[nagdu] Hesitant on stairs

I. C. Bray i.c.bray at win.net
Sat Sep 14 06:14:38 UTC 2013


Not to laugh at people having difficulties, but I honestly have my fears of 
stairs with a dog too.

It's not th100 stairs you navigate successfully... it's the ONE you don't!

My can skills UP stairs are great.  I have balance, and am fortunate enough 
to be able to climb, climb, climb.  It's the going down that bothers me.
I even hesitate at the last step still, and will check with my cane to make 
sure I'm on the very last step... as opposed to the second to last step... 
which I usually will find the hard way.

It doesn't help, that I'm 6 foot 2 and 250 lbs.   I can't help that I'm a 
big guy, but man... 7 inches vs 14 inches on an ankle is huge when you'r 
one-eighth of a ton!

Would practicing stairs with a cane help with a dog??  Should I wait til I 
get the dog and then do stair drills with him/her?

Ian  C. Braye
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tracy Carcione" <carcione at access.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2013 11:31 AM
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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: >
:
:
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