Their front legs, joints and jumping down

[LolasPuppet]

I'm wondering how strong bullies' front legs are?

I'm wondering because Lola is starting to get a bit too courageous, she just jumped around 4 feet down - on grass, but still, I kinda panicked. It all happened so fast. I checked her and she seems OK.

What about constantly jumping on and off the couch. Should I worry about that?

Breeder said she has very strong legs, but I'm worried.

 

[RiiSi]

In my opinion if she is more than a year old and her bones have grown normally there should be no trouble.

 

[BruceP]

I have seen posts here of several young bullies injuring their legs jumping down off of things but not so much full grown bullies. Having said that I dont know that it is any more prevalent in bullies than any other young breed.

 

[SunDog]

I had this same concern and posted here awhile back. I think everyone pretty much said not to worry with a dog at least a year-old. Still, I've rearranged some carpets in my house so she has a soft landing from the couch, and lowered our bed.

 

[GatorRay]

I have found that if they are normal bullies and not young pups or seniors, there shouldn't be a problem.

 

[lexterwayne]

We try and not to let ours jump off couch or anything high. Sometimes it's hard to get to them in time

 

[pamela]

beautiful girl-I love that pose on our babies.
I, too have a jumper. I have stairs to get to the bed, try to arrange for soft landing for her, and anything too high, we put something up to stop it. She scares me too. I also will work with Emma to get her to find another way to get on and off, these are dogs of habit, so that can work in our benefit.

 

[LolasPuppet]

@RiiSi, @BruceP, @SunDog, @GatorRay: Unfortunately she's only 8 months old ... Now I'm worried because I let her freely jump on and off our big couch, so she probably does it a few dozen times every day. Should I expect problems in the long-run?

Not the right time, though. An unconventionally hot heat-wave over here right now, for the past week and doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. Couch is one of the rare places where she actually feels good, because it's a bit colder. Dunno what to do now ...

 

[RiiSi]

It would be better not to let bulldogs go down stairs or jump down too much before they're around a year old. It is better to let the growth plates in their joints harden before letting them exersice freely. Didn't her breeder tell you that? It's not certain that it always causes problems, but there is that possibility.

 

[GatorRay]

I would let her on the sofa but maybe be careful when she goes down. Help her down and that sort of thing. Mine (over a year old) are allowed to go up and down other than Gator who has issues that make it unsafe for him.

 

[BruceP]

I wonder if she would use those doggy steps that they sell???

 

[Corlando465]

My guy has doggy steps. I bought the "as seen on TV" kind. We have had them since he was a pup. I had also heard that jumping is not good for them when they are young. He is 8 months now and still uses them to get on and off the couch.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[ChanelnBrutus]

I have seen posts here of several young bullies injuring their legs jumping down off of things but not so much full grown bullies. Having said that I dont know that it is any more prevalent in bullies than any other young breed.

I agree with Bruce....Even as they get older jumping down the wrong way could cause a serious injury...We had to block off the side of our steps as their isnt a wall and instead of Brutus going all the way down he would jump from the 4th step I would rather be safe then sorry and with bullies their joints arent as sturdy lets say as other breeds...

 

[ABEBD]

Hello,

How old is your Bullie? Until they are a year old my opinion and recommendation is to prevent them from jumping or even standing on their back legs to lean up against you. I had a puppy who got hurt as a young puppy but not too bad. I am very cautious and make sure that my g'kids know to not encourage them to jump off the couch or jump up.

After the one year mark, they are generally OK with some reasonable jumping. 4 ft does seem like a bit much.

G'Day~

 

[LolasPuppet]

It would be better not to let bulldogs go down stairs or jump down too much before they're around a year old. It is better to let the growth plates in their joints harden before letting them exersice freely. Didn't her breeder tell you that? It's not certain that it always causes problems, but there is that possibility.

I asked him if I should worry about it (she was 6 months at the time I got her), and he said "she has very strong legs", so I stopped worrying about it.

But he also said I shouldn't worry about her scratching, then she got a hot spot (the scratching was rare and light, though). The breeder seems quite old school, like grandpas who have a "just walk it off" attitude towards kids. Not sure that's the right attitude with bullies ...