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The new long term foster Duncan is scared of going up or down the stairs in the house. He's fine with the stairs outside leading to the front and back doors, in the park on the trails we walk, etc but the ones inside are scary. So it's not a mechanics issue just a fear issue.
So far we haven't pressed the issue but him remaining on the main level means more crate time because he isn't trusted out of our sight yet. Bedrooms are upstairs and computers/video games are downstairs. Watched a lot of TV and movies this weekend to stay on the main floor with him.
What we have done so far is trying to lure him with high value treats. No pressure on him, comes on his own and free to run away as needed. So far he's doing better going upstairs towards the bedrooms than down into the basement. I'm leaning towards it being a lighting issue, even with all the lights on it's comparatively darker in the basement than the kitchen and less dark going up to the bedrooms. Duncan has gone up 4-5 steps towards the bedrooms and I've only gotten him to approach the top of the stairs and reach a little past the threshold to lick some kong stuffing off my finger.
It's still very early in the process, two short sessions for going up the stairs and one for going down. I'm just looking to see if anyone has any other suggestions we should try or just keep doing what we're doing, slow and steady.
Thanks
So far we haven't pressed the issue but him remaining on the main level means more crate time because he isn't trusted out of our sight yet. Bedrooms are upstairs and computers/video games are downstairs. Watched a lot of TV and movies this weekend to stay on the main floor with him.
What we have done so far is trying to lure him with high value treats. No pressure on him, comes on his own and free to run away as needed. So far he's doing better going upstairs towards the bedrooms than down into the basement. I'm leaning towards it being a lighting issue, even with all the lights on it's comparatively darker in the basement than the kitchen and less dark going up to the bedrooms. Duncan has gone up 4-5 steps towards the bedrooms and I've only gotten him to approach the top of the stairs and reach a little past the threshold to lick some kong stuffing off my finger.
It's still very early in the process, two short sessions for going up the stairs and one for going down. I'm just looking to see if anyone has any other suggestions we should try or just keep doing what we're doing, slow and steady.
Thanks