Dog is scared of stairs after fall

[NotQuiteUsual]

So I have a nearly 2 year old Newfie cross girl. She's a sweetheart, but has almost no coordination. The poor thing slid down the stairs a week or so ago. She wasn't hurt fortunately, since she's so big she just kind of skidded down and couldn't stop herself. So no injuries just gave herself and us a fright.

But ever since she's slowly become increasingly scared of the stairs. Some days she's fine with them, other days she cries at the top for hours before giving in. We try keeping the gate shut so she can't get upstairs. But the kids are off school and keep forgetting, and she loves looking out our bedroom window, so keeps finding her way up despite my best efforts.

I'm not sure how to tackle this though. She's a sensitive dog and I don't want to reinforce the fear accidentally. But it's slowly getting worse and it's not like I can carry her down at 50kg. Any suggestions how to help her get over the fear?

I would have a handful of high value treats - sausage, roast chicken or cheese. Put her harness and lead on and lure her extravagantly and enthusiastically to the top of the stairs. Lavish praise, loadsa rewards. Then do it again going down, perhaps keeping hold of her harness. Make a game of it. Do it several times in each direction every day until she is happy. You could then try feeding her at the bottom of the stairs, calling her down, or at the top.

I have a long, low, front-heavy dog and I knew stairs would be an issue for him so he is trained not to go upstairs. It might be a bit late for that with your dog as she is already used to going upstairs.