OES learning to go down stairs
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| It's really hard on their hips and elbows. Carry as long as you can. Make sure they are not slippery, but he has traction on every step when it comes time to start using them on his own and remember the entrance and exits of the stairs as well. Teach him to go slow, you know how male pups tend to go nuts and get ahead of themselves. Train him to be slow on the stairs. |
| Interesting. I've never waited to teach stairs to puppies, or even heard they should be carried as long as possible - not even for pups younger than that. Our vets never said anything, nor breeders or rescue folks. First I've heard in 20 years of OES in our house! |
I never heard of carrying them up the stairs either. My first pup, I set on the 1st step and waited for her to walk, hop down. Did it several times until she mastered the first step. Then 2nd step etc. After 3 or 4 she was shooting up the stairs!!! My steps are quite steep and there are 13. I made sure I was with her going down numerous times so she wouldn't fall and get hurt. Now as far as going slow................that's funny, once they mastered the stairs!!  As a matter of fact, Mandy would run so fast up the stairs, tear around the rooms and hall then stretch her front legs out in front and slide down the stairs!!!!!!!  Try to stop her  |
| Thanks for all of your replies. We have wood steps that are slippery so while Louis doesn't have a problem going up stairs, going down is a very different story. He is always in a hurry and will not take his time. The one time I did not catch him before going down the stairs, he thought he would just follow our 8 year old OES, and slid all the way down. Since then, we have been carrying him as we were told that it could affect his hips long term. He will go up a few stairs if one of us is upstairs and he hears us but will turn around and go back down without a problem but I think he is scared of tackling the whole lot. |
| To be honest, I would think it's more dangerous to carry the dog on the stairs than to let the dog walk or even run up or down the stairs. One slip and it could be a big issue for both human and canine! I have all wood floors and stairs, have had many OES here and have never had a problem with falling. The more I think about it the more important I think it is to teach the dog the stairs and definitely don't carry him. |
| The stairs info was given to me by a GR breeder with long line of excellent dogs. They would not sell to homes with stairs! Personally I think it is way toooo over the top. I don't have many steps here but always made sure there was good traction and let the pups figure it out themselves with me guiding them the first few times. Most went slow on their own, they found running resulted in stubbed noses. I don't have a long flight of stairs, 4 is the max and fairly broad treads. I highly encourage folks to teach the dogs stairs at an early age, but not long flights. Falling off a stair or two isn't going to be a problem but rolling down a flight of 14 steps is gonna hurt. It's all part of the younger dogs getting as varied a life as possible so they don't freak out at new things. |
| I just went to pick my OES last a week a ago. He is 4 months old and weighting 18kg having to carry him downstairs and upstairs every 2 hours to go pee was a nightmare since we lived in apartment on the 2 floor. After 2 days I managed to get him go upstairs and another 2 days to go downstairs. Did it with lots of treats and praise. Start with just one set of steps and going up (because of gravity going downstairs is scarier). Put one treat just in front of him and then leave a trail so that he need to go up on step. Don't pressure him, he will probably cry and turn back but for my one the treat was too irresistible so after crying and going back he start going up. After you manage one time, that is it for the day. Don't ask him to do more, let him build confidence. Try again next day the same set of stairs untill he goes up easily. Once he does that try 2 sets of stairs and once he does 2 sets he will normally do them all. Do the same going downstairs. Just remember don't force him and have lot of patience and he will eventually go up or down. Remember, baby steps don't expect him to go up/down all the stairs at once. This is how my one did it and he is scared of everything. |
| Good! They learn quickly. I remember one OESer around here who carried her pup down the stops and to the potty area until dog was 5-6 months old? Why? Parvo. Big time problem here especially in their area with coyotes roaming about. They didn't want their dog to get contaminated until fully vaccinated. A 6 mo OES is one hefty pup! |
