puppies and stairs?

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joanne1920

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We picked up Dylan on monday evening. Today he is 7 weeks old ! He eats and drinks well and asks most of the time to go in the garden for a wee etc if he doesnt then he goes on newspaper in kitchen... BUT he has learnt to get up and down the stairs already! Should i barracade the stairs off to stop him going up and down completely (he only goes up/down with supervision anyway) or leave him to it? someone has said it may harm his joint and bones if we keep allowing him to go up and down? He is a German Shepherd x Husky... What do i do?
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At such a young age you should try and limit how much strain is put on the joints. Our vet advised us when we got our most recent pup to limit walks (obv your one is too little for that yet!) and jumping/stairs etc
 
Mine dont go upstairs anyway, but until their joints are developed completely you should limit stairs/jumping into cars as much as possible to avoid wear and tear until about 1 year 9 months - 1 year.

My mum used to use a childs stair gate, which worked really well, and when she took it off the dog still knew not to go upstairs.
 
Puppies bones do not calcify until they are about 6 months old, so if he has a fall it could cause him quite a bad accident, so I would buy a baby gate and block alternate ends of the stairs as needed.
In my mind it simply isnt worth the risk.
 
ok, thats great thanks, i will get a stair gate and wont let him upstairs until he's 6 months and then not let him do it all the time, thanks for your answers x
 
I would say absolutely no stairs at all, even when he's bigger try & limit it. It's no so much the going upstairs it's the coming down I believe puts a strain/concussion on the joints. I have a stair gate up permenantly - I have a 5month and a 2yo.
 
well ive just picked up a second hand stair gate, so will put that up when i get back, that should go down exceedingly well as im sure he will hate it, he hates being on his own! we are getting a crate too before the weekend so he can go in it when either of us are trying to sleep, as he wont stay in the kitchen on his own, he howls and whines for hours and the neighbours didnt think much to it, so at least if he's in a crate he can see us, so hopefully that will work....
piccies as requested...
dylan003.jpg
dylan005.jpg
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dylan007.jpg


looks like he has
a blue eye but he hasnt they are both brown!
what do you think he looks like? more husky? or more german shepherd?! xxx thanks for your help xxx
 
he is beautiful! lovely pup, lloks more husky like (although looks slightly like a collie pup at the moment! - think it is the colour!!)
 
Oh my he is GORGEOUS!! He looks slightly more husky to me but Im no expert (servenmiles would be a good one to ask)

As for the not liking being alone - I can reccommend a crate. Roly now sleeps through the nite in his, by our bed. There was no way he'd stay in the kitchen whilst we trotted off to bed!!
 
Thats what my friend said too! at least he can see us if he's in a crate, he wakes us up for a wee in the night so it means letting him out and carring him down stairs but hay thats better than sleeping on the sofa!!!

Thank You for the comments, i might post piccies in the gallery too...
 
Lots of stairs aren't good.

OH took his pup to tintagel and carried him everywhere, I've got a pic on my phone of pup at top of stairs looking exhausted, despite not actually having done anything
 
Yep, agree with all above, don't let him go up and down the stairs if you can avoid it - my rottie had OCD in his left shoulder when I got him at 6 months, caused according to vet by his previous owners letting him go down stairs all the time as lived in a 1st floor flat, so we got a stairgate. Worked a treat!
 
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