Hello,
I would either do what your plan is, if it’s not too late and if I have the stamina to have the night be longer than I planned OR. I would take He new dog for a long long walk after a dinner meal (always feed after transport). And then put him in a cage at the farthest corner of the house so he can sleep (and everyone else can too). In the morning I would do the intros. I just think that this pup will be stressed already and there’s no sense stressing yours after bedtime. Your new pup will prob be tired anyway. If not a long walk with justvthe two of you should help remedy this.
Hello,
Congratulations on the new baby! Stairs can take a while for some dogs. I think it is a matter of time to find heir comfort zone but yes going down is always much scarier than up. One of the things I do is have my husband walk directly in front of them so hey can’t see the whole scope of the stairs. Or find a place with deep shallow long stairs like at the park and practice on them. I also have picked up my dog and placed them on Yw bottom two stairs and practiced them. So they only have to go a few feet. Maybe go up and down the bottom stairs until this is comfortable. Then go to the bottom four stairs. Etc. Etc. Eventually they just sort of try and eventually they get comfortable. It just takes time. And patience.
Try stairs outside first. Some dogs cannot deal with enclosed staircases in houses, but they’re fine with stairs in parks and the like.