Started playing the original Dark Souls a few weeks back, it's certainly a world away in difficulty compared to most modern games. It's certainly not a bad thing either.
I've just made it to the Capra Demon who has given me a few good beatings. Most people seem to say that running up the stairs buys you a bit of time to kill the dogs, at which point the fight is easier. I'm not sure what I'm doing different but the bastard keeps legging it up the stairs as fast as me, pretty much knocking the dogs out of the way and not giving me a second. I'm concerned I'm a bit under-powered so might go looking in some other areas first.
There's a ledge that you can walk onto once you're at the top of the stairs (to the right as you're looking at the stairs). He can't get up there, so put your shield up when he attacks, and he should fall back down to the ground next to the stairs.
Also, he's weak to lightning, so if you apply some gold pine resin once you've dealt with the dogs, that should help.
What you'll find out about dark souls is that its all about learning the movement set/attacks of your enemies. Once you get a grip on what they do based on where you are or how you're attacking, the game will be much easier.
Keep in mind, dodging may prove to be a better idea than tanking depending on how much damage you can do (whether you can stagger the enemy) and how much health you have.
The only thing with dodging is that you have to medium roll at the least (fast roll is better and NO fat rolling). The reason rolling works so well, assuming you aren't fat rolling and you're timing your rolls well is that you are invulnerable for a particular amount of frames during a roll. These are referred to as invincibility frames, or i-frames. The faster your roll, the more i-frames you have.
Endurance impacts equip burden as well as stamina in Dark souls 1, so it's important to have enough of that to wear the armor you like. If you don't, lose the armor.
And lastly, invest in your weapon. Find one you like, and stick with it. If you're always switching weapons, you're never really learning the moveset, and, in the early game, you're wasting valueable souls and upgrading materials.
Personally, I liked weapons with reach. If you can get a (great) sword that can thrust, either as a power attack or as a normal attack, you can keep your distance, use your thrusting attack and then move/roll/dodge as necessary.
Lastly, DON'T BE GREEDY. If all you can get is one attack before the opponent counters, take the one attack, evade your opponents and set up for your next opportunity. Patience is truly a virtue.
