stairs....

[erniesmom]

I have read a bit about avoiding stairs with bulldogs due to their hips. We have a two story house. Right now Ernie has not attempted the stairs to the second floor. He will only do the stairs off of the deck . He sleeps in a crate in our room and we carry him up and down the stairs once a day(bed and morning). He is getting big and I am pretty sure that will be hard for me to do soon. Should I teach him the stairs now and encourage it while he is young(15 weeks) or should I discourage the stairs altogether and have him sleep in his crate downstairs?
I have a ramp for my car...do your dogs sleep in your bed and if so do you use pet stairs?

 

[Henry]

Our boy "bunny hops" his way up the stairs. We taught him to go down the staircase when he was 10 weeks so he wouldn't develop a fear of it. He goes very slow, taking his time with each step. I never rush him. I praised and rewarded him for taking each step slowly. I discouraged him from wanting to move too quickly. I never allow him to run up/down the steps. For the most part, and until I can't lift him anymore, I still carry him up and down the stairs. I hope to be able to do this until he is done growing, to help prevent any injuries to his limbs. There will eventually come a day when I can't carry him anymore (for being too heavy), but at least he will have learned to do it on his own slowly, not jumping or running and without fear.

If your boy is eventually going to use the stairs because it is unavoidable for him, I think you should teach him now, so he doesn't develop a fear of it and is given the chance to learn the proper way to walk up and down and not run or jump.

 

[2BullyMama]

I know there is a time period to try and avoid a lot of stairs, but i am not sure of it.... [MENTION=2071]Davidh[/MENTION] , [MENTION=1714]Sherry[/MENTION] may be able to give you the correct info.


My pups sleep in bed with us, we have a bench at the foot of the bed that they use to get up in bed. However, they do not get in bed till they are 'invited'. Every night, there is a routine/order of who and when they get in the bed.

 

[Sherry]

It all depends on the length of the legs and the height of the stairs. Is your puppy built to take on the stairs, it's not good for them to be encouraged, IMO if they aren't ready don't force. They can fall very easily , jarring the joints, jumping for instance can do lots of joint damage even down the road. But while the bones are still growing, best to play it safe.

 

[Davidh]

It's more for the bones, by the joints. When they are young they are not fussed or hardened yet. They are called growth plates. When they jump off things or go down stairs, it can affect the way these growth plates will fuss together, and they can be damaged. Rule of thumb is let them get 1 year of age so the growth plates totally harden before they are allowed to jump off things or go down stairs.

 

[JeannieCO]

Our house is all stairs, lower level and it's a two story so there was no option, they had to learn to do stairs. Wilson does the bunny hop down and will go to the left for 2 or 3 steps and then to the right for another 2 or 3. Emma, well it's straight down for her and she goes down with speed. Teach him how to do the stairs now and just watch him close while he's young as bulldogs, not all, can be a bit top heavy. I have a couple of videos, just watched them yesterday too. Here's Emma and Wilson.

Wilson (he was around 1 then, he just turned 2)

Emma (she was only 4 months old here)

Be sure to watch them so they don't tumble like here. It's funny but she could have hurt herself too. I'd recommend being in front of them when they're coming down until they're a bit bigger than here.

to EBN too.

 

[ChrisRN]

We had to teach Mabel to do stairs when we got her. I always stayed in front of her when she came down. Now she's a pro.

 

[Ftse 100]

We too live in a two storey house and I worry about Ftse with the stairs so I have a babys gate at the bottom, he probably could get up and down but my pug did fall down a couple of times when he was alive.

 

[lovemydog]

Hip and Joint, that's my concern too. Before we built a ramp, we used the balcony exit to the backyard. One night, dark and cold, he was 3 months old, light enough to carry him down, wrong steps, twisted my ankle, held him so tight that I didn't drop him When he was 6 months old, way too heavy for me, eventhough there's only four steps to the garage and then backyard, we built a ramp for him. Seeing all my friends' dogs struggle to stand up, it worth that. Now he's 2 yrs old, he can use the balcony stairs to the backyard if he prefer to, but he never go to the basement as we told him not to. One time, hit by tornado (don't worry, we have a concrete house), we had to relocate to the basement, Angus was so scare that he gripped the carpet and wouldn't let go. My husband had to hold him tight and slide to the basement. It was funny...

 

[sunkissedpr1ncs]

Barkley is 5 months old now and we got him about 5 weeks ago. We live on the 3rd story of our apt building so he has to go up and down the stairs to go potty. At first we carried him up and down and never thought he would learn to use the stairs but now he is a pro! He runs down all the stairs (sometimes he gets too excited and gets going to fast and skids down!)...He's a little slower going up them and I feel bad for the little (big) guy! However, we will be moving in August and are definitely getting a place without stairs!!

 

[Leatherneck]

My guys are over 1 year and I can't get them to go up stairs. They go/down the 3 outdoor steps to get in the yard, but in the house they just stare. I tried enticing them with treats and toys, and they will gladly stretch as far as they can, but aren't keen on climbing. Gomer did get his front paws on the fourth stair and rear paws on the second. We also have stairway to the basement. They will stand at the top and look down like it's a deep dark hole. I do hope to eventually get them comfortable going up and down.

 

[luseaann]

When we first got Liz we lived in the basement with her. The cats thought it was awesome that we bought them an entire house just for them. We taught Liz to use the stairs to go outside. Eventually she started following me upstairs. Now we all live upstairs. Amy learned the stairs from Liz. Both ladies run up and down all day long. We have pet doors. Liz goes a few steps then looks to see if we are following. Amy looks like a Slinky, remember them?