Thanks all. The reason I would like him to do steps is so he can sleep with us, and I don't have to crate him. I never mentioned this, but apparently, he was crated 20 hours a day before he was given a foster mom..... I don't mind crating when needed, but I feel really bad for this dog.
For a small dog, you might carry him up and down the stairs initially but making sure that he feels very secure in that movement (many dogs hate being picked up as its kinda disconcerting after all).
If he is an adult dog or at least basically past the major chewing stage, you might set up a safe space downstairs using baby gates so that he has more space than a crate but is confined away from dangerous stuff.
For a small or medium dog or a puppy, a VERY large crate could be another middle ground between regular crate confinement and free roam if he isn't upstairs with adult humans.
And depending on the layout of your house, you could consider a few weeks spent sleeping on the couch or a futon or air mattress etc downstairs while he is confined in the same room by door or baby gate.
Basically, gotta be creative
