My 11 Month Old Won’t Go Upstairs Anymore

He’s a huge mama’s boy!! Your poor girl and her drains though.. :(

I think he’s a little trooper! We weren’t trying to taunt him or anything, but we have this little Christmas dog decoration and it spins. At first, he was terrified. After a few times he actually would run up to it and knock it over, and play with it. He’s a little goober.

The stairs aren’t completely evil, because he will run up them if he wants to, as I said(because he hears commotion outside).

He’s a big chatterbox and an even crazier scaredy cat when it comes to strangers. He’s gentle, but runs away from people if they come near the house when he’s outside, and barks at the door to be let in. That’s another thing I don’t know how to exactly tackle. He was socialized and we take him out, and outside of the home he will walk. He’s very submissive to other dogs and people outside of the home, but doesn’t show a huge interest in them. It’s just when it comes to our house, he doesn’t want other people in it//they scare him. He also never wants to go for walks. I’m thinking it could be territorial? Whenever he leaves we put him directly into the car, and he never wants to walk too far from home.

He also isn’t too big on jumping, he doesn’t jump onto my bed. I know he has a problem with left rear knee, I just don’t know what exactly it’s called though. I’m extremely absent minded—!
 
Caro said:
Given his age I think he is going through an adolescent fear period. Don't get angry with him or push him too much, you don't want to in grain the fear. Encouragement is fine. Why isn't your Yorkie going up the stairs, with you carrying another dog up it may reinforce his fear that there is something wrong with the stairs.

I'd actually try just doing one or two steps at a time, if you can get him up one step (even putting his paw on one step) giving cheers and a play, but don't push him again. Any movement is a success atm. Too much pressure will make him more fearful, so for now just go for small victories. Stairs are scary for many dogs, esp for a long nosed dog. Remember dogs have difficulty seeing directly in front, but this is esp the case for long nosed dogs who have a different field of vision. Their eyes are further to the side, so they don't see in front, and they also have a different field of vision to other dogs (like your Yorkie) and humans, seeing movement better.
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All very good info Caro! We often forget that dogs see things differently from their level. We should all get down to their height to at least have an idea of what they see.
 
ghggp said:
Hi Mack, great advice for you so far. I am sure slow and steady with high value rewards will help!

I didn’t catch if you had carpeted stairs or wooden steps. I have found with carpet they can gain traction. At my brothers home he has wooden stairs and none of my boys would use them.
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We have wooden stairs with a type of plastic material covering majority of the middle.
 
Piper's mom said:
I'd go along side him so you can hold the treat close to him and use a happy tone (lots of fun) and get him to follow the treat up the stairs (while you talk to him...good boy, etc etc...the sillier the better lol).
With my 2 year old I just waited until he was ready to do stairs but your boy was doing them and is now afraid of it. Some Shelties are just more sensitive than others (Finnie is very sensitive, doesn't take much to spook him). As Caro mentioned about the drain, my 4 year old Piper would avoid drains as if his life depended on it lol and he's the most stable dog.
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He’s young and sensitive, and I’m sure he’ll get better as he experiences more things! And thank you so much, I’ll definitely be working with him for it. The vet is concerned about his weight, though his father was a little bigger too. He’s around thirty four pounds and that’s not terrible to carry, but he could definitely use the exercise of using the stairs. Thank you again :)
 
ghggp said:
Can you place carpet strips on them? It might help to give him traction.
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My father would probably be against it, he’s a giant neat freak and our dogs track in a lot of mud and dirt at times since it precipitates a lot in our area. If I can avoid convincing him about carpet, I would like to. It’s a really good idea though and if what I’m going to try from the other comments doesn’t work I’ll consider bringing it up with him!
 
Mack said:
My father would probably be against it, he’s a giant neat freak and our dogs track in a lot of mud and dirt at times since it precipitates a lot in our area. If I can avoid convincing him about carpet, I would like to. It’s a really good idea though and if what I’m going to try from the other comments doesn’t work I’ll consider bringing it up with him!
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These treads are easy to take on and off. No too expensive. Worth a try. Would help your older dog too!
 
I am completely in line with Gloria, smooth stairs are not good

"I know he has a problem with left rear knee"
I would definitely carry him :yes:

- I think you will need to have the knee examined he may be in great pain.
 
“ I know he has a problem with left rear knee, I just don’t know what exactly it’s called though. ”

Possibly a luxating patella.
Yes, it can be painful. I would see a vet about it as soon as you can. If it is, that could be causing his reluctance to go up the stairs.

The term luxating means 'out of place' or 'dislocated'. Therefore, a luxating patella is a kneecap that moves out of its normal location. Pet owners may notice a skip in their dog's step or see their dog run on three legs. Then suddenly they will be back on all four legs as if nothing happened

As far as the shyness goes, my boy Liam is exactly the same way at 18 months!
It was suggested that I get some older children to come over and the first week just sit calmly and ignore him. No eye contact at all. The second week, sit calmly and throw treats to him. He eventually got closer to them and appeared to gain confidence. The third week the girls would stand about 10 ft apart calling him towards them and asking for a sit. I kept up this excercise until he became so comfortable with them that they could take him for a walk. He has been through so many classes and the more exposure, at his pace, the better he became. Starting a new class in a couple of weeks. We will see how it goes. Slow, slow, slow is my advice!
 
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