I remember reading this but can't find it again - is it 12 weeks when puppies are safe to go up and down stairs?
This falls under the category of "it depends". Most advice is to restrict access to stairs until your dog is a year of age. However, that's not always practical. You certainly don't want your puppy charging up and down stairs repeatedly, but once they're too big to carry safely, if there are stairs they have to navigate, they'll have to learn how to do them under their own steam. On lead and slowly is the key.
Oh wow a year, ok. We have a baby gate across the bottom of the stairs but I was hoping he could hang out with me upstairs while I work, with free access to go down if he needed to toilet. That doesn't sound like it'll be happening anytime soon He doesn't have to navigate stairs often, just at bedtime, so we'll just leave things be and carry him for now while he's still light / let him go up and down when he's too big to carry, but only for bed.
They need to learn stairs though and it will likely be easier for them if they start young. I went overboard with the first puppy and the breeders guide of no stairs till 6 months. I even carried puppy up and down the three low stairs from our deck to the ground. Three. Three measley stairs. And I had the stairs blocked off. Jet wasn't big but my Vet was horrified that another client with a Neopolitan Mastiff puppy was doing the same thing. Those are huge dogs, very large puppies and our Vet was afraid the lady would fall and injure herself and the pup. Second time around from the same breeder and she clarified, no, they need to learn stairs, just supervise, help them and don't let them run up and down many times a day. It does help that our house is a side split so the stairs from kitchen to bedroom are only half a level, seven instead of 14 steps.
That sounds like good advice. For now hes still light enough to carry without there being a danger to either of us. When that starts to change (and it probably will do within the next several weeks), we'll have him going up and down carefully on his own. Regular stair usage will be off limits til he's older.
We never really restricted our pups access to stairs. When Tilly and Cooper were small pups we would carry them down stairs and back up, especially if they had to go out at night. As soon as they were able to go up stairs on their own we would follow them up or down. When they were smaller they bunny hopped up, and as they got bigger and stronger walked up. Neither of them ever fell on stairs. By the time they were 3 or 4 months old they had the run of the house at least part of the time, and could go down stairs and out the dog door in the back. When Cooper was 16 weeks she weighed 31# and it would not have been safe to carry her down stairs.
We have five stairs leading from the back door to the patio area, and I carried her up and down until she was 13 weeks. There are also steps outside because we live on a hill and it's all terraced. I know stairs aren't ideal but you have to work with what you've got and hope for the best.
There is only one study on this that I've seen, and the risk of stairs/steps and hip dysplasia is relevant for puppies under 3 months, not older. I carry small pups up and down stairs and steps, but stop when they get heavy. I don't think there is much wrong with a young dog doing steps and stairs - under control, it's quite good exercise (in moderation) and doing steps was part of Charlie's recovery from operations. Like any other exercise for growing joints, not to excess, not repeatedly, and not bounding about madly.
@JulieT, that's reassuring. I have five steps from my porch to the ground and Bessie's been going up and down them plenty. Unfortunately, before 3 months, though I did sometimes carry her that first month just because she was clumsy with them, or when she was tired. She's already 27 lb and I can't see that I can safely carry her up/down much longer.
I wouldn't worry too much about 5 steps. I have a flight of 20 steps up to my house, and with these I did carry with both my pups as long as I could. When they got too heavy, they got treats for pausing every 3rd step - on lead. Now they both stop on every 3rd step even when they are off lead. I have a sore knee and I walk down steps slowly, so I want my dogs to be slow going up and down steps because I never, ever want them to pull me if they are on lead. The 3 steps to my garden though, I just carry puppies when they are tiny - it soon became the case, with both my pups, that they were soon up these 3 steps before I could bend down to pick them up.
Sorry to kind of jump in on this but I have a quick question... Our 910 week old lab doesn't access our stairs however we have two steps on our decking in the garden which he goes up and down... when he has ran he has slipped a couple of times and misjudged the gap between him and the step then limped for a few steps and then been fine.... Our worry is his hips... he is absolutely fine now and maybe he just strained himself a little and shocked himself but should I be concerned? Where Possible we carry him up and down them just to be safe but when he plays he is very quick!
Yeah. I never took the stairs thing seriously either. But I wasn't in a hurry to be chasing him around a new level either. They do what they can when they are ready.
I agree. My pups need to learn to be confident on stairs and steps, so we introduce them early. But moderation and control are the key.
