[laladectj]

My boy is 13 weeks and weighs 28 lbs, he is a handful. He climbs the stairs but refuses to climb down, he cries until someone carries him downstairs. Here is a pic of him at the top of the stairs and one of him taking a nap.

 

[tc68]

My 2nd one knows how from the first day I brought him back at 8 weeks old. He can run down the stairs, stop, and turn around, and go back up. The 1st one, I had to teach him. My way, I don't know if it's right or wrong, is to put him in the middle of the staircase facing down and force him to go down. You have to always be below him...so that if he falls, you are there to catch him. He got it the first time I tried it with him. Then right away he was going up and down the stairs.

 

[wolfy dog]

Just sit two steps lower than he does, tap the step just below him and wait him out and lots of praise and encouragement. Has always worked for me and them. You don't want to force a puppy. He needs to make the decision himself.

 

[Kari01]

Walking downstairs is a bit more tricky, and quite a bit more scary for a puppy than going upstairs! My girl took a few months to be able to go downstairs (was fine going upstairs), we actually carried her downstairs every time until about 3-4 months as she also cried and refused to come down. After a few months she got really confident going up and down on the wider steps in the garden and eventually mastered the narrower indoor stairs. It was no problem with a bit of encouragement ?

Your pup will gain a lot of strength and co-ordination over the next few months so he will get the confidence in no time. I would avoid trying to do anything that might make him overly stressed or scared of the stairs to be honest!

 

[Jenny720]

Practicing going down smaller steps first. I have to say though be careful. Max fell down the stairs from the second floor around about 10 weeks old. They still can be clumsy. I’m greatful he did not break his neck. It did not stop him though still went down the stairs but I decided to put up a baby gate till he did not rush and navigated the down stairs better.

 

[laladectj]

I put him in the middle of the staircase yesterday and he turned himself around and went up the stairs, but this morning he went half way up and turned himself around and came downstairs. I will keep carrying him down from the top until he gains more confidence, hopefully it wont take months.

 

[middleofnowhere]

Oh heck, think of it as part of your workout --- building strength by carrying an increasingly heavy load X amount of stairs X times a day....