How to Train Your Dog to Stay Downstairs

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How to Train Your Dog to Stay Downstairs

Easy

1-4 Weeks

General

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Introduction

You love your dog, but you can’t help but get the feeling he loves you even more. I mean if he follows you around the house everywhere you go, toilet included, then well, he’s a big fan. While you normally don’t mind him being needy, things are getting a little out of hand. For example, you can’t go to sleep without him wanting to be in your bed. If you don’t let him in your bed, he just whines outside the door until you let him in.

Training him to stay downstairs will afford you some privacy. Also, it will prevent him developing separation anxiety. If he can’t learn to spend any time without you, he will be miserable when you leave him to go to work.

Defining Tasks

Training him to stay downstairs is thankfully pretty straightforward. The first thing to do is take a number of steps to prevent him coming upstairs. Then you can focus on using obedience commands and incentives to keep him downstairs. If you can give him everything he needs downstairs, upstairs will no longer enter his mind. Then once you’ve trained him to stay downstairs, you can remove the deterrence measures.

If he’s a puppy you will see the quickest results. This is because he is still learning what is and isn’t acceptable and should respond well to training. You may need just a week. If he’s older and always had access to upstairs, then you may need up to a month. Get this training right and you won’t have muddy paw prints on your upstairs carpets anymore!

Getting Started

Before you can begin training, you will need a few bits. Some baby gates to put across the stairs to start with will be needed. A deterrence collar and a water spray bottle will be required.

You will also need a decent stockpile of treats. These will be used to motivate your dog during training. Try and find 10 minutes each day to train, at a time where you won’t be distracted by a noisy house.

Once you have all those boxes ticked, just bring patience and optimism, then work can begin!

The Day One Method

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Step

Start as a puppy

The earlier you stop him going upstairs, the easier it will be to keep him downstairs. If you never let him go upstairs, even from the beginning, he won’t even think to do it.

Step

Crate

So he isn’t tempted when you leave him alone, place him in a crate. This removes the temptation and reinforces your position as pack leader, dictating where he is and isn’t allowed to go.

Step

Bedtime routine

Get in the habit of putting him to sleep each night downstairs. It is important you don’t let him sleep with you. He will then become needy and find it far harder to stay downstairs on his own each night.

Step

‘Bed’

Stand close to his bed and hold out a treat. The when he is paying attention, give a ‘bed’ command. Look and point at the bed as you give this instruction. He may look at you strangely for a while, but he will eventually catch on.

Step

Reward & practice

Give him a treat as soon as he touches the bed. Then practice each day, moving further and further away from the bed each time you give the command. Practice until he gets the hang of it, then gradually cut out the treats. Now use this command whenever you catch him showing any interest in going upstairs.

The Prevention Method

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Step

Baby gates

The most effective way to keep him downstairs is to put gates across the stairs. They take just a few minutes to install and they will remove the temptation entirely.

Step

Always react

If you don’t want to use gates, you will need to be vigilant and react every time you catch him trying to go upstairs. Take him by the collar and lead him firmly back down.

Step

Water spray bottle

To further reinforce the point, you can also give him a quick spray of water near the face. If he always associated going upstairs with unpleasant consequences, he will soon want to stay downstairs.

Step

Deterrence collar

The other option is a deterrence collar. You simply hit a button when you catch him trying to go upstairs and an unpleasant spray of citronella will be emitted. This will make him think twice next time.

Step

Team effort

It is important you sit everyone in the house down and bring them on board with your plan. If one of you lets him up, your dog will get confused and training will be rendered useless. Everyone must react whenever they catch him upstairs.

The Motivation Method

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Step

Move his bed

You need to make downstairs a pleasant place where he has everything he needs and where he is content. If he always wants to sleep upstairs, move his bed to a more enclosed space. You may also want to get him a new bed with some comfy blankets.

Step

Toys downstairs

Make sure his toys and food puzzles are all kept downstairs and away from the stairs. If any of his belongings are upstairs, he will think his territory extends to there. So, keep them all close to his bed.

Step

Boundaries

Secure him to a leash in the morning and evening and walk him around the downstairs perimeter. This may seem strange, but you are showing him where his territory ends. Do this every day and he will soon stop thinking of upstairs as somewhere he can go.

Step

Tether

Until you break the habit, you may want to tether him to a long leash when he is downstairs. Make sure he has enough space to roam around, but not enough that he can get upstairs.

Step

Praise & reward

It is important you give him treats and praise whenever you see him come away from the stairs. If he has a motivation to stay away, he will do so, especially if it is food. He will soon start associating downstairs with tasty rewards.

How to Train Your Dog to Stay Downstairs

Introduction

Defining Tasks

Getting Started

Success Stories and Training Questions