[nagdu] Hesitant on stairs

[Nicole Torcolini]

Not sure that I would try hop up as some dogs can over do it, and you would
not want her inadvertently pulling you down the stairs. I agree with
everyone else that she is probably just responding to you. I think that, in
general, we don't always realize when our dogs are responding to us. I would
recommend continuing to praise  her and reassure her.

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2013 8:31 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Hesitant on stairs

Hi Minh.
I doubt she's afraid of the stairs.  I think she's picking up on your
hesitancy, and being cautious with you.  Dogs can be very sensitive to their
partners.
I don't know your dog, so don't know how best to encourage her to keep
going.  Some like sweet talk, and some get the message better with a firm
Hopp up.  They're resilient though, so you could try the firm approach once,
and see how it goes, since you're already trying sweet talk.
Better a little hesitancy than that other new dog trick of jumping over the
last step.  I hate that one!
Tracy

----- Original Message -----
From: "minh ha" <minh.ha927 at gmail.com>
To: <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2013 10:46 AM
Subject: [nagdu] Hesitant on stairs


> Hello all,
>
> I hope everyone and their furry little friends are doing well. I have
> a question about working down stairs. As I mentioned in an earlier
> post, there are about a million and one stairs all over my campus and
> they're not exactly all uniform and safe. I've noticed that Viva is
> becoming very hesitant and slow whenever we go down stairs, no matter
> whether they are outside or in a stair well. This is just going down
> mind; she practically rockets whenever we're walking up. I don't have
> the greatest balance and I get very hesitant walking down the stairs
> myself so it's not a terrible thing that she's walking slower.
> However, she does this thing where she would go down a few stairs and
> then stop and I would have to encourage her to keep on going. I've
> been overflowing with praise whenever we're going down the stairs and
> it seems to help, but she's still very cautious. Is she somehow
> sensing my own hesitancy and going slower to help me or is she scared
> herself? Also, I'm only hesitant at the top of the stairs when we're
> getting ready to go down, but once we're actually on the stairs, I'm
> fine. I want to help her get rid of her fears because I don't really
> want her to be afraid, but it would really help with congestion as
> well.
> Thanks,
> Minh
>
> -- 
> "All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty
> recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity:
> but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on
> their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." T. E. Lawrence
>
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