Stairway to Heaven

Zach the Greyhound used to have a horrible track name: Lucifer.

C’mon, does this look like the face of the devil?

Thankfully, he didn’t take after his former namesake. He’s a friendly, happy three-year old combating a fairly typical Greyhound phobia: Climacophobia, or the fear of stairs. What’s odd is that he’s not afraid of all stairs, just the narrow, carpeted set that leads to his fenced-in back yard, aka, “Heaven.”

The secret to treating Climacophobia is to shelve ambition and move at a snail’s pace. If you try to push a stair-phobic dog – literally or figuratively – you can kiss progress goodbye. Dealing with canine phobias is a Zen-like process that requires patience … it’s a slow dance between you and your dog, with Fido acting as Fred to your Ginger.

So how far did we get with Zach during our first lesson? Did he bound down the stairs and out into the yard?

Hardly. Brave Zach mustered the courage to place his paw on the top step and we called it a day. I was pleased to see that his person had excellent training instincts – she really “got” it, and didn’t ask for more than Zach could handle.

I’ve worked with a bunch of stair-phobic dogs, from Min Pins to Greyhounds, and every single one became a stair master. I’m looking forward to adding Zach to my list of success stories.