Stairs - could Toby BE more reckless? :)

[Sandy]

Toby is all long clumsy legs. He does stairs like he's tumbling down. He's never lose his footing, but oh my goodness, sometimes I swear he's going to right through the wall at the bottom of the stairs. The breeder had said not to have the puppies racing up and down the stairs, as it is bad for their hip development. I tell Toby to be careful, slow down, etc. but other than that, there's not much else I can do. Anyone else's dog a funny little clumsy clown on the stairs? Toby is 4 1/2 months, and about 30 pounds.....

[Adina P]

Can you use a baby gate to keep him from going up and down on his own?
Dogs don't understand " be careful" or " slow down " unless they were trained to respond in a certain way. But obedience to those words is probably not to happen to a four month old.

We have 2 to 3 stairs that Rosco had to use to get from the kitchen to the back yard--he also would fly down the stairs but I gave up. But with the whole flight of stairs I would think of baby gate would keep Toby from going up and down.

[Sandy]

Well, he doesn't go up or down unless a family member is "up there" or "down there". Mostly he just stays where I am. So at most, he's likely coming down the stairs MAYBE five times a day. I know some people use their stairs to tired their dogs out, but perhaps their dogs are daintier than mine. :)

[Adina P]

LOL at "perhaps their dogs are dainter than mine" -- I suppose, if you're concerned, you can keep a leash on him and hang onto it at that time while bribing him with a treat next to his nose to help him walk down slowly.

[Oliver]

yep... Oliver, who is 14 weeks today, is just as clumsy down the stairs...thanks for sharing about the hip development issue...not really sure how to remedy it though...

[Sandy]

Toby is 19 weeks, but didn't even do "down the stairs' until he was about Oliver's age. Glad to know Toby isn't the only clumsy one.....

[Oliver]

as soon as we brought oliver home at 8 weeks he was climbing up and down the stairs...lol lucky us :)

[Kathy]

Tia is not a puppy anymore but she is a nut on the stairs! She loves to start running down the stairs then sit quickly and look back to see if I am coming! Sometimes she is going so fast she slides down a couple of steps!

[Cam & Oski]

Oski was the same way when he was a baby. He would go pell mell down the stairs to the verge of almost rolling his way down. As he got bigger & more coordinated he started slowing down & now only runs if he here's someone (Jason) doing something fun in another part of the house, LOL