My Labrador puppy is now seven months old. I do everything I can to protect his hips- restrict his exercise, carry him up and down the stairs, lift him in and out of the car and stop him jumping into the furniture. He has never shown any signs of any problems, he had a six month check up at the vets and they said everything was fine. Thing is, as he's getting bigger it's starting to effect my enjoyment of him. I want to of course do everything I can to protect him, but how much of it is over protective? The restricted exercise is not so much of a problem, however do I need to worry if he's had his walk but then a friend brings a dog round and they play all evening as well? (I do worry watching him play with other dogs cause they can throw each other around!) What I would really love is for him to be able to follow me up and down the stairs? He is getting a bit big to carry plus he does not like it anymore and I want to be able to just get on without having to worry about leaving him downstairs. Could I start to introduce the stairs yet? Sorry for the extra long post!
Don't worry , re the playing with another dog, it doesn't count ! The five minute rule isn't set in stone either , its just a guide , but general play outside or indoors isn't part of it . Well done on being so careful , charging up and down stairs can create problems with joints but as long as he isn't running up and down several times a day , he should be fine to take himself up and down, if he really needs to ! Maybe use a baby gate , so that he is a little restricted for a while longer and only allow him to use the stairs a couple of times a day ? I don't think you are being over protective at all , just being responsible x
Mine is only 11 weeks old and we have had to put a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs as he kept on racing up given the chance. He only did it 3 or 4 times but couldn't work out how to get back down. I wouldn't be carrying a 7 month old Lab. Your poor back! If you really need him with you let him walk himself. He may not actually want to go up; not all dogs like the stairs.
Here is a good article - https://www.thelabradorsite.com/labrador-puppy-exercise-how-much-is-too-much/
Oh, I do understand how you are feeling, the worry that our pups may hurt themselves with too much exercise... And I also understand the feeling that it is affecting your enjoyment of activities with him, because you are worrying... Try to stop yourself worrying too much; he also needs to play and run around with other dogs, both to strengthen his muscles and also to practice his social skills. If the playing gets too rough, you can always step in and stop it (I do this on occasions if I think things are getting too physical). But, you must STOP carrying him up and down the stairs, before you hurt your back or fall over!!! As Kate said, a couple of times up and down the stairs a day is not going to hurt him at his age. I still use a baby gate to stop my 10-month-old following me up and down all day long, but he is allowed to use the stairs down to the back entrance to the garden, for instance.
Thanks for the link to the article; it covers the subject very well. Our 4 year old lab has hip and elbow dysplasia (he is the second oldest); he grew too fast and I allowed him to go up the stairs at his pleasure AND allowed him to play with our son's dog who played very aggressively. His parents were both certified to the U.S. standard of good and excellent hips and normal elbows between them so I was shocked that he was diagnosed at 10 months with Hip dysplasia and not so much shocked when diagnosed at 18 months with elbow. And then I was dismayed to find that I had contributed to it through his environment. Lesson learned...big time. We now carry pups (we have an 8 month old and two three-year olds) upstairs and down (for bedtime) till the age of 12 weeks or until we can no longer feel safe carrying them down our 100 plus year old staircase due to their weight and size. From then until two, there is a baby gate placed there during the day, and they are restricted to our bedroom or crated while we sleep. No running up or down the stairs is allowed. In the beginning, four of our five showed no inclination to run up however at about 8 months, when they suddenly realize they can do it, they start to run up. We leash them for however long it takes to get them to understand that walking is the required way to go up and down. Our two three-year olds have both been certified with excellent hips and normal elbows. As for exercise, I also walked Angus too much; we were regular RV'ers and we walked him through parks and on sight seeing trips far too early. We now restrict on leash walks to the 5 minute rule with our puppies and do enough retrieve training to lay the groundwork but limit retrieves to age appropriate distances and repeats. Lots of free play is allowed under supervision; basically we discourage too much body contact ("no leg" commands when one goes for the other's leg with their mouth and so on). And we follow all free play with a two hour forced rest, in crates in the early days but now with a "quiet time" command where all find a comfy spot to lay down. Again, both our three-year olds have been certified excellent hips and normal elbows.... I do not allow our Labs - even our three-year olds - to play with our son's dog at all; she doesn't live with us so when visits are made, they are restricted inside together where their play is more gentle or out on leash to walk a bit and do their business. No amount of training ever taught her to not engage in free play outside that sent the other dogs rolling and voicing the ouch of the roll. This all sounds excessive perhaps, but our dogs are well muscled with this regular routine of free play and forced exercise always followed by a forced rest. And when I am tempted to be less concerned with our eight month old and lighten up a bit, our Angus will wake up stiff and arthritic at age four to remind me that it is a necessary thing to do.
I WOULD ASK A QUESTION.... Are we talking about Labradors without breeder guarantee of no hip dysplasia in at least three generations back? My dog has a three year guarantee of no hip issues, which is long enough for the vet to see it. Of course, no one is returning their puppy after three years, but after having it proved with an x-ray, my breeder is required in the contract to return the $1200 fee. My breeder said that the puppy should be allowed to climb stairs at 3 months as long as he is not jumping down three steps, or hopping up two steps. I’m wondering if we are talking about Labs where people don’t know the background or are Not registered members of the breed.
