How to get my Bullies to go down stairs?

AllieCoop

New member
Jun 8, 2014
14
0
Houston, TX
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Allie Grace and Cooper Jax
My 21w old bullies love to go up stairs but WILL NOT COME DOWN. Right now they are 35 and 40lb so carrying them is only getting more difficult the heavier they get. What suggestions does everyone have to get them to come down... will they just eventually do it or not?

Thanks...
 

bullmama

Owner/Administrator
Staff member
Community Veteran
Jan 28, 2010
24,756
1,251
Tucson, Arizona
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
The Home of the Desert Sky Pack
My advice is to keep carrying them down for as long as you can, until they do it gracefully on their own. They are so front heavy and their bones are still soft and growing, it's actually best not to let them do steps if avoidable. A pain in the butt, but worth it in the long run because if any damage to the joints occurs you may not know it for years. Not the answer you were looking for I know!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

dieMuttivonBifi

Well-known member
May 25, 2013
1,817
178
Germany
Country
from the Philippines but residing in Germany
Bulldog(s) Names
Bifi (beef-ii)
My advice is to keep carrying them down for as long as you can, until they do it gracefully on their own. They are so front heavy and their bones are still soft and growing, it's actually best not to let them do steps if avoidable. A pain in the butt, but worth it in the long run because if any damage to the joints occurs you may not know it for years. Not the answer you were looking for I know!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

:D We only have 6 steps of stairs to our front door, we have to carry our boy who is now a year old and weighs 25 kg (55 lbs) down the stairs 3-4x a day simply because of the reason stated by Lisa. Just this afternoon he surprised me by showing me he can go down the stairs on his own! I was amazed alright but my husband doesn't like it (thinking of the consequences to his bones) so we will continue to carry him, i think, down the stairs for the rest of his life.
 

Davidh

Head Pooper Scooper
Staff member
Mar 21, 2011
13,407
848
Katy, Texas
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
BeBe, Hazel, Lucy Lu, JLO, Hillary, Henri, & Katie
Lisa is right, their growth plates are not hard yet, and permanent joint damage can occur if you let them go down the stairs. The growth plates will be fussed at around a year of age. So I would keep carrying them.
 

Cuddles116

New member
Jan 15, 2013
134
4
Illinois
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Brock & Brink
Both my boys learned to go up and down stairs with training treats. We had a small 3 step section in our old apt to practice on so it wasn't as intimidating and we'd let them see the treat and just hold it down a step and not give it to them until first their front paws touched the next step and then later not until they fully came down a step, and just continued until they got to the bottom where they got a better treat. They were on a leash and we sat at the bottom so we could prevent any slips or spills and occasionally provided a little resistance so they knew not to just go flying forward. Both go up and down now without any issue, and had it down by 6 months.
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
Staff member
Community Veteran
Jul 28, 2011
48,581
3,673
Gilbertsville, PA
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
Chelios (Frenchie), Nitschke (2004-2011) Banks (2005-2014) and Lambeau (2014-2024)
My advice is to keep carrying them down for as long as you can, until they do it gracefully on their own. They are so front heavy and their bones are still soft and growing, it's actually best not to let them do steps if avoidable. A pain in the butt, but worth it in the long run because if any damage to the joints occurs you may not know it for years. Not the answer you were looking for I know!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

is that for up and down or just down?
 

bullmama

Owner/Administrator
Staff member
Community Veteran
Jan 28, 2010
24,756
1,251
Tucson, Arizona
Country
USA
Bulldog(s) Names
The Home of the Desert Sky Pack
is that for up and down or just down?

Good question! This is only my opinion, so I'm not sure if it's right or wrong.

Like an unbalanced scale, that's how bulldog bodies are built. One half is much heavier than the other. So while it's important not to put a slam on the joints and bones from the heavy part of the body by allowing them to go down steps or jump off couches, especially when they are young, I think it's good to develop more muscle in the rear, and climbing steps (as long as they are not too steep) is a good way to help develop nice muscles in the rear. This helps balance out the weight. But as with anything bulldog related, it should be done a little at a time. You certainly would not want to pull any muscles- or worse an ACL !!! from too much at once. If you ever watch a bulldog jump down from something you know what I mean. It's like a slam in the front and then plop with the rear. Going up they are much more graceful. Once they are older and have more skill, and the bones are more solid, you will notice they can go down with more 'Grace'.

Again this is my opinion- I don't know if it's correct or not. If anyone has any further info to add that would be awesome!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Leon van houkje

New member
Mar 17, 2014
284
12
Groningen, North Holland
Country
Holland
Bulldog(s) Names
Leon Van T' Houkje
I also carry Leon up and down our Rottweiler who as passed away walked stairs from the start and later on had a lot of problems with his hips...I don't think I'll let Leon ever walk the stairs because I hated to see my rotty suffer with the pain and want to avoid seeing Leon go through that
 

Jocha25

New member
Feb 28, 2014
256
7
My breeder warned me not to let them go down the stairs as the are front heavy, he has know some flip over on steep steps and they have banged their heads and died. Food go thought isn't it 😥
 

Most Reactions

📰 Latest posts

Members online

No members online now.
Top