Are Stairs Bad For Puppies?

[Aztec Gold]

So it just occurred to me that all our cement stairs might be bad for Chester's hip development. We have 15 stairs from the back door to the back yard, and then another 6 down to the driveway. Out the front we have 9 up to the footpath and 12 down to the backyard from the front.

How would these affect Chester, if at all? Does anyone know?

Also, our floors are all wooden, the only carpeting is a mat in the lounge. Would this hurt him?

Thank you!!

[stonecutter]

We have a JS and were advised to limit stairs, especially if running up or down them. We were also advised to limit playing on hard floors - no chasing balls down hallways - it was putting Ziva's back out. Any tugging must be done on a rug or carpet and running around must be on the grass.

[sandgrubber]

To put the bottom line on top, stairs and puppies are not a good combination.

I think that if the pup has good hips and elbows and only goes up and down calmly, stairs would be fine.

But you can't know about the quality of their hips and elbows at a young age, and puppies aren't known for consistent calmness. I had a pup crash down three steps off the front verandah (she was playing with another pup) and come close to tearing her knee apart. I have heard others say that they've seen far worse.

[jakeyjangels]

Yes stairs are bad for puppies as are polished timber floors as they can't get a proper grip.

I have been told that Guide Dogs QLD will not even consider placement for fostering if the home has stairs.

My breeder was also strict in her instructions about not letting puppy at the beach on dry sand but wet sand is OK.

[Mason_Gibbs]

Never heard that about dry sand jakeysangles, my guess is that if it was every day it may be an issue but once in awhile would not be too bad, its the impact on the joints on hard ground that is an issue, with horses in very soft sand they used to get sore backs but no hip/joint issues...... Stairs are not great, we had 5 stairs at our old place and my older lab is no worse for wear but we really had no choice and they were quite wide big steps so lucky he only took one at a time.

[Rebanne]

put your pup on lead and walk him up and down the stairs. You won't be able to carry him so he needs to learn how to use them safely. I would block the bottom access when he is out in the yard on his own so he can't run up and down them. I would put rugs on the floors.