@zarathu From this article - https://www.thelabradorsite.com/hip-dysplasia-in-dogs/ “Causes of hip dysplasia are not limited to the inherited factor either. They have an environmental influence, which means that some dogs who could have suffered from hip dysplasia never show signs, and others with a limited likelihood go on to have extensive problems. Other causes include diet, regularity of feeding, pelvic muscle mass, exercise and weight.” .
I understand this, but its not the answer to my question. My dog has an unconditional 3 year warranty on hip dysplasia which can be seed at 2 years if its going to develop. I’m assuming that 99% of those who have this concern, are owners who don’t know about the ancestry of their dog? No offense but when one includes everything that happens to the dog as a possible cause, it doesn’t answer a question. And one might as well just let the dog be a dog.
I used to walk with a vet who had Labradors and he believed Labs should be exercised when young (not exhausted!) as he felt there should be a build up of muscle around the hip joint. I am not sure that a guarantee can be given re hip dysplasia as parents with excellent hip scores can possibly produce the odd puppy with high scores.
However.... that may be.... but I have such a guarantee---for three years, unconditionally, with either a return(which no one will do) or a refund of the cost($1200). So this isn’t hypothetical, I have such a guarantee that is in fact given by this breeder. The excellent scores go back to the great grandparents, not just the parents.
You can let a dog be a dog without overdoing the exercise or stairs. I raise Guide Dog pups. They bring up 1,400 pups every year. They adhere to the cautious theme of exercise in the links I gave. This doesn’t mean no exercise, it means sensible exercise. There’s no way they would do that without good reason. .
The guarantee isn’t no a hip dysplasia guarantee, it’s a money back if the dog gets hip dysplasia - not the same thing at all. .
I don't really understand what the guarantee has to do with the risk of hip dysplaysia? Yes you get your money back - which would help with the vetinary costs which is great. But what about if you overdo it with your pup then they develop hip displaysia at 4? Your guarantee hasn't helped anything then. It's not about knowing the history or anything, there's pups on this forum that had really good hip scores etc who developed issues and I'm assuming some with worse ones who haven't. It's about trying to be a responsible owner who protects their pup from the risks.
Thank you everybody for your kind words and helpful encouragement! @Aisling Labs im sorry to hear about Angus, does he manage okay? I'm not sure what I think of the guarantee thing. A breeder can't actually guarantee against hip dyplasia, and as you said you wouldn't return the dog so yes you might get money towards vet costs but you also do by having insurance? You still have a dog with bad hips so it wouldn't make me any less worried I don't think.
I taught Harley to walk 'nicely' up and downstairs from a young age as I have spinal injuries so couldn't lift her after she was 12weeks old. I would put her on lead and walk up and down stairs slowly, treating her for being calm. I did limit how much she went up and down stairs u til she was 1, but once she knew how to walk up nicely I took the lead off and she only came upstairs if I was up there. She is now 4 years old and walks nicely up and down stairs.
My last Lab had both hip and elbow dysplasia, despite having a 5 generation pedigree with clean lines. It may have been "just one of those things" but I am keeping new pup on a more restricted diet, as the last one grew very quickly. We may not have been careful enough with his early exercise either - through ignorance - but stairs were not a factor. Caspar is on more limited exercise, but it is hard to fight the nature of the pup. He jumps! He was in the garden yesterday so that I could actually sit down to eat lunch and I could see his head and shoulders rising above the frame of the window, like a yoyo, as he was trying to reach the lower branches of a tree. Am I to put lead bootees on him? He is not outside alone for long and I always distract him away from unwanted activities, but still...!
Having a warranty doesn't prevent dysplasia and suggesting that if you haven't got such a warranty on your dog you don't know the ancestry of your dog is a very wrong assumption. Have you considered that it is not the norm to give 'warranties in other countries. That owners might have an ancestry with a properly registered pup with parents, grandparents etc all fully tested. Dysplasia can have many causes, some if which are probably environmentally linked and some hereditary - how can you prove one against the other as there are no genetic tests available? Dysplasia can appear at any age, and just because it isn't seen at 2 doesn't mean it won't appear at some point in the future. I have a dog with dysplasia, and no I didn't have a 'warranty' but I have a full genealogy for her and can trace her ancestry back to the first chocolate dog recorded at the Duke of Buccleuch's kennel
To be honest , I haven't ever heard of a guarantee being issued here in the UK , and like @Jojo83 , my dog came with full pedigree going back some numerous generations , which is the norm here . I also got to see the health records of both parents , hip scores and eye tests , again the norm here . However , regardless of good scoring parentage , this is certainly no guarantee that the offspring will not be an unlucky pup who develops HD , it lessens the odds but that's all .
How does a 3 year warranty work? The breeder will take your pup back if it develops HD at 2yrs 11months?
