# Puppies and stairs



## Melissa_DT (Jan 9, 2013)

Hi everyone,

I've read through a ton of this site and learned a lot of valuable tips and tricks to put into action once I pick up my pup on Saturday. 

One question I still have that I haven't seen answered yet (if it is, I may have missed it) is how long I should avoid stairs with the pup? I have a couple stairs to get in and out of the front door of my house so I will have to carry him in and out for potty breaks. I want to make sure to follow all of the guidelines for his healthy joint development!


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## deanfootlong (May 21, 2012)

I completely ignored that and let our pup figure out the stairs whenever she wanted to figure it out.


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## Claire (May 21, 2012)

You'll probably find that the pup will be a bit wary of stairs for at least a couple of weeks, though it does depend how many stairs there are... one or two steps shouldn't be a problem for him to figure out but many more will probably be daunting. If I were you I'd probably carry him like you say, for potty breaks, at least for the first while, and see how it goes. He might attempt them himself one day, and unless there's loads of them I wouldn't worry too much about his joints. Just don't get him doing laps up and down them and it should be fine!!
Liesel is 4 months and has only just figured out stairs - now she's unstoppable! We generally try to get her to take it slowly and not go thundering up and down, to be on the safe side for her joints.


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## Cavedog (Oct 21, 2010)

Dax never had an issue with stairs. Here he is at 11 or 12 weeks flying up them.


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Jasper went up a few steps and down a few steps as a puppy--we lived in a garden-level apartment until he was 1.5, and now we live on the second floor of a house, so he has even more stairs!

That said, if you're worried about stairs hurting joint development or causing hip dysplasia, I have been told by a veterinarian friend that those are mostly hereditary issues, though there are certainly environmental factors. What you want to avoid is overexertion of the joint, injury when they are very young, are repetitive motion (like jogging, esp. on pavement, when they are very young). A couple of steps done slowly shouldn't be a huge issue, and though he has a higher risk than say, a Yorkie, he has a much lower risk than a giant breed dog. 

I carried Jasper up and down the steps until he was 100% potty-trained, just because he occasionally confused outside our unit on the front mat for outside on the grass. From then on he was allowed to go up and down those few stairs, but he had to walk up and down them. No running up and down, no jumping off the second step to the bottom, etc. So he was probably 3 months or so when I stopped carrying him. It's a good place to learn the word, "Slow!"


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## Melissa_DT (Jan 9, 2013)

Thank you everyone for the advice! I think for the first couple weeks I will carry him, then I will start to let him go on his own, just making sure he doesn't try to do any crazy leaps from half way down the stairs! 

Cavedog- that is a cute pic!


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