Puppy wont go down stairs!!

Kerriebaby

Animals in the wild young and old go up steps or high places with no trouble

Yes, but years of selective breeding, has changed the way that many pet dogs are, so whilst a "wolf shaped" dog maybe able to leap, run fast etc, those who have odd shaped legs/hips etc may find these things difficult. Of course in breeds you have individuals who are able to do the things that "as a breed" they shouldnt

( does that make sense? havent had a cuppa yet! )

Kimberley

Kerriebaby wrote: »

Yes, but years of selective breeding, has changed the way that many pet dogs are, so whilst a "wolf shaped" dog maybe able to leap, run fast etc, those who have odd shaped legs/hips etc may find these things difficult. Of course in breeds you have individuals who are able to do the things that "as a breed" they shouldnt

( does that make sense? havent had a cuppa yet! )

Yes but we are talking about going up and downstairs and until Suki or anyone else gives me some facts about this then she can't really just come on and say what I said was a dreadful and dangerous thing to say. As I said before if I was wrong to tell the OP to leave the pup to go up and downstairs in his own time then i'll apologise.

Hintza

Eek the children never had stair gates (I spent time teaching them how to tackle stairs and they only ever fell down once) and the dog certainly wouldn't either.

To me it would be a win if the dog didn't go upstairs...lol

foreign_correspondent

dO YOUREALLY NEED THE DOG TO GO UP AND DOWN STAIRS?? i ALWAYS TRAIN MY DOGS THAT UPSTAIRS IS OUT OF BOUNDS - SOME DOGS STRUGGLE TO STAIRS SAFELY, AND ARE AT RISK OF INJURING THEIR BACK, ESPECIALLLY ONES WITH SHORT LEGS AND LONG BACKS LKE DASCHUNDS AND CORGIS

SORRY CAPS LOCK ON ACCIDENTALLY AND CANNOT BE BOTHERED TO RETYPE BUT I AM NOT SHOUTING!!

Notsosharp

suki1964 wrote: »

Now thats just pure childish as you know it is.

I have to say I agree with Kimberly here. I don't know that much about dogs but I have been around them all my life including puppies and I think not to let them go down the stairs because you are worried about hip dysplasia etc is being just a wee bit over zealous tbh, same as the advice not to walk a puppy for longer than 15 mins. My mum had two springer pups and both of them went for long walks as soon as they were vaccinated and one is now 12 years old and showing no signs of joint problems......the other is coming up for three and he is fine too. As is Mums alsation that was taken for long walks from an early age. Yes she is limping now but only because she broke her leg, nothing to do with joint problems etc.

If you spend too much time worrying about what might happen then you do run the risk of mollycoddling your dog and of it being afraid to do anything.

The other thing was I thought hip dysplasia was inherited and that was why certain breeds of dogs were screened for them.

If you stop pups doing all these things when they are younger then they will probably won't be capable/too afraid to do it when they are old enough.

I think the pup shouldn't be forced to come down the stairs if it doesn't want to because that will just make a scary situation worse but I do think that its like a child in a way and will eventually learn to do it itself but it has to be able to try these things.

moomin5

Kimberley wrote: »

Anything in the house could be dangerous to a dog, jumping on a chair can. I will say I'm wrong if I were given proof, but someone can't tell me that what I said was a dangerous and dreadful advice when they haven't shown me any evidence of this. Animals in the wild young and old go up steps or high places with no trouble.

It's getting a bit OTT with all this you can't do this or you can't do that or if your kid falls over you must put a plaster on a graze etc

Dogs and pups have been for years going up and downstairs sleeping in bedrooms etc. There are risks in everything you do these days.

I'm not really sure why you've quoted my post when it wasn't me that said it was dangerous

My dogs do go up & down the stairs a couple times a day and as they are happy doing this i doubt it will cause any issues. However with some smaller dogs or pups that are still a bit clumsy, then it might strain them but i'm sure you'd notice if they didn't want to do stairs or seemed to be finding it awkward/difficult.

glitterycloud

I try to stop my almost 8 mth old lab puppy from going up and down but he always bolts as soon as the door is opened (we have a door that leads to the stairs)
I do understand about not letting puppies use the stairs but I can not always stop him quick enough so I don't worry about it. As other posters have said it can (not sure that it always does) harm a puppies legs. Do your own research or ask your vet who will be able to give accurate advice.

Kimberley

moomin5 wrote: »

I'm not really sure why you've quoted my post when it wasn't me that said it was dangerous

.

Sorry that wasn't a dig at your post.

supermezzo

From the Kennel club website;
Out of bounds’ areas
It is strongly recommended that you keep your puppy away from the stairs and steep drops, as running up and down stairs can damage a puppy’s delicate growth plates, causing longterm damage. Even jumping off chairs, sofas and beds can cause unnecessary damage, and puppies are best kept off these. A suitable gate at the bottom of the staircase should prevent this. You should also lift them in and out of cars, and be careful not to play fetch games on slippery floors, or encourage them to jump about or twist themselves, for the same reason.

Errata

Useful information, but when does a puppy become an adult ? How could a very young puppy be kept safe when it's litter mates are playing rough and tumble with it an they're all jumping over each other, wrestling and twisting and chasing each other and losing their footing? And in my experience, the girls are dragging the boys around by their willies?