# puppies and the stairs



## Naira (Jan 9, 2015)

I think his joints will be just fine going up and down the stairs.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I think you could ask your vet. I know there are a lot of people who worry about that. I have had larger, heavier dogs than I have now...GSDs, Doberman, Lab, mixes etc. And I never worried about it. They had a mind of their own and would leap off things that were kind of high and jump and bounce around. And they learned to do stairs. I never had one develop pano or any other type of issue with their joints. I never heard of such a thing until the Internet. lol. I'm more concerned with excessive, repetitive movement...trotting for long periods without a change in pace, gait or rest. So, while there might be some truth in it or some reason to worry, I just think sometimes people worry too much. But to be on the safe side, why not ask a vet?


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

I took my minipoo up and down stairs until he was about 5 months. Then I practiced him going down with a leash. They might not hurt their joints on stairs but they can take a tumble. Plus you want to keep track of where your puppy is when house training. So I keep a baby gate in stairs until they are 6-7 months old.


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## kayla_baxter (Jul 17, 2015)

I carried my last Dane pup up and down the stairs until he was four months old and 60+ pounds because of the possibility of injury during his rapid growth. I never did with any of the smaller dogs. 


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

MiniPoo said:


> I took my minipoo up and down stairs until he was about 5 months. Then I practiced him going down with a leash. They might not hurt their joints on stairs but they can take a tumble. Plus you want to keep track of where your puppy is when house training. So I keep a baby gate in stairs until they are 6-7 months old.


I have Ari walk up and down stairs at least once a day, with as many different kinds of stairs (open-backed, spiral, etc) as possible so that they won't be scary later on. That said, she only does about 12 stairs up and 12 stairs down per day, and only with me right there next to her. She is not allowed to go ahead of me or lag behind, she stays in step with me stair by stair. We go slowly.

So I think it's fine to let your pup learn HOW to use stairs but I agree that a tumble could really hurt her, so for so I only use stairs as part of socialization with supervision until at least 6 months (longer if the puppy is one that tends to be impatient/impulsive!).


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## MiniPoo (Mar 6, 2014)

The first time Dakota went down basement stairs without a leash he got excited by my other dog and run down, tripping half way and hitting head on wall (L shaped stairs). So I got Neeka contained and repeated going down stairs off leash, saying wait to get him to stop on each step, then releasing to step down. So I limit dog interaction first, then walk Dakota down. I still keep a baby gate at stair entrance so dogs can't race down stairs and so I know where he is.

I had a PWD who raced down stairs when the doorbell rung and hit his shoulder on a turn. That shoulder gave him trouble off and on all his life.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

Javelin has been easily negotiating the 2, 3 or 4 steps depending on where in the yard we are to get from the house and decks to the grassy part of the yard. He has been careful to take all of the steps and breaks of chasing the grown ups if he sees the stairs coming. Lily on the other hand usually skips all of those steps going up and down.

In the house he has shown no sign of being willing to take to the stairs. I left the door to upstairs open when I took Lily up to groom her the other day. The only boy who showed up was Peeves.

I think that as long as they take all the steps carefully I wouldn't worry. Things will be different when Javelin decides he wants to copy Lily's approach to the deck steps.


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## Desiree (Feb 14, 2010)

A very recent study (last 3 months) by the French I believe, said that no pups younger than 3-months should use stairs. Sorry, I don't remember where I saw it. You might try a web search.


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## glorybeecosta (Nov 11, 2014)

My Bella 8 yrs will not go up and down stairs, I have to carry her and Cayenne 2 either one is 7 pounds and one is 3.1 so I guess size may have something to do with stairs. The most they will do is go off a curb


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## sophie anne (Feb 17, 2015)

Desiree said:


> A very recent study (last 3 months) by the French I believe, said that no pups younger than 3-months should use stairs. Sorry, I don't remember where I saw it. You might try a web search.


Yes, I should add that Ari didn't start stairs until 12 weeks old.


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## Coldbrew (Jun 17, 2015)

I checked with the vet today, and she told me that he's fine to go up and down stairs, as long as he's not doing it all day long. She told me if i wanted to be very careful (and being a protective dog mom i'm probably going to) that I could wait until he's 12 weeks just to be sure. She also said that by the time he's twelve weeks he'll probably be getting big enough that i won't want to carry him. (not sure how true that is, since I doubt he'll be more than 20 pounds, but I digress!)

thank you all for you input!


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