Nov 28, 2011: Grand Stairmaster

At last - Thurmon went down the stairs to the basement all on his own! He never did master the basement stairs in our last home, and that was only a half flight from the landing. Since these stairs are a full flight, and quite steep (enough so that Mark and I are careful to watch our footing) I had little hope of him mastering it any time soon. But with one small nudge from me, and Mark beckoning from the bottom, he went down them cautiously but smoothly.

What a relief - the former system for getting him downstairs was a bit tedious: letting him out the patio door on the first floor, into the back yard, then opening the side door to the basement, and beckoning him back in.

Addendum: Thurmon has since trotted down them at full speed even when no one is downstairs to lure him, as if there's nothing at all remarkable about using the stairs. He is now the Grand Stairmaster.

Below: Thurmon 'planking' - torso resting on the couch, back legs standing on the floor. He's taken to doing this for surprisingly long stretches recently.