Bullies and stairs???

[Gertie's Mom]

I have a question, that may seem silly to some of you, but I really don't know: can Bulldogs go up and down stairs? We have a two story home, but we moved here when our Arrow (our St. Bernard) was about 7 months old. The home we moved from was all on one level, so he'd never dealt with stairs. When we got settled here, he's just been happy with the downstairs. He's never even tried to go upstairs, which was fine with us. We'd heard stairs are hard on giant breed's hips and joints, so we've never encouraged him to go upstairs. But with Gertie I'm unsure as to what to expect. So far she hasn't noticed the stairs either and if we want her upstairs, we carry her up and down. So, should we just have a second downstairs only dog? Or can she learn to go up and down? With her little short legs, I can't imagine her doing it.

 

[SonoftheSea]

Bono never tried to walk on the stairs. He also don't know how to do this. A young dog should never walk on the stairs (hips)
A older (bull)dog could walk on the stairs if he does it in the right way.
Bono never learned using the stairs. Sometimes he tries to take 3 or 4 steps but then he jumps from the 4th step to the floor (not good )

 

[Kikiwhoa21]

Both Chelios && Faith do stairs! When they were little babies they couldn't do the stairs, they were so little they'd fall so i'd carry them up. Probably about a month ago Faith finally started going up the stairs all by herself! We were so proud!! :D We just moved in to an apt on the third floor. So imagine if I had to carry Chelios 65 pounds && a sqirmy 4month old upp 3 flights of stairs EVERY time we went out to pee. Psssh! lol Plus I think it's better for them. More excersise! Our apt. is a loft so we also have stairs in our home. && They love to play on them! Chelios goes crazy && will just run upp && down them for fun playing with his ball. I think it's up to you really if you want Gertie to learn the stairs or not. At first it'll be tough for her being a baby && not ever climbing stairs. Faith used to stop half way for a rest. Or she'd sit down letting me kno.. 'mom carry me i'm tired' lol but now she goes up && down by herself! I dont think its a bad thing.. More exercise for them! I think thats why Chelios is so athletic && muscular! )

 

[TessaAndSamson]

Stairs really aren't very good on their hips and joints. I have a 2 story townhouse. I have a baby gate at the bottom of my stairs to keep Samson from running up and down all day. The dogs stay downstairs until it's time to go to bed at night. When I am hanging out upstairs I'll let them up too because Samson will throw a fit if I don't. I just try to limit the unnecessary use of the stairs.

 

[Gertie's Mom]

I have a gate, not at the stairs, but at the edge of my family room. It keeps Gertie in my family room and kitchen area, so she can't get to the stairs. Eventually I think I'd like her to come upstairs at night. Maybe I'll do what Tessa and Samson suggested and limit her stair climbing, but get her to at least go upstairs on her own when we're going up. It wouldn't be great to have to haul an adult Bullie up and down!

 

[ohiostatebulldogs]

I agree and do the same thing. maybe twice a day dogs are allowed to ravel the stairs!!!

 

[cali~jenn]

I agree with Tessa and Ohiostate. Everythnig in moderation is ok but I would limit it just because of the hip problems that may occur. When we were in our apartment Cutty was able to do the stairs but would go too fast down and made me nervous he would hurt himself so I went in front of him to keep him at my pace. Going up he could do fine but often was too stuborn to come up into the apartment so I had to carry him. lol.

 

[bullmama]

I remember when I went to Lindathedogsmaid's home back in 2002. She had ramps everywhere. Anywhere there was a step, even just a short one. She explained to me that bullies should not go up and down stairs due to their hips. Now, I do allow mine to go up one or two steps, but not a huge amount of them. Chip (bulldog) followed suit and created bully ramps in our backyard in places so they would not be urged to jump.

 

[Libra926]

Vegas and Orion do stairs pretty well. Orion, being a "mini me" bolts up and down them as if it were a racetrack. We have a gate at the top and bottom.....to limit the stair use and to keep them in an area of supervision. Orion tends to play on the stairs.......she will toss a bouncy toy down the stairs then take off after it. She'll take it back to the top and start all over. Once we discovered what she was doing, the baby gate at the top was necessary.

 

[Bella'sMom]

Both Bella and Abby do stairs. However just at night. It isn't that we block them during the day it is just that they want to be with us all the time. So when we go to bed, then they do. Abby is older and her hips aren't what they used to be so she goes much slower up the stairs. Bella got fast once she mastered it. Our entire house is hardwood so the stair coming down if too fast is slippery. Bella has to be very careful.

 

[mammyglicks]

Bear has been going up and down stairs since his legs got long enough. I wouldn't say he walks down them though, it looks like he barely touches a stair he is so fast.

 

[sheshistory]

All of my bullies do stairs without much trouble at all but they usually just go up and down once in a while but it's never been a problem when done in control and in moderation. We also boarded them at my friend's apartment, who lived on the third floor of an apartment complex and didn't have any issues then either, even with Bentley, who had two ACL surgeries.

 

[LisaRN]

Chester will walk up a whole flight of stairs.. but not down. Though he will walk down the 3 steps from my sliding glass door to my patio..and the couple steps from my kitchen out to my breezeway. A week or so ago I held a treat at the bottom of the basement stairs and with my daughter next to him, taking one step at a time.. Chester made it all the way down. The boy will do ANYTHING for food though!

 

[tmaguire]

So, I have a large victorian home for the time being. Both my 2 pugs and my newfoundland do use the stairs. Only at night though. My oldest pug (almost 11) is very unsure of the stairs. She usually likes either to be carried or have someone by her side. Teddy bear (newfie) is also getting to be older and I don't want him going up and down the stairs. He has a habit these days of missing stairs. I am afraid he is going to get hurt. We keep a gate at the bottom of the stairs. At night we all go up together.

We are, however, in the process of buying a 10 acre lot and are going to build a nice big ONE STORY home! I am really excited! My grandmother jokes that I am going to end up with a pug and english bulldog farm!

 

[WrinkledJowels]

My youngest will do a death-defying bunny-hop maneuver down the stairs, propelling himself down in a rhythemic fashion until he crashes at the bottom. Up is no problem at all! The older one can go up and down fine--but it took her a few months to master that!