Dogs and the Big Bad Stairs: Gizmo Conquers His Fears

Welcome to the Wednesday Dogs of Dogster! Every Wednesday, we share a story from one of our Dogsters. This week is about Kate & Gizmo, her scruffy Pug mix.

The last time you heard from me, I told you about all of the games Gizmo and I play at his mealtimes. One of those games, the scavenger hunt, heavily uses the stairs as a tricky kibble hiding place. Gizmo delicately picks his way up and down the stairs, thoroughly checking each step like some kind of detective-slash-blood hound-slash-rock climber. But it wasn’t always like this…

When I first adopted Gizmo, he had absolutely no idea how to go up or down the stairs. I adopted him as an adult rescue, so I have no idea what his previous experience with stairs was, but it was clear that something about this staircase was torquing his little mind.

Stair Scare

Let me preface this by saying that I live in an old Victorian house with polished wood stairs. It’s just one flight, with a little landing, a handrail, and a couple of steps at the bottom. It’s a nice-looking staircase, but it’s also very smooth and incredibly slippery if you’re wearing socks or not being careful where you put your paws.

I tried luring him up the first set of steps with treats, calling him from the top, and depositing him just a couple of steps below the top, to no avail. When I went up the stairs without him, he whined from the bottom – never happy to be alone, this little Velcro dog.

I work from home, and I had my desk just at the top of the stairs. The day after I brought him home, I carried him up the stairs to join me for the work day. When I went downstairs without him to make lunch, he again whined but didn’t attempt the big bad stairs.

Honestly, it was kind of a relief: put him at the top or bottom of the stairs, and he would stay there. And when his little landshark phase took over, I could just walk down a stair or two and escape the razor-sharp teeth.

One Step at a Time… Or Not

At this point, I thought this would probably be a gradual process. I pictured Gizmo slowly, cautiously learning each step at a time, maybe needing a pickup partway up for a few weeks, before finally making it all the way. But one day, I left him on the first floor while I popped upstairs to grab something. The next thing I knew, there was the thundering of tiny paws and his fluffy head appeared at the top of the stairs!

I guess his desire to be with me (at all times) overruled his fear of the stairs, and he just went for it. Gizmo’s default stair method quickly settled into speed: he runs the whole flight, top to landing, in about 5 seconds, then pauses to see if I’m following.

Advanced Stair Techniques

Now that he’s confident in the basic stair mechanics, Gizmo and I have been working on some more advanced techniques. This includes stopping partway up or down, going up or down a single stair at a time, and observing me across the room from midway up the stairs (just kidding about that last one – I did not train him to do that!).

To practice these tricky skills, I set up training courses – like having a piece of kibble on each stair, alternating sides, so he could practice turning around and weaving down the stairs. At this point, he’s basically an Olympian!

He now loves to stand on the landing looking out the window – it’s a perfect spot to bark at the squirrels tightrope walking the fence all day. Honestly, the training may have been a little too effective…

Mr. Stair Master

Gizmo’s a confident man (probably due to his early stardom), but the stairs nearly got the best of him. Of course, you’d never know it watching him speed-race today!

Did your dog ever struggle with stairs? Help Gizmo feel better about his learning curve by sharing your story in the comments!