stair training for a tiny pom

Hello, I have a tiny 6 month old pomeranian that is a little less then 3 pounds. She is great, but i really feel that this little girl should be able to do steps. So far i baby her and carry her everywhere. She can jump high curbs while on our walk and i know she can do it. I think she is either lazy or scared to try. Or she knows i will just carry her. Does anyone have any advice on how to train a dog to walk up and down stairs? Any help would be welcomed.

Thank you!

Jen

 

maybe put her at the bottom of the steps and you at the top with treats and praise her when she comes up, if that is difficult try it one step at a time. Make sure you give praise.

 

Shes so tiny, I would be worried about her falling back down once you got her up the stairs.

 

we once had a chi, that tried to jump on the couch, but didn't make it and broke her neck. so always beware of that stuff

 

lil, thats so sad.

Ive seen a lot of very small dogs with broken legs after falling down stairs or off furniture.
2 that I remember clearly, a tiny yorkie, she fell off the couch and broke one leg, about 2 weeks later while the one leg was still casted she fell of again and broke another leg. Then a small Min Pin last year was playing with the kids up and down the stairs, the dog got over excited and actually ran through the banister poles at the top of the stairs and landed on the floor below, both front legs broken.
Some baby gates, the ones that have either a very narrow gap between the poles (so the dog cat get through) or even better the criss cross type are good to have if you have stairs.

 

Those stories are so sad, we always had the criss cross type, I never even would have thought about them getting through the other types. But we had another dog who broke his leg falling off the couch one day, then we took him to the vet and the vet had a wire cage with a wire bottom (do you know what I mean) and since he could only hop on the one leg, he fell through the cracks and broke his other leg. it was so sad he was this all white chi with a tiny brown spot above one eye, he maybe weighed 3 lbs. Then he gets these big purple casts and he steps on the kitchen floor. He looked just like Bambi on ice, it was so sad, but cute!

 

I hate those racks, I dont know how many toes and a few teeth Ive had to try and get out of them, they are great for dogs that have had things like a back surgery as you can pull the entire rack out, using it like a stretcher and they are good for hygeine reasons but we started using these...kind of wooly type paddings, it absorbs any fluid, if the dog has an accident or spills a bowl of water, the liquid goes through but it stays dry on the outside.

 

One of my Mom's pom was scared to go down the stairs. She weighs about 10# though. It worked out well since she was so fast, if she ever got out and down the steps my parents wouldn't have been able to catch her. She will finally go down the 3 steps into their fenced in yard now and she's 8 years old. She won't walk on slippery floors either--like tile or my wood laminate. Although I worked with her the last time she was here and she would come down my laminate hall if I encouraged her. She really freaks out if the floor changes from carpet to something slick. Once I had her and my two weenies at a hotel and the carpet stopped right in front of the lobby and switched to slick tiles. I forgot about her floor phobia and kept right on walking. She just sat down and then I realized I was pulling her as she sat. It was pretty funny. Anyway, my point is: I wonder if it's a pom thing?

 

I don't think it is a Pom thing. Many dogs have a fear of stairs or slippery floors. With such a tiny dog, I think I would ask the vet if it is even advisable to have her try to walk on the stairs. I think I would be tempted to fence them off.

 

My Poms don't fear doing stairs. I don't allow them to go down our deck stairs very often, but they both love to run up them and then try to go back down. Hunter usually tries to jump them if he is going down them so I make sure they are carried down.

 

I had a 70# Dane mix that was scared of stairs, I managed to get him comfortable going up and down the stairs to my apartment (thankfully) but I'd got a ride somewhere with him one time to a big park, we had to walk home and the only way across the motorway was up the steps to an pedestrian overpass :shock: he was one heavy dog.....especially as he was struggling to get away when I was trying to carry him....then there was a wooden bridge that went over a lake, gaps in the planks of wood going across the bridge...he did not like the water underneath AT ALL....