Stairs??
Our Prayers are with you Brandy. I can not imagine what you’re going through not knowing yet, we’ll be thinking about you. D&P
Does anyone have a Doxie that will go up the stairs but will not come down? Penelope fell down the stairs when she was chasing Duncan when she was about 3 months, she forgot she had never done that before in the heat of the moment. Now she’s 8 months and still will not even try it. We’ll be looking for her and she’ll be at the top of the stairs with her little face flat on the floor over the top stair waiting for someone to get her. I read some where that Doxies are not even supposed to go up and down stairs because of their backs but Duncan flies up and down and will not stay if someone goes up he MUST follow. What to do about my Penelope??
February 28, 2007 @ 10:26 pm
Annabel was driving me INSANE one rainy day when she was about 9 months old because she was bored and couldn’t play outside. She was getting pretty big and so was NOT so easy to continually carry up and down stairs and go sprinting after to stop her from doing so. I decided to keep her busy and teach her how to climb stairs and come back down with treats. To go UP the stairs I placed one on each step for 3 steps and then once she had mastered that I went to every other step for 6 steps. The next time it was every three steps which got her up the stairs in 4 treat (one flight). Silly girl was so proud that she came down on her own without treats to show mommy she could do it on her own.
They do get a little spooked by things though. Annabel used to LOVE to chase sticks that were tossed to her …. that was until the day I accidently bonked her in the head with one. I wanted to DIE for having done it and got down on the ground to cuddle her and THANK GOD ABOVE that I hadn’t taken out an eye or hurt more than her confidence. She still spooks over sticks that are tossed TOWARDS her and is very cautious about sticks that are tossed away from her.
March 1, 2007 @ 3:16 am
Some of our dachsies really do need to be taught things like steps. Poor Ridley (he of very little brain….) has never mastered more that a few steps. As I was living in a bungalow when I adopted him, there was no need for him to learn to climb stairs. When I moved into a house, it was a great bonus that he won’t even think about stairs. Hughie can climb them, but refuses to do so unless bribed, and Heather is so fat, that she gets stuck half way up. Harry, of course, can wizz up and down….. but doesn’t tend to do so, unless I am upstairs, and he has access to that part of the house. I generally keep the gate shut, so they are in the back of the house, well away from stairs. I am sure that this has saved them from back trouble.
I would gate the stairs to stop them running up and down; it really does save a lot of strain on their backs. It will also allow you to supervise them when using stairs, to prevent problems. As far as Penelope is concerned, I suggest Auntie D’s method of training….. dachsies will do almost anything for a treat!
March 1, 2007 @ 4:58 am
I carried mine up till they were six months and down till a year old but never had any problems getting them to do themselves.
It has probabley given her a scare falling that time so she needs her confidence building up.
Rhona
March 1, 2007 @ 8:29 am
We bought ArrBee stairs and had a heck of a time getting him UP and DOWN. Cheese was the answer. I would hold a pice of cheese at the step he had to go up and he would follow it. Just be sweet and sit on the floor and tell her to come see Mommy and when she gets there, praise her like she has never been praised before (except, like, when she goes outside like a good girl!) Hope she does better. She has her Mom to help her get through the rough spots in life.
sandi
March 1, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
Dachshunds are very intellegent. From what I can tell, they do not forget anything or anyone. A bad experience will stick with your Doxie for a long time. Dachshund are fearless when it is pertaining to what they define as protecting their owner(s), but in something as simple as stairs and fetch, they really have a hard time letting things go. Thats why they are so vengefull and disobedient at times. Both Ebony and Hazel were very timid about going up and down steps. Treats and patience is the key to training pretty much any canine. If your Doxie had a traumatic event, it will take time for him/her to discover that it was only an accident and not something that will happen “everytime”. Hope this helps.
Eric