How can I stop my dog getting upstairs

[Shithole101]

I have a tall dog gate up the top of my stairs . But my German shepherd can get it open . I tried making it tighter . I even used lots of cable ties. Which she snapped and now she's broken the fixing that go onto the wall for the gate.. any ideas 💡

She's a genius. Get her to run for parliament, she could end up as our Prime Minister, then you and she could go and live at no 10 and she could trash it to her heart's content on the public's dime.
I can't really think of any other solution, she's obviously too clever and too dominant for the mumsnet collective to come up with a single thing that would work! 😂

It only needs to be used while we are out .

German shepherd's are intelligent and resourceful and very trainable if you put in the effort. I think you are on a loosing battle just trying to get a bigger, better, stronger gate - you need to train your dog.

@mm81736 Exactly the principle we worked on! The dogs are trained not to go upstairs and didn’t/dint need a barrier to stop them. We only ever use the gate downstairs across the hallway to stop them accessing the front hallway. Even if the gates open they stop and wait for someone to say it’s okay to go past it.

I'm thinking this . But im confused by the 2 cuts part?

@Shithole101 if I was at home I’d take a photo but as I’m not…
Imagine you’re at the bottom of your stairs Turn to face the wall. On the wall you’re going to screw in a flattish piece of wood (‘batten’) about 5cm(width) x 2.5cm (depth) x whatever height you need. As a rule of thumb I put mine at about the middle of the
dogs chest height or slightly higher. This is because it stops the dog taking off immediately in front of the barrier- the angles are all wrong.
You’re going to do exactly the same thing again with an identical second piece of wood, leaving a vertical gap between them.
Repeat on the stair side. This can be tricky if you have to attach to the stair spindles but is do-able. For preference, attach to the newel post.
The size of the gap between the vertical posts depends on the thickness of the drop in board you want to use. The drop in board needs to be sturdy enough to sit in the gap without bending and light enough for you to pull up with one hand. The gap only needs to be a scant 0.5 cm + board width to allow the board to slot in and out.
Cut the drop in board to fit, Paint to match your woodwork. it isn’t permanent and only needs to block the stairs when you’re out.

Move to a bungalow, that's the only way you'll outsmart your beautiful and extremely intelligent dog.

Sorry! The cut outs are
1 A slot about 15 cm from the top edge of the board, so you can put your hand through to lift the board and
2 a hole in the bottom edge big enough to let the cat through - which you won’t need

So are you saying it's 2 bits of flat wood to spot in rather than 1 big piece?

I think it’s one piece and like this badly done drawing. I’ve just had my nails done… forgive me.

Ah ok thank you . That makes sense. I think I will just slot the wood in without the cut outs I will have probably mess it up otherwise. Plus im going to make it 3.5 - 4ft in height anyway

We had a GSD cross so I can understand! Ours used to vault the child stair gates, open doors and unscrew things. The photo is brilliant.

No helpful ideas though.

I would put those metal "insect" doors they have in Australia on your doorways upstairs, in front of the actual wooden door, and lock them with a top bolt.

Thank you . I think it will be much easier and cheaper just to block the stairs

How long is she being left for? Is there a safe space you could secure and leave her in?

Training? Highly intelligent breed. She will
learn if you take the time to train her.

You could always install one of those doors on the stairs? You can custom-build them for patio doors etc. for cats so I'm sure one of those companies could make you one if you gave the measurements.

This sounds like a training issue.

Approx 2-2.5 hrs in the morning then about the same in the late afternoon (school runs)

Only the garden . I don't feel comfortable with that though.

What a beautiful dog!
How long is she exercised for each day? It sounds like she might be bored? Especially if she's being left for such long periods each day. Good consistant training, along with plenty of exercise is the key to an easier life with a shepherd in my experience.
Could she do the school run with you and get more exercise?

Omg that photo in the OP 😂

the dog clearly deserves to be upstairs!

I have a very thick greyhound but even she managed to open a fastening on a custom made stairgate.

fixed with a shoelace and it’s foxed her so no more sneaking up!

When I moved in with DP we had this issue with his dog who had always slept on the bed or in his room from being a puppy. He had a crate downstairs but only used it in the daytime so we had to put him in at night and stop him accessing upstairs as I have severe allergies and asthma. He was so upset it was awful for 2 weeks then he got used to it but he would cry and bark for hours I think the neighbours probably hated us

Haha 😂
That defiant look!
I have A Whippet with side eye like that ( when I go to cut her nails) but she is small compared to a GSD.
GSD’s are eminently trainable though.
That is an advantage.

Radical suggestion - train it!