Concerning doggie steps....

[emykay]

Do the dogs just know to use them to get down? We are worried that Louie will still just jump off of the bed wherever he wants, and our bed is too tall for that. I'm terrified that he will hurt himself.

[carmen in nj]

I had to teach my dogs to use them but once they learned they don't jump down anymore. LOTS of treats when they use them to get down..LOL

[lynzy420]

Same here, I showed Miss Mini them, took a few days treats etc., kept lots of fluffy blankets around the bed==just in case, no need she will not go up or down without them...same thing with new Puppy..!only Mini trained her to go up and down!

side note: Neither of my girls will do *regular* stairs...weird right??

[princessizzy]

Our bed is very high off the ground and we had to get Izzy stairs also. She learned to use them very fast its best one of the best things we have ever bought

[diannenet]

If you coax them up and down the steps a few times they usually get the hang of it. It didn't take Toby long and he uses them all the time. My husband makes doggie steps (link is in my siggy.)

[MikaTallulah]

Mine won't use doggie steps. They get on the bed their own way. Cozy jumps from the ground up. The other 3 jump onto a recliner and then jump up onto the bed- They do the reverse to get off.

[Lovetodream88]

You have to teach them to go up and down them most of the time I think. With Callie when we first got them we put them to the couch and I used boxes to block off the rest of the couch so she had no choice but to use the stairs and then I would give her a treat for each stair she went up and she had the hang of it but she still would rather jump most of the time except when her leg is a little sore. Sammy my moms rescue has never been "trained" to go up and down the stairs but when they come over he does it perfect every time and uses them when they are there.

[BabyFidgette]

Baby only uses them to climb up. She jumps off the bed. Luckily I have carpet now (I had Pergo in my other place). Jumping off kinda defeats the purpose of helping those knees, though.

[skellington]

Riot only uses them to go up! The couch is low enough he can jump up so he doesn't have stairs there but I have them for my bed. It's not too high, he's gotten on it before without the stairs but he has to try a few times. He uses them just to go up though, barely ever uses them to go down no matter how hard I've tried to work with him. He's just so fast by the time to see he's about to jump he's already halfway out the door!

My mom watched him for a weekend and her bed is very high. I didn't take the stairs to her house since I figured she'd crate him for the night but she actually let him in the bed and he whined to get down, so at least he knows when it's too high to jump down. I still worry about his knees though!

[Charlie_Boy2011]

Charlie is still too small to jump up on most anything and he hasn't tried to jump off bed or couch. I made little steps out of pillows and blankets onto my chaise awhile back to see what he would do. It only took me one or two times of showing him a treat to get him using it. That was only temporary. Tried it for maybe half a day. So just put treats on each step or have your dog follow your hand w/ treat.

[Shizzle]

the kind that look like miniature versions of human stairs are potentially dangerous; especially taller ones (those with more than 3 steps), as they can easily lose their footing and fall off sideways -- which is a long way down for a yorkie.

we learned this the hard way, btw. she landed so hard on the carpet that she just layed there frozen for a split second. ;( luckily, she was okay, but we felt like horrible parents. ;(

i found other similar horror stories online while searching for an alternative...we immediately replaced them with larger, square-shaped pet stairs, which are much safer and easier for yorkies, as they can get all four paws on each step.

[addevo]

The first time I tried the stairs, I put them perpendicular to the bed. When Tina wouldn't use them, in fact, seemed afraid of them, I turned them so that the stairs were against the side of the bed. That way, only one side was "open" the other side safely against the side of the bed. She trotted right up.

She never used them to go down, though. And neither does our the second Yorkie. He will go up them. And then barks to let me know when he wants down.

[southernbelle04]

We use steps for KS to get on and off of the couch. I had to teach her as well and lure her with treats, but now she uses them every time she needs up or down.

[Nancy1999]

Yes, we had to teach, and if they jump off, you have to put them back on the bed. You have to teach them that they must use the steps, don't let them get away with jumping. They will learn it’s faster to use the steps. You have to be more stubborn than they are! Cheerios is a great treat for training, not many calories, and dogs seem to love them. Training them to go down, takes more time than training to go up, work a little each day, and in a week they will be experts. You can lead them with your hand that has the cheerio in it, or put a cheerio on the step. If they just can’t learn, your steps may be too steep, or you need to get a ramp.

[Patti]

Mine all took to the stairs and ramps right away. Even Nikki who was a senior when I got him and use to jumping on and off furniture. SInce I started mine on them right away they never learned to jump on or off.