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Why is it?

2K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Wetdog 
#1 ·
That when Im walking up or down the stairs, my boy Hunter feels the need to pass me at the halfway mark doin about 40? :wild:
 
#6 ·
dogs that were tested for guide dog use were checked on stairs and if they scrambled at the half way point or close to getting off they were put under watch to see if this changed. Shows anxiety -- wants to get over and out of situation.

We did tests (and still do) on fire escapes , some of them scary in height or configuration of the steps . The best most reliable , dependable sound dogs went up with a measured speed up and down.
When pointed out dogs that rushed showed other signs -- foot opening and toe gripping , physical tension , mouth , eyes etc.

Does not matter for pet but for guide work it most surely does .
 
#13 · (Edited)
My 18 month old Blackjack does the same thing. I attribute it to his obvious belief that any reason to break the sound barrier in the house is a good one.

He WAS a little more careful for a month or so during the summer. My wife called me at work one day almost hyperventilating because she was laughing so hard.

She was in the upstairs office doing some work. The desk she was sitting at faces the staircase and obscures direct view of it. Both dogs, Blackjack and our 9 year old Ozzy, were up there with her. Ozzy was lounging right at the top of the stairs in sight of her.

Jack became bored with the lack of activity and, starting at the front of the house, got running full steam down the length of the house, taking a hard left to run down the stairs past Ozzy. Rather than hearing the expected thump-thump (Jack touching one of the 14 stairs and then the bottom), she heard bang-thump-thump-thump-thump-bang. She knew something was up, but didn't hear any crying or whimpering, so she waited. Twenty or so seconds later Jack appeared back at the top of the stairs, walking slowly and carefully, and with what she described (between gasps) on the phone as a "somber look on his face".

Jack had obviously suffered a "loss of traction" incident at the top of the stairs and tumbled all the way down the carpeted staircase, bashing into the wall at the landing where it makes a 180.

Regardless of having no direct evidence to support the theory, we credited Ozzy with extending a leg and tripping (that supersonic annoying little twerp) Jack at the appropriate time to turn his usual graceful two bound stair transit into a horrifying (hehe) tumble, once again illustrating the adage that "Age and treachery will always overcome youthful enthusiasm".
 
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