Stairs okay?

[Cathy]

Hi,

Our goldendoodle puppy Charlie is 12 weeks old.  We have been carrying him up and down our 4 steps to the backyard since we have been told that stairs can cause problems with puppy's bones.  What age is it okay to go up and down those stairs?  He's getting heavy!  (I'm not letting him go up and down the full flights of stairs in the house yet)

 

Thanks!

[BG and Gavin]

Oh he's good to go. I think the caution is letting them "race" up and down the stairs for excercise. It's fun watching them learn stairs for the first time. Up is easier than down. We put a treat on each step to coax him up. Hmmm seems like so long ago now :)

[BG and Gavin]

Here is a cute video of a puppy learning to go down the stairs.
http://vodpod.com/watch/3710690-learning-to-walk-down-stairs

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Cute video. Our Sophie would do these stairs, but a stairway in the house she will go up, but she still (at over 2 years old) will not come down them, particularly if they are steep or the step is a little narrow. DH has had to carry her down many flights of stairs!

[shelly]

That's so funny that you say Sophie won't go down... Tori will go up and down the stairs that lead to the bedrooms like nothing, even run down them, but we have 2 sets of basement stairs one that leads to the play room (thank god she won't go down - or she'll eat all the toys left ALL over) and one that leads to our 'work area' (these are REALLY steep). She stands at the top, but won't go down - knock wood!

[shelly]

So cute! I can only imagine what he may be thinking!!! - LOL

[Bentley, Michelle & David]

We had the same concerns you did about our puppy and the stairs, so we asked our vet about it at our 9-week check up and he said to go for it. Bentley is 13 weeks old now and has been doing the stairs for the past 3-4 weeks. We've got a 10-step stairway leading to our backyard, plus another stairway leading from our first floor to our family room, and he does great with both.

He learned to go up very quickly with the the use of treats as a lure, but was very hesitant about going down the stairs at first. He'd sit at the top and tentatively poke his nose over the edge, but wouldn't go any further. To ease him into it, we'd carry him down and set him on the first or second stair from the bottom, then coax him the rest of the way with treats and a lot of encouragement. Once he was able to do that with no hesitation, we'd moved to the third step from the bottom, etc. We slowly worked our way backwards up the stairway, starting a little higher each time, over the course of a week or so. Now he trots up and down with no problem.

Good luck!

[Leigh & Allie]

I was worried about Allie the first time I attempted to let Allie up the hard wood stairs. I did not think she would be able to do it. We coaxed her up with treats and I think it just took her a time or two before she was ready and willing to go up and down the stairs. I think I was more scared then she was. At first I thought I had taught her too soon because she would go up and eat my son's nerf gun bullets. But then again, it was a REALLY good idea because now he picks the bullets up~!!:)

[Melissa]

I am sure it is ok. The 4 steps in the back is probably a great place to start him to see if he does them ok. We carried Buddyfor the first few weeks (we got him at 8 weeks). Then we started letting him do it although he didn't want to go down any steps. We had 2 outside. He could go up ok but too afraid to go down. So I worked with him inside, we have a split level house so 2 sets of stairs 6 to the lower level and 8 to the bedrooms. I would get him to go up a little but then he would be afraid to go down even one. Once he got the one mastered we tried 2. THe problem was that his depth perception was off a bit and he wanted to jump from the 2nd step to the floor which was a little much for him. So I would position myself at the bottom and then he started using me from the 2nd step and to the floor. Eventually he mastered it and now he is a maniac on the stairs always racing us to the top! Oh and at my mom's house he will NOT go downstairs to the basement. There are about 12-15 steps (I can't remember) and I can't even coax him with a treat. I carried him down and he was even tentative going up. Guess there were too many, more than what we had. Maybe someday. :)

[Melissa]

Here is the video of Buddy going up all the stairs...he was 11 weeks. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_1Wck725r0

[Jaime and Barley Barker]

I got Barley when he was the same age as Charlie (12 weeks). He never had a problem with our front porch steps which sound like they'd be the same step length as your backyard stairs. He didn't walk up full-length stairs until he was about 16 weeks old. He was unsure of himself and I didn't want him to fall, so I carried him. Then around 16 weeks old I helped him go up the stairs step-by-step and he was fine. He still doesn't race up the stairs because he's cautious. I'm thankful for that.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

Funny, but we waited to teach Lucy to go up and down the stairs as long as we possibly could (I wish I could remember how old she was, but I think it was nearly 4 months). Reason being, she didn't need to be up there and it made keeping an eye on her easier. I think we could have gone a long, long time not teaching her, even though she could manage a few steps outside just fine. Once we encouraged her up, though, that was the end of that! She practically lives on the upstairs landing now, perched up there watching over the downstairs entry. Up there she has a birds eye view. Oh, and yes, we're now constantly walking up those stairs to see what she may have she shouldn't.