upstairs.

Good thing her litter box is in the lowest level of the house

[Cynamar]

I wonder if Sunshine has had a bad experience that maybe you aren't aware of. Maybe she slipped or fell and is freaked out about it.

[Sunshine's Mom]

Since she feels she must RUN up the stairs and not WALK them, she has fallen up the stairs occasionally. But, she really is doing better. It really does go in phases with her. Now that the weather is getting nicer she's so happy and forgets that she's got a problem and goes right up. It's weird.

Now, this morning before work, it was our usual routine. I get up, give her breakfast, she has her "toothpick" and goes outside to do her "good-girls", then I shower.

Usually after I get out of the shower she's back in and sitting at the bottom of the stairs whining. So, I'll take a little bit of a Beggin' strip and show it to her and walk down the hallway so she can't see me. She goes out her dog door, pops back in and up the stairs she comes to get it.

However, today there was no puppy at the stairs so I figured she was still outside (it's a nice morning) and I'd get her later. When I went to wake hubby up - SHE WAS BACK IN BED WITH HIM!!!! She got up the stairs herself without a snack being involved! Lots of lovin' ensued (which she bore quite well even though she just wanted to go back to sleep). So, there you have it. It can be done. She's gonna get a long walk today when we get home!