How to Train Your Blind Dog to Walk Down Stairs
Introduction
Your dog may have had a severe injury or any number of diseases that have stripped him of his eyesight. But that doesn’t mean you love him any less, and it shouldn’t mean he isn’t able to do as many of his usual daily activities as possible. One such hurdle many blind dogs need to overcome is stairs. If you have them in the house, you don’t want to worry he is going to fall down the stairs.
Alternatively, if you’re all snuggled up on the sofa, you want to be able to call him to give you a cuddle, no matter where he is in the house. Fortunately, teaching a blind dog to walk down the stairs isn’t as challenging as you might think. With caution and patience, you can quickly teach him to navigate the stairs without problems.
Defining Tasks
Ensuring your blind dog can walk down the stairs is hugely important, not just for you, but for the quality of his life. If he is unable to go up and down the stairs, he has half the space to roam around when he is home. Training him to master the stairs will also alleviate concerns about accidents and injuries.
You can train a blind dog to navigate the stairs, regardless of their age, although it may take a little longer with older dogs. Dogs are smarter than many people give them credit for, so you might be pleasantly surprised at how quickly he responds to training. There are a variety of different techniques you can try, ensuring one will work for your particular needs and requirements. So he could be bounding down the stairs in a matter of weeks!
Getting Started
Before you begin training, ensure you have the stairs to yourself and that no child will come tearing down without warning. You will also need to get your hands on their leash and some treats to incentivize your dog.
It is also important to come with a proactive attitude and a great deal of patience. Blind dogs are understandably afraid of plunging down stairs they cannot see, so you will need to take things slowly.
Now you’re all prepped, it’s time for you both to head to the foot of the staircase and get to work.
The Food & Familiarity Method
The Leash Lead Method
The Treat Per Step Method
Success Stories and Training Questions
Training Questions and Answers
Cieco
Cieco is blind. she can walk up stairs but not down them. I have tried all three of these methods (however, the treat per step I attempted but never got off the step)to no avail. what do I do?
I want a better quality of life for her. I have noticed that in the last month, she now gets scared when I go to pick her up to go down the stairs for a walk (she is quite big). I have never dropped her nor has she fallen to be frightened.
Please help.
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Hello Tracey, since Cieco is blind, the stairs are probably very scary for him. All he knows is that the ground ends. He has no concept of there being another stair only a few inches away. For all he knows it is a hundred feet down before there is something secure to stand on. When you pick him up, he might be frightened because he feels like he is going to be dropped, even though you haven't dropped him, or because he doesn't know where he is when you put him back down. What would help him the most would be a ramp. You could create a ramp wide enough for him to go up and down, on one side of your stairs. You would need to use a material with great traction for the bottom, and a rail type bar between the edge of the ramp and the rest of the stairs. The rail would help him to feel secure while he is learning to use the ramp. Rather than making the entire bottom of the ramp out of the material that provides traction, you can choose something fairly thin and nail it to the floor of a wooden ramp. You can also likely buy or contract someone to create a ramp for you. When you pick him up, tell him what you are about to do by saying something like "Up" right before you do it. This is to remove any fear of being picked up randomly, which can make him feel generally stressed when you touch him, and it's to prevent his fear from becoming worse due to unpredictability. While you are holding him or when you put him back down, give him a treat to help build his confidence. Also when you carry him make sure that you wrap one arm around his chest and one around his rear end, behind his back legs. That way he will not feel like he is leaning forward or backward and is about to fall. For most dogs falling is not a huge deal because they can see that it is only three or four feet down and can move their bodies while in the air to soften the fall. For your dog there is no concept of how high he is. He might be as high as an airplane for all he knows. He also has no control of how he lands if he falls, because he cannot judge the fall and where the ground is. I would recommend building the ramp from what you have told me. That is the most likely approach to help him, but something else that you can try, is to practice getting him comfortable being picked up by the harness handle. You would need to do this very gradually by giving him treats throughout the process, especially when you have worked up to actually picking him up for a second by the handle. When you get to the point of being able to lift him up briefly with the harness handle, then have a friend give him treats every two seconds that he remains in the air. It might be easier to let him lick peanut butter off of a spoon instead eat treats because it will be hard for him to chew while lifted. Gradually increase the amount of time that you hold him in the air for, until you have reached thirty seconds in a row. Make sure that he can breath OK while lifted, and only add more time when he is relaxed with the current amount of time. When he is comfortable being lifted completely in the air for thirty seconds, then when you get to the top of the stairs, practice having him go down the stairs by completely carrying him down using the harness handle. Go slow, and make the trip down smooth and not jerky. Have your friend reward him while you carry him. When he is comfortable with that, then gradually have him touch the stairs more and more as he improves. The end result should be him going down the stairs while you lift up on the handle. He will be doing the walking but will feel more secure because he knows you are supporting him, and preventing a fall. It's a bit like a rock climber learning to trust their harness and rope. The harness and rope are always there to prevent a fall so the person can navigate something dangerous and still feel safe. You are his safety net. With this approach he will probably still never be able to navigate the stairs without your help holding the handle a bit, but it might remove the stress of the stairs and can save your back from having to carry him. It also might be less scary for him in the long run because he is less disoriented having walked somewhere himself. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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9 year old American Bulldog moved into new house he has been blind for about a year we had steps in the old house on the back porch that he managed quite well the only other steps were in our basement which he stopped going down when he got blind now that we have moved to the new house we need him to go down the stairs to the family room he lays down and is absolutely petrified won't even put his foot on the first step. We've tried We've tried praise treats he is absolutely petrified I don't know what to do
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Hello Bonnie, The kindest thing to do for Rocky in this scenario is to create a ramp for him. You can either make that entire section of stairs a ramp, or even a one-foot to one-and-a-half foot wide ramp along the wall-side of the stairs will help. The width he needs will depend on how wide his feet are apart. He will still need help learning to go up and down it, but it will be far less scary for him and he will be able to learn more quickly. To him, unfamiliar stairs feels like a bottomless drop-off. He has no way of knowing if the stairs are still safe or if he for sure has the correct stairs. With the other stairs, he had developed a life of trust in them and knew your entire home by memory, so he could go down them and feel certain he was at the right stairs through his long-term memory. Whether you do the ramp or not, either way purchase a padded back-clip harness with a handle and support that goes under both his chest and his belly. RuffWear makes a WebMaster Harness like that. Encourage him over to the edge of the stairs while he is wearing the harness. Lift up on the harness handle just enough for his weight to rest on it a little bit, without lifting his feet off of the floor entirely. Encourage him forward with a spoon dipped in peanut butter or liver paste, while lifting the handle and helping him down the stairs or ramp. The stairs will be easier for him while doing this. If you do not use a ramp, then before you add the stairs in, practice lifting him with the harness and every time that you do, let him lick the peanut butter spoon. This is to help him get used to being lifted and to learn to trust the harness. Once he is used to the harness, then you can leave the harness on him and help him down the stairs when he gets stuck by holding onto the handle. He should get used to cooperating with you with practice and the rewards. He may or may not transition to being able to walk down the stairs on his own though without the ramp. That will depend on his level of confidence, how long it takes him to commit those stairs and your entire new home to long term memory, and how much you practice the stairs with rewards and the harness with him. Practicing with the harness and rewards will give him enough opportunities to at least learn and potentially transition. Best of luck training, Caitlin Crittenden
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