stair climbing
Michele & Hokis Pokis |
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| Michele,
I believe 4 month old is old enough...especially with a Sheepdog. They are more than big enough to be able to handle it by then Elissa |
| As dumb as it sounds, probably as soon as they can. As you'll read in a lot of our posts, many of our dogs were pretty slow using the stairs-- and even slower going down! Now my dog is way too much of an expert and I can't believe he doesn't wipe out at the speeds he goes up and down. |
| I agree with ButtersStotch. When I had puppies I would block off a path in the house going from their room to the back door. I have 2 steps out the back door into the garage and then one shorter step from the garage door to the ground.
I used their mom to housebreak them, so she'd run in front, they'd follow her and I picked up the rear. When they came to the stairs, some were eager to go on down, others came to a dead stop. Those that stopped were lifted down onto the garage floor and when they reached the back step they were shown a few times how to go up and down. After that just a little nudge did the trick since that step was so short. They were on their own coming back up. Being eager to follow mom, and then me after they were seperated, made teaching much easier. By about 3 months they'd mastered the 9 steps going to the basement. Teaching them while they're young and "small" is a lot easier and (safer,) than working with a 50lb. dog. So, I always went by height, if they're tall enough to reach the steps with their legs, they're tall enough to use the steps. (Unless, of course, there's something dangerous about the stairs themselves. I think stairs without backs are harder for them to master.) I agree, they have a way about going up and down at the speed of lightning! Look out for being shoved out of the way, the nose behind the knee drop, etc........the top of the stairs is not a safe place to stand when your puppy becomes the "fearless" stair master!  |
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