7 Month old refusing to come up stairs anymore

[JubJubs Mom]

My 63lb 7 month old black lab decided he no longer will come up the stairs to the top level of our house, of course where the bedroom is. Before a couple of days ago he would come up with no problems all the time would even come up on his own to lay on the hardwood floor where it is nice and cool. He now will sit a the bottom and cry and bark and eventually we have to carry him up, which is not fun since he is so big. I tried luring him up with a kong and he still won't come. He will go up the stairs outside, jump into the car no problem. Anyone else ever experience this? Is this part of his teenage years and rebelling?

[Sue-Ram]

If you have hardwood stairs he might be slipping as he goes up and down which may scare him.

[JubJubs Mom]

We do but he has been doing it since we took him home at 8 weeks and now all of a sudden won't go up. Will go down with no problems at all.

[Jollymolly]

Have you tried with a hot dog, chicken. liverwurst as a positive reinforcement?

[Snowshoe]

His toenails in his photo look nice and short. Too long toenails were a problem for Jet on the stairs, slippery, but it was down she wouldn't do when they were long. Still, something to keep in mind.

I would guess too, that he slipped and fell and hurt/scared himself. Maybe stair tread covers? We still have ours down from when Oban got older. Maybe try treats on one stair at a time, increasing very slowly to more than one.

A trick to try is see if he will go up (is it only UP? He's ok going down?) with a stranger. My sister's dog would go up and down with my OH, and me, but not with her. Unfortunately we never got Laddie over this, but to be truthful, Sis didn't really try. Another thing is try him on outside stairs, concrete, wood, to see if it's all stairs or just the ones in your house. A Behaviourist/Trainer might be good idea.

[JubJubs Mom]

Thanks for the advice, it is only the hardwood stairs in our house, the outside stairs are no issue. I tried giving him a bully stick and then took it away and put it a couple of stairs up and still nothing. We have our nieces and nephew over and asked them to try and still nothing, it is like he is just terrified all of a sudden. He is never at the house without us and we cannot recall him falling on the stairs at all. I will try the hot dog/cheese and see if that works since that is something he never gets.

[SunDance]

Does he normally like to run up stairs? Since you have hardwood, there's a really good chance he slipped and scared himself. He's OK on other steps, so I doubt that he really injured himself (or had something unrelated causing pain). Regardless, I suggest getting some anti-slip stair treads...it'll benefit all of you and especially him.

[SunDance]

Hmmmm.....7 months. A growth spurt (longer legs) would impact on how he maneuvers on stairs. He could just feel newly unfamiliar with the way those slipperier stairs feel under foot.

[bmathers]

This happens to Diggity (who is three years old) on my outdoor stairs going up to my deck. He has a tendency to charge up stairs (inside and outside) and sometimes slips on the outside ones and then for a day, he is afraid to go up. I have tried everything you mentioned and eventually I just leave him out there and within about half an hour, he is up on the deck. Then, the next day, he is fine and goes up and down with no issues. I guess at some point if he refused to come up, I would go get him and walk him around the side of the the yard and into the front of the house, or go through the walkout basement, but I really don’t want to create a lifetime of him not coming up those stairs. So, waiting him out has worked so far.


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[SamsonsMom]

If navigating the wooden steps is something he will need to do daily I would strongly suggest you get carpet pads and place on the steps. Labs have potential for way too many joint issues and it's too dangerous (imo) to allow them to navigate up and down wooden steps. The carpet will give him the traction he needs. Beautiful pup!