I need to negotiate some stairs with my puppy. When she was small, it was no problem carrying her, but now she is bigger, I need both hands. As I am less than competent on stairs, I am having difficulty going down, with her in my arms. As she is now 18 weeks old, should she be capable of managing stairs on her own? If not, when should she be able to climb them?
Re: Stairs She'll be more than capable of climbing them, it's preventing it that's the problem! Much like jumping up on the sofa! I believe the thinking is to restrict steps and jumping for the first 12 months whilst their growth plates are still growing and malleable. Unfortunately, most puppies don't know this! Monty's latest trick, as of yesterday, is tearing up the stairs to terrorise the cats. Oh and jumping on/off the sofa like it's an assault course! Bottom line is, I believe, try to restrict it as much as you can for the first year.
Re: Stairs Having two pups, I don't carry them up and down stairs anymore, but I do restrict the amount I do and I've taught (am teaching!) them to do it slowly, rather than at breakneck speed. I think they find it easier to go faster up and down stairs because of the momentum, but I'd rather they took more care of their joints and did it slowly. They are lifted in and out of the car, too. All of these "rules" are about judgement. There's absolutely no point damaging yourself in the process of carrying your puppy on stairs. Just make sure she takes it gently.
Re: Stairs My pup is 6 months and has just started going up and down stairs because my living room is upstairs : I've been carrying her for ages and she's got very heavy so we don't have a choice. I've also now got a bad back!! As snow bunny says you need to weigh it up and if you restrict the stair climbing for when it's totally necessary. I now need a stair gate as Bella will just keep going up and down for fun ;D she was petrified up until recently but it was her doggy friend who showed her the ways recently ( I'd like to think it was my clicker training, but can't take the credit unfortunately..)
Re: Stairs The rule for me is you carry them up/down as long you feel it's safe for you... I'm not sure how old Shelby was when I stopped but she weighted about 18 kg when I said enough. We taught our dogs to climb up slowly + have a stair gate so the dogs the dogs go there only in our companion. With going down is a bit different story for us as Barney is not allowed to go by himself - we've got a special harness to lift his front as he's dysplastic.
Re: Stairs Thanks folks. Just a bit concerned I might do her some damage, as I cannot do a proper two handed dog lift, when going down stairs. Might have to try going down backwards!
Re: Stairs We are getting our new puppy in a few weeks. I'm just wondering about how to let her access the garden, and when she will be able to go out independently. The kitchen door (we spend most of our time in here, and her crate will be in here) leads straight onto decking, and then has 3 shallow steps down to the grass (easiest access). The alternative route is through the utility room and down two inside shallow steps, but would also involve getting the key from the peg and into the lock. It might be the difference between an accident or not. I imagine for the first few weeks (months?) at least we will always go out with her to help her toilet train and as part of recall and other training. However am wondering what risk the stairs will have as she gets too big to carry/ she wants to go out when I am working - especially because we have a 2 feet drop from the decking to the grass. She wouldnt hurt herself, but I wonder what the impact would be on her joints if she decided to make a jump. Also do young dogs cope with the slippyness of decking in the rain? Perhaps it would be better to use the Utility room door....
Re: Stairs It's best not to allow your puppy to come and go as she pleases with regards to toilet training and having an open door - this can lead to problems when the door is closed and she doesn't know how to deal with it, so she may just go on the floor. I think it was Lou that had this issue with Bob (?) and it prolonged the toilet training. As for the steps, can you make a ramp for the short term, until she's grown? It's best to minimise all impacts like stairs, jumping in and out of cars etc as long as you possibly can. I assume you'll be socialising her (taking her out and about) before she's finished her final vaccinations, so you'll be carrying her then, anyway, until she's about 12/13 weeks of age. They do get a bit heavy by that time, but the good news is that walking for 20 minutes with a big lump of a puppy will make carrying her down a couple of steps seem like a doddle
Re: Stairs Thanks again Snowbunny! How lucky am I you're online Mmmm not sure about a ramp - will think about that one. Yes will definately be taking her out, and absolutely will be escorting her into the garden for the time being - had assumed at least till she was totally toilet trained. I have bought a dog rucksack - suspect I will be the laughing stock of the neighbourhood, but seemed like worth a go as it will keep my hands free and hopefully support my back a little. We saw her at the weekend and she's still pretty tiny - but no idea how big she'll be by the time we get her at 9 weeks - or indeed by 12/13 weeks. My worry about the steps is that she'll choose to use them herself - but if I'm supervising that should be ok!
Re: Stairs Well, Tara has sorted it out herself. Saturday, she vanished, and was found at the top of the stairs, whimpering as she could not get down! Sunday, she was up and down all day. Today the stair gate is place, so she can only use the stairs at bedtime and getting up, when we say so. Dead easy, in the end!
Re: Stairs I carried Charlie up and down the three steps to the garden - until he got too slippery and fast and would just bound up and down them. I think that was when he was about 12 weeks. I carried him up flights of steps and stairs until he was about 4.5 months, when he was such a heavy lump I couldn't manage any longer. OH then carried him until about 5 months and after that he had to do them himself. I think you just have to do what you can, so long as it's practical to do so. Best of luck with the new puppy!
Re: Stairs Thanks Julie Am finding that I'm carrying her most of the time when it's just the two of us - though sometimes she catches me up when I've dashed back in for a poo bag or treat, and sometimes she decides she's had enough of the cold scottish air before I have. But when the kids are in the garden with her it's a different story. I wonder if I need to make it mandatory or else they can't play outside with her without me carrying her in and out.
Re: Stairs I'm amazed at all these stoic people carrying near 20kg dogs up and down stairs. I actually think that that is dangerous. What if you fell? And your backs...ouch!!! I know my back wouldn't tolerate it. I'd use gates and do stair trips at a walk and on lead, teaching the dog to pause on cue for a treat. It's the speed and impact that is an issue for joints, not stairs per se. Walking up or down stairs is not a problem, as long as the pup is tall enough to go from one step to the other and is prevented from rushing or tumbling (lead on harness would do the trick). We have no stairs in our house so I had to go out to public buildings to teach Obi to use stairs nice and slowly.
Re: Stairs The only time Bouncer is aloud up the stairs is if its his bathtime, he now realises this so wont go up them. Unfortunately I have to carry him up to the bath now. Thats not that easy for me to carry a 26kg struggling pup.
Finley is 10 weeks old. He has become a real adventurer and confident over the last couple of days. Our garden is large and impossible to restrict his movements but he has taken to climbing the concrete steps and stone walls. I follow Pippas rules about not chasing and I dare not shout come because he would do a commando jump and land awkwardly. I realised this after he did this yesterday. I’m not sure what to do to keep him safe. He’s always supervised.
I don't know how many steps or walls you have, but sometimes you can lay a piece of plywood over steps to make them into a ramp instead - and similar leaning up against walls. If that's not possible, then you might need to keep him on lead in the yard and just use it to toilet in - taking him out elsewhere for exercise and training - until he gets older.
I never heard about keeping puppies away from stairs until we got our lab mix in January. We have a lot of stairs, inside and outside of our house. I tried carrying our puppy up and down the steps for about a month, until I stumbled and fell trying to carry the squirming pup. I sprained my ankle and quit carrying her on steps after that. I’m in my mid-60s and don’t need any broken bones. We did block off our steps to the second floor for a while, but quit that after talking to our vet. He said not to worry about it and I trust his judgment.
