Fenway and the Stairs

Maybe if I can get my act together, technologically speaking, I can post a video.  When Fenway first came to live with me, he was only 8 weeks old and was too little to go up or down stairs.  The design of my house is such that going outside requires using the stairs--a whole flight of them, not just one or two.  Anyway, at first, he was tiny, and I didn't mind carrying him down and back up stairs when we needed to go out.  Mind you, we take several potty breaks a day, so that's several trips down and back up the stairs.  Initially, I was a little worried that baby Fenny might fall down the stairs and would feel anxious if he was too near the staircase.  However, I had little to worry about.  Fenway seems to have a phobia about the stairs.  Very quickly, he did learn to go up the stairs.  When we'd come back in from outside, he'd run right up, even when he was still pretty little.  Now, nearly 9 months and 20 pounds later, Fenway is still unable to go down stairs.  Seriously.  And maybe "unable" is the wrong word.  I mean, if I pick him up and put him down four or five steps from the bottom, he can go the rest of the way down.  But he thinks that he can't.  When it's time to go out, I still have to carry him down the stairs.  (Side note:  when it's time to go out, he thinks it's really fun to play keep away from mom.)  And it's kinda pathetic, really.  I mean, he clearly wants to go down the stairs sometimes but thinks that he can't.  And he'll stand at the top and cry if, say, his ball has rolled down the stairs.  I've tried everything I can think of.  I've even put a snack on each stair thinking that surely he'd be willing to give it a try for a snack!  But he wouldn't.  It's almost like a dog who has been abused and then avoids the object used to beat him; however, I seriously doubt that anyone pushed Fenny down the stairs when he was a baby.  When my parents were both here a month or so ago, all three of us stood on the stairs and the landing and called to Fenway, trying to coax him into at least trying it.  But he wouldn't.  He acted a little upset because he clearly wanted to be with the humans, but the stairs were too big an obstacle.  So he just stands at the top and looks crushed, like he's been abandoned and is just waiting for his Mama to return.  And it's not really that he can't do stairs; he just thinks he can't do stairs.  It was a little funny when he was little, but he's now close to 25 pounds.  And at 5:00am, carrying him down stairs is about the last thing I want to be doing.  On the bright side, it does provide an opportunity for hugs and "snorty kisses."