See taking the stairs in my album Jo Ann.
I read it on a forum years ago, a lady who said she used a timer, so I had to try.
It's the sound they get use too, when the timer goes off they know it's treat time, or bath time. If they are not ready to go back for a treat, I tap the bath bottle, shake the treat dish, shoo them with the broom, and as a last resort corner and catch them. Every night there is one out of the 20 + that's not ready.
For the most part it sure saves time, and aggravation sometimes too.
I would say with in a month or two some had started getting back when the timer went off.By 6 months they were all getting the hang of it.
Now newbies and kits just catch on by watching the rest.
Young kits I just show how to get down, if they can figure that out they know how to get back.
I will place them from one stool to the other, to the floor, and praise them.Their own curiosity leads them to find the way up.
Just making the connection between going back, the treat, and the bell.