| Untill 6 motnhs to get full vaccinated? My just turn 4 and he has all the vaccines up to date, next one only next year. And here in Germany they don't mess around with your dog's health. Now that I think about it,  when I had my golden my wife just reminded me that we only took him out on the streets after he was almost 6 motnhs old due to risk of contamination in the area (he had a large garden so ge could do his things without having to leave the property)We lived in a different country way hotter than Germany so I guess it depends were you live maybe  |
| Parvo is super hot here, but maybe the owners were a bit Obessive-Compulsive. I might be as well re: OES pup. |
| The stairs/floors in my home were an issue because of hips/elbows. Not saying guarantee was null and void, just an added precaution. Breeder and vet stated. Yes my oldest son and I carried Steel up and down stairs until we could no longer do so due to his elongated body more so than his weight. He would push off the walls and do some crazy maneuvers with his legs and what not making it dangerous for us to do so - so we had to stop. Having 3 dogs in total, he learned to take the stairs very quickly. He was about 5-6 months old I believe. I still lift him into bed at night and restrict his activities to a degree. My floors still have a few extra rugs. He seems to know his limits and has learned to go a little slower when the carpet/rugs end and the wood floor starts. He will entice the other dogs to the rugs to play because he knows he has more traction there. Please remember Steel has/had swimmer puppy syndrome so I am a little over cautious because of that....There are really no long term studies on that other than to say dogs can recover normally. So far so good. I think after the newness of the stairs wears off and maybe a stumble or two your smart babe will figure out how to slow up a little on the stairs as long as a chase isn't involved! |
| We just got our new puppy home on Sunday. We have about 20 steps from the deck to the yard, where he has to potty. I've been carrying him down, but didn't realize that my husband taught him to walk them. And today, when he was done in the yard, rather than wait for me to pick him up, he just headed up the stairs and back to the dog door. I didn't think about the impact of the steps on his joints- I'll definitely call my vet and inquire a bit more on this- THANKS!!! |
Darth Snuggle wrote: We just got our new puppy home on Sunday. We have about 20 steps from the deck to the yard, where he has to potty. I've been carrying him down, but didn't realize that my husband taught him to walk them. And today, when he was done in the yard, rather than wait for me to pick him up, he just headed up the stairs and back to the dog door. I didn't think about the impact of the steps on his joints- I'll definitely call my vet and inquire a bit more on this- THANKS!!! I didn't know you have a new puppy congrats! |
| I can't imagine caring a puppy of that up n down the stairs, it seems so dangerous. The only steps we have are up to the pool n both the puppies were taught to climb n decent the stairs. It is important for our dogs to know how to function in this world n using stairs is one of them. Treats on the stairs, alot of encouragement n patients n he"ll be handling the stairs before you know it. Good luck. |
Quote: We just got our new puppy home on Sunday. We have about 20 steps from the deck to the yard, where he has to potty. I've been carrying him down, but didn't realize that my husband taught him to walk them. And today, when he was done in the yard, rather than wait for me to pick him up, he just headed up the stairs and back to the dog door. OK.........  More info please, what an exciting time! |
violet wrote: Darth Snuggle wrote: We just got our new puppy home on Sunday. We have about 20 steps from the deck to the yard, where he has to potty. I've been carrying him down, but didn't realize that my husband taught him to walk them. And today, when he was done in the yard, rather than wait for me to pick him up, he just headed up the stairs and back to the dog door. I didn't think about the impact of the steps on his joints- I'll definitely call my vet and inquire a bit more on this- THANKS!!! I didn't know you have a new puppy congrats! We just got him a week ago- he's positively amazing! I'll post some photos soon! |
violet wrote: Darth Snuggle wrote: We just got our new puppy home on Sunday. We have about 20 steps from the deck to the yard, where he has to potty. I've been carrying him down, but didn't realize that my husband taught him to walk them. And today, when he was done in the yard, rather than wait for me to pick him up, he just headed up the stairs and back to the dog door. I didn't think about the impact of the steps on his joints- I'll definitely call my vet and inquire a bit more on this- THANKS!!! I didn't know you have a new puppy congrats! Me either, waiting for pics |
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