Hello everyone! I’ve read through older posts in efforts not to be repeating questions, but when I’ve gone back to reread things I can no longer find them and not sure if I’ve dreamt things or what...so please forgive me if this is all repetitive... 1. My apartment has all wood or tile floors, except for the bedroom which my 12 week old girl is not allowed to go into (except for bed...she does sleep with me but I carry her.). We spend most of our time in the living room with the kitchen and dining area gated off. I had a rug down in the living room but took it up because she kept peeing on it (even though I watch her like a hawk and take her out every hour) and she was obsessed with chewing at one of the corners. So then after reading more about hip dysphasia and watching her run around and play and sliding around I got worried about her safety, so I put the rug back down. When it was up I felt like I was making some progress on potty training, but now I felt like it’s regressed, and she’s now become obsessed with that corner she had gotten unraveled (redirecting her with her chew toys is all I do now and it’s driving me nuts). Now I want to put the carpet back up....sigh. Without it though, she slides around a lot..like when she’s sitting and looking at me with her cute eyes her butt slides back. It’s cute but I’m wondering if this could be bad on her joints? I know stairs are...but curious about hard floors... 2. And speaking of stairs...I’m on the third floor. I’ve been carrying her but recently she’s really been wanting to walk them and will sometimes squirm around. Now that she’s bigger I worry about her jumping out of my arms and one or both of us getting hurt so I’ve been letting her walk them the last few days. I think I read somewhere that it’s ok if they do stairs as long as they go really slow. Is that true or did I dream that? I also recall reading somewhere that it’s really bad if they do a “bunny hop” going up the stairs. I’ve noticed she will sometimes do that but I’m having a hard time to get her not to. After reading more I think I’m going to start carrying her again. I had spine surgery 4 years ago though so I know I’m not going to be able to do it much longer, so if anyone has any tips or tricks that would be helpful. I wasn’t aware of the stair issue and labs until after I got her. Her parents both cleared the test and I have their certificates. I’m stuck living where I’m at for one more year...I don’t want to hurt my baby by having her do steps but I don’t want to get hurt either . We do start puppy classes in a week so I plan on asking the trainer, but want to start working on all this now. I’d love suggestions if you have some!!
I can't see hard wood floors being anymore damaging than concrete or tarmac foothpaths. I've also heard that steps are bad for puppies (we wouldn't let our boy do steps until he was a few months old, and then only slowly). Good luck with everything
We also have hardwood floors. A lot of people here do. I think the issue is more if they are walked for far too long on hard surfaces on lead (so they cant rest) that is bad for their growing bones. This is unlikely to happen in your house! We have lots of internal stairs at home (terrace/townhouse) and carry our boy at the moment. We'll continue to do so until he is too big. I would carry her for as long as you safely can. Thats the trick really, because it sounds like she is quite squirmy! There's no perfect answer. Ideally you would carry her for longer, but it is better for her to do the stairs with your supervision than it is for one or both of you to have a fall and injure yourselves.
Hardwood/tiled floors are bad for puppy joints because they slip and slide when running around and don't have good traction when walking. Recomnendation is often to put down rubber mats or something similar on 'walking' routes or play areas to help protect puppies joints. Advice with stairs is to carry to help protect the growing joints. Yes puppies need to learn to go up and down stairs safely and allowed to use stairs but it should be just a few steps at a time. Steps from a 3rd floor for me would be far too many on a daily basis at 12 weeks old, even more so when it's needed so frequently while toilet training. I'm not sure of a solution for you, there are carrying harnesses available but you have the potential of a squirming pup still causing problems
We have a rug down in the living room and our 13/14 week old girl does exactly the same (chewing the corner!) although she has got a lot better recently. We kept it down and persevered as when she jumps off the sofa she slides as she lands and this can't be any good for her leg joints!. Majority of moving around time is spent on the back lawn, so a rug in the living room is a good compromise. We have had to take it uo a few times when she is in "crock mode" but not recently.
We also have wood and tile floors. We bought a few cheap mats to put in larger areas and near corners so when he races around corners he doesnt slip. But to be honest I felt there was nothing more we could do. I spoke with our vet and our breeder and they both said minimising risk to joints is important but also there is only so much you can do. Lots of puppies never slip and slide and have parents with perfect hip scores and they get dysplasia anyway. Lots of puppies have terrible hip genetics and environmental circumstances and they grow up without hip problems. You do what you can. We bought a ramp for outdoirs as there are 6 steps from our house back door to our garden. By 16 weeks old pup refuses to use it. Goes up and down next to it.
Personally, I would put non-slip mats down. I see how adult Coco slips on the wood floors at the outlaws, it's not good.
I agree with Sue and JoJo - if you like your carpet, take it up and put it away until after house training is complete. Think about something non-slip. Perhaps even some fetching non-slip vet-bed in the short term to use as rugs, or just a cheap carpet with some non-slip backing. You really do need to protect the developing joints. And are you making sure you are cleaning up wee with a non-ammonia based cleaner such as Simple Solution, otherwise the wee patch will be an attraction.
