Doodles and Stairs

[Kendra K. Rhoton]

So I'm a bit concerned. We have some stairs in our house that Remington loves running up and down. Going up doesn't bother me, but he loves to barrel down the stairs. Every time he does this I can't help but worry that it is hurting his legs for the long term. Could this be a possibility? How can I slllooowww things down :(

[Kendra K. Rhoton]

Remington recently tripped too and was limping afterwards which I was worried sick he had hurt himself. We hold on to him now to slow him down.... :(

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Same thing with Guinness. He goes down the stairs like a mad man. He has never hurt himself, but I do worry. He treats it like a sport...it's like the faster he goes the happier he is. He also likes to stand at the top of the stairs and push his toys down so he can chase them. I'm afraid I may have started that. We play "stair ball" on rainy days. He stands at the top and I throw the tennis ball up to him...then he rolls (pushes) it back to me. Usually he can't control himself and chases it back down himself. Oh our doodles...always something for us to be worried about.

[Dan, Judi, & Timbow]

Timbow does this too. I agree with Jane that the best way is to tell him to wait and then see if he'll walk down on your pace. Timbow runs up and down like it's a race, but if I stay calm and he's walking with me he'll slow down. If there's a toy rolling down the stairs...forget it, he's gone. :)

[Debbie Penny]

I have taught my Charlie to wait prior to doing the stairs, for my safety and his. Still for the front entrance he rushes it and it has 2 steps. I read that young doodles shouldn't be doing stairs regularly until older for their hip development. Thus, preventing running is likely a good thing. We have a 5 level home, so stairs are a daily regular occurrence, slowing down is my best solution. Teach Remington the wait command, it will help. All the best.

[Holly Doodle]

Holly has a fear of stairs, especially if there's more than 2 or 3 and they aren't carpeted. We try to get her to go down them with treats but we usually end up carrying her. If we do get her to go down herself, she's goes so fast she loses control! It is hard to slow them down...

[Laura and Bailey Brindi and coco]

hi bailey just had surgey on both of her front legs the dr said stairs were bad for her legs and if they go up and down a lot through the day bailey only goes up at night and down in the moring

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Did the doctor say the stairs are bad "in general" or just for bailey because of the surgery?

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

When my dog was recuperating from CCL surgery, stairs were a no-no. We had a sling to help him go up at night to sleep and then down the next morning. Stairs are fine for him now. The vet said that up-down streets were actually good at building leg muscles. Because of this I assume that stairs are fine for dogs too - other than actually tripping or slipping.