This afternoon Phoenix and I began one of my winter projects: the basement steps. More precisely, teaching Phoenix to go down — and hopefully back up — the basement steps. He will be 4 years old next month and wants nothing to do with the basement.
Zero. Zippo. Nada. From day one.
The dog who is virtually bombproof in any given situation will not go into our basement. Like many turn-of-the-century farmhouse basements, it is kind of dark and usually dirty and not my choice of places to hang out either but it's not THAT bad.
And don't suggest I contact the local ghost squad and have the basement exorcized. If I think about that long enough, I won't want to go down there either.
I wouldn't say Phoenix is scared of the basement. He just doesn't see any need to go there. Jamie goes there all the time. Phoenix waits at the top of the steps to maul him when he comes back up. It's a wonder Jamie ever comes out of the basement.
We live in the upper Midwest, which means tornadoes, which means we ALL may need to go there at some point. The Farmer and I have had this discussion. He is responsible for picking Phoenix up and carrying him down the stairs if it ever comes to that.
But in the meantime, I decided it would be a good winter project to tackle.
Wait. Tackle isn't the right word. There will be no tackling involved. I've managed to stay out of the hospital just fine this year and I'd like to keep it that way.
There are very few things you can force a Malinois to do. Maybe there aren't ANY things you can force a Malinois to do. I don't know. I've never tried it. Phoenix is big enough and muscle-y enough I wouldn't want to try it. This needs to be his idea if it's going to work.
So this afternoon I got some yummy treats and sat on the top step and tried to get him to put his paws on that step.
Didn't work.
He stretched. He stuck his paw out into the air and waved at the treats. He laid down and wagged his tail hard enough to send furball flying across the kitchen floor. He whined. He drooled.
Did you know malinois have hyper-extendable necks? And ant-eater tongues?
We'll keep at it. It's a long time until spring.
Baby steps... it's all about baby steps (pun intended!). Good luck with your winter project!
ReplyDeleteGood luck! When I lived in Oklahoma, we didn't have a basement - we only had a closet. But when the radio says, "And it just touched down at _____" and mentions your intersection, it's scary!
ReplyDeleteCasey isn't used to stairs at all. I took him over my dad's house last night and whenever someone went up the stairs, he got all freaked out as if they disappeared right before his eyes, never to be seen again.
All of my girl GSDs will go down the basement stairs My girl Mali will go down the basement stairs. MY MALE GSD will NOT go down the basement stairs and he will do ANYTHING jump off a cliff to get his ball 10 drop off a dock to water to get his ball no problem. Folow Mom anywhere no problem. Go down or up for that matter the basement stairs from the house way NO WAY and he is going on 9 years old. The basement stairs going from the house are open wood stairs so I guess that is what it is because he will go down the cement stairs from outside into the basement no problem so for him it is not the basement itself but the stairs themselves. Good Luck on your project!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, we had a collie that would not go down the stairs. I have no idea why. We use to have to take him around the outside of the house to get him to the bottom floor. Lucky it was a house with most stuff upstairs. Diana
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