After 45 minutes of barking & whining, and when he wouldn’t even come for his favorite doggie fake-choco-drop treat, I figured that Riley was really, truly afraid to come down the stairs.

So I went up and got him. And carried him down the stairs.

Oh, he looked like he was in the catbird seat as I held him and stepped down.

The catbird seat” is an idiomatic phrase used to describe an enviable position, often in terms of having the upper hand or greater advantage in all types of dealings among parties.

And that’s exactly what he has.