Jumping 4 month old

roxski · Nov 10, 2015

Hey all,

My baby is 4 months old and just learned to jump on and off the couch a couple days ago. I always supervise him closely, but my questions are, is it too dangerous, could jumping damage his growth plates, and last, should I make him stairs? I tried to post a video of him but there was an error. He jumps on and off with ease especially considering he just learned. Once he figured it out, he was like WOW! Lol. Any advice and experience with your frenchies are greatly appreciated!!

blushy · Nov 10, 2015

I'd monitor but ours jump up and down by themselves, but I dont allow them to come down the stairs by themselves or jump on/off my bed.

I have doggy stairs but they prefer jumping.

I think jumping is a natural thing.

Cbrugs · Nov 10, 2015

Jax will jump on and off the couch all the time and run up and down the stairs. I know this is not necessarily the greatest thing for a Frenchie to do but there is no stopping him. My bed is pretty high and he gets lifted on and off of that.

Alice Kable · Nov 10, 2015

Buster is a blended bulldog, mom is an OEB and dad is a Frenchie, so he is bigger and more athletic than a pure bred Frenchie. He jumps on and launches himself off chairs, couches, beds...he is a real jumper!

mmclean · Nov 