Post by Ian on Jan 7, 2010 9:34:58 GMT
I imported this information since it may be of use to new owners going forward...
I just thought I'd post this comment, more for future hound owners than existing ones. When we got Sean we were informed that he didn't know how to do stairs, which lead to me initially carrying him up and down, and he's a heavy old lump! However we did solve the problem, and this was how...
When we were out walking on the Quay in Bideford, North Devon, we decided to try crossing from the Quay to the pavement by going up some steps that take you over a seperating wall and down the other side. Expecting a refusal from Sean we found to our surprise that he walked straight up about 5 steps and straight down the other side on the lead, and never batted an eyelid. So we tried this a few more times on similar small numbers of steps, each time he went up and down fine. Following these successes on the lead we progressed to taking him up and down stairs in our holiday cottage in Cornwall on the lead, giving him a small piece of cheese each time he successfully went up and down. We've now got to the stage where he will now go up the stairs off the lead on his own when called \ encouraged to do so, and the only thing we still do is go down with him, he's a bit gangly you see and has a tendency to want to fly down them to get the horrible event out of the way, so to avoid any accidents, we take him down slowly keeping control by his collar.
So if your hound doesn't take to your stairs straight away, try taking him\her up and down a small number of steps in an outside area on the lead to give him some initial confidence, and then when you've done a few of these, try taking him up and down your house stairs on the lead with a treat on each successful run. Sean was 8 in October 2009 so even an older dog can learn new tricks!
I just thought I'd post this comment, more for future hound owners than existing ones. When we got Sean we were informed that he didn't know how to do stairs, which lead to me initially carrying him up and down, and he's a heavy old lump! However we did solve the problem, and this was how...
When we were out walking on the Quay in Bideford, North Devon, we decided to try crossing from the Quay to the pavement by going up some steps that take you over a seperating wall and down the other side. Expecting a refusal from Sean we found to our surprise that he walked straight up about 5 steps and straight down the other side on the lead, and never batted an eyelid. So we tried this a few more times on similar small numbers of steps, each time he went up and down fine. Following these successes on the lead we progressed to taking him up and down stairs in our holiday cottage in Cornwall on the lead, giving him a small piece of cheese each time he successfully went up and down. We've now got to the stage where he will now go up the stairs off the lead on his own when called \ encouraged to do so, and the only thing we still do is go down with him, he's a bit gangly you see and has a tendency to want to fly down them to get the horrible event out of the way, so to avoid any accidents, we take him down slowly keeping control by his collar.
So if your hound doesn't take to your stairs straight away, try taking him\her up and down a small number of steps in an outside area on the lead to give him some initial confidence, and then when you've done a few of these, try taking him up and down your house stairs on the lead with a treat on each successful run. Sean was 8 in October 2009 so even an older dog can learn new tricks!