Hello, The wife and I have our hearts set on getting a show type Labrador puppy but we are a bit worried about one thing. We have a question to ask...Our house has steps to climb to get to our front door (14 steps to be exact) and we are worried about the show type Labrador's bones/hips when older getting up and down the steps! They are not particularly steep steps, is this going to be a problem or not please?? Thank you
Re: Labrador's bones/hips Hi and welcome The steps could be a problem for a young pup as well as an older dog. Could you make a removable ramp you could use at all? Maybe out of wood or something similar?
Re: Labrador's bones/hips My house in Cornwall has 20 steps up to it. I carried my pup at first, then OH carried him, then I installed a zig zag path in the garden. Now, he does the steps - always on a lead, and always steadily. Lots of people have labradors that have to do steps, 14 steps is no more than a dog would do going up and down stairs inside and very many dogs do that their whole lives (my dog does it once a day but many people do not restrict their dog from going upstairs). In terms of coping when a dog gets older, there are things that can help. For example, you can buy a harness that allows you to give your dog a bit of a hand if he finds steps a bit tough and so on. I personally wouldn't worry about this, particularly if you have back garden or yard that you can access without steps.
Re: Labrador's bones/hips I would carry a puppy up and down and then do it on lead when too big to carry, teaching a slow ascent/descent with pauses on the way for a treat. Do always encourage him/her to walk if only because a running dog on stairs is dangerous to humans also on the stairs (I've been knocked down a flight or stairs by a Labrador :). You should have no problems with it till your dog is quite old (and then you can use a sling to help his back end if you need to, but that is many years off so don't worry about it). Show line dogs are no more likely to have hip problems than working line. Just choose a pup from parents with low hip scores and 0:0 elbow scores and keep your dog slim
Re: Labrador's bones/hips Thanks for the welcome. Ok I understand about carrying a puppy down/up stairs, until what age please before their bones have developed enough?
Re: Labrador's bones/hips Well, it won't be long at all before the pup is too heavy, so you'll pretty quickly (within weeks) have to move to doing it on lead. That will be fine though. Just teach him to do it slowly, rewarding with treats for slow and careful. Bones don't stop growing/developing till round about a year of age. That is not a problem though. Until that age you want to avoid running on stairs and jumping things but that's an issue we all have to manage, regardless of how our houses are configured
Re: Labrador's bones/hips [quote author=max link=topic=7355.msg101966#msg101966 date=1408129039] until what age please before their bones have developed enough? [/quote] It's not really possible to say - most people have some restrictions in place (eg jumping, very long periods of exercise etc) until grow plates have closed (around a year) but it becomes impossible to carry a labrador up and down steps and stairs long before that. I mostly gave up carrying my pup around 4 months, my OH carried on a bit longer, but by 5 months all we were still doing was lifting the dog in and out of the car.
Re: Labrador's bones/hips If your hearts are set on a show Lab then there's no reason why it shouldnt have a long and active life if you take care of it. Get one with the lowest possible hip & elbow scores from its parents as this will give it the best chance of inheriting good joints. Be very careful with it for its first 12-15 months: no running up and down steps or jumping. Take it up and down the steps on a lead, or stay in front of it so it cant run. Throughout its life keep its weight down to try to manage wear and tear on its joints.
Re: Labrador's bones/hips Hi Max - nothing to add, just my welcome to the forum! jac and Lilly (4 yr old black girl)
Re: Labrador's bones/hips Hello,there,welcome to the Forum from Dexter and I,our 2 year old yellow lab Angela x
Re: Labrador's bones/hips Welcome from me and Pongo - eight months old yellow lab, very much the stocky show type! I'm not an example of good practice - our house doesn't have steps, but our garden is on a 3:1 hillside with terraces, so ever since Pongo arrived he has delighted in throwing himself down these ridiculous slopes and hoolying around with death-defying leaps off terraces. No way we could stop him (and it is his purest delight) so we've just concentrated on helping him grow strong muscles to support the exercise and reduce risk of strain purely on the frame and joints. I'm pretty sure it is not the best thing for him, but quite unavoidable - so we do the best we can. You are obviously giving a lot of thought to this and you are going to be caring and thoughtful owners - so I think any puppy would be lucky to have you as his humans, steps or no steps! Looking forward to sharing stories with you!
Re: Labrador's bones/hips Hello and welcome! Since you are giving so much thought to this, I am sure you'll be good and careful owners and will take the best possible care of your dog. Feel free to ask any questions!
Re: Labrador's bones/hips Hi and warm welcome from me and meg my 14 year old yellow lab. I've got 4 steps leading to house and meg skips up them no problem. Having said that we have been going to hydrotherapy for the past 5 or 6 years because of hip dysplasia and OCD, it's kept her really active.
Re: Labrador's bones/hips [quote author=Oberon link=topic=7355.msg101968#msg101968 date=1408129379] Well, it won't be long at all before the pup is too heavy, so you'll pretty quickly (within weeks) have to move to doing it on lead. [/quote] Yes - Gypsy is getting too heavy to carry already (13 weeks)
Re: Labrador's bones/hips The lowest possible hip score is also 0:0. One number is for one hip and the other number for the other hip. The scales used for hips and elbows are different though. In all cases lower scores are better. Hip scores go up to 53 for each hip, with a combined possible total of 106. Hips with scores like that would be unbelievably bad. The breed average for a combined total score is closer to 12 (in Australia anyway, not sure about UK). You want parents that have scores lower than the breed average in your country, and that are roughly even on both sides. So, 5:5 is better than 0:10. Personally I'd be looking for a dog that has scores under 5 on each side. As low as possible, basically. With elbows the max score for one elbow is 3. So 3:3 is the worst you can get. As the scale is small an elbow score of 1 is actually not great at all. I'd absolutely require both parents to have 0:0 elbow scores. Hope that makes sense
