So in my apartment building there is a ramp that leads to the side of the building where we go for walks, it's equivalent to 5 stair steps, and it makes a lot of noise which startles Skylar. He goes down the ramp hesitantly, kind of squatting, and when we go up the ramp he doesn't budge at all. The same thing goes for stair steps, ((We usually go into the building through the basement, and sometimes the elevators won't go there and there's a flight of stairs that leads to the lobby.))

Any advice on how to get him used to the ramp, and possibly stairs?

He probably needs to get a bit bigger for him to be comfortable with the stairs, but it's the ramp that I want him to be comfortable with, it's not very steep. Noise doesn't usually bother him either, he's very calm when we cross at busy intersections and such.

He's almost 5 months now,

I had the same problem with micole. I wasn't about to carry a 35-40 pound dog up and down stairs. So what I did was up treats at the end of every step all the way up. She reallly wanted those treats so she finally got it. Took her maybe an hour to understand that they are ok to walk on them.

The first time we brought Link home this happened as well. We got him over it in about 10 mins and built up his trust in usand his self confidence.

The above post is great, definitely use treats and praise. The other thing we did was go down the steps ourselves and called him down very excitedly and encouraged him to take each step one by one and keep coming to us. When he did he was so excited and visibly proud and we showered him with praise and affection.

It is super important to not make a big deal out of the steps or ramp yourself because you don't want to compound the pup's anxiety, which if displayed, should not be reinforced or supported by you as well. Don't agree with the anxiety or fear but rather show him that he can trust you and be led by you in exactly the way you want.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies, I'll certainly try that. ^_^

Luci just went through this. We were at a friend's house, and she would not use the stairs to get to their front door.... until she started playing with friend's dog and just started following him up and down the stairs. I also find that whenever she is scared of something, I just make a big deal of it. I just carry on like nothing is going on, and she eventually realizes that it's no big deal.