I'm not really sure how to train adult dogs, but my Riley is almost a year old and we just kinda started training her. Yeah, I know... took me forever. We let our little girl get away with murder.
So we've been having a bit harder of a time training her versus our 9 week old Sheltie. Hopefully, these will help a bit. (Keep in mind that I read these out of a Dog Obedience book and everyone has different methods of dog training.)
Sit- Hold a treat over their nose and slowly push the treat back so they will kinda just 'fall' into the sit position. Do this while saying 'sit' and reward them when they do just kinda fall on their butt. If they can jump up to reach the treat, you're holding it too high over their head. It should be just above the nose. I put mine so close to where they can lick it. Seems to grab their attention more. Okay, so my Sheltie does this, but Riley doesn't. No matter how close I get to Riley's nose, she still jumps up or just backs up to get it. So, I just kinda put my hand on her butt and gently pushed her down while saying 'sit'. I only had to do that a couple of times. She got the idea real quickly.
Lay down- Get your dog into the 'sit' position, then take a treat and put it on the ground, in front of their legs and slowly move the treat towards you. Do this while saying 'Lay down' or 'Lay' or 'Down'... which ever you use. The same idea applies... the will just kinda plop down into the 'lay' position. Again, my Sheltie does this but my yorkie doesn't. I find I have to kind of force her into a 'lay' position. She really wasn't happy about it at first, but now there is hardly any struggle. We haven't really got this one down yet, but we're working on it.
I know people say 'only teach the dog one trick at a time', but I found when I was teaching them to 'sit', they would just sit automatically for their treat. So I had to do something else. The main one I'm teaching is sit. I do it with treats most of the time, but I do it without treats and just praise a few times as well. (Just so they won't expect it. They always expect to do something when I bring out the treats.
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Those are the two commands almost everyone starts with. Just remember... treats can make a dog do almost anything.
As for the stair thing. I think I would just try working on the 'come' command with some treats and then taking it one stair at a time. Saying 'come' and then forking over a treat for every step they do.
And the not responding thing. You just really have to keep her attentions with things she likes.
Good luck! I hope every thing goes well with little frustration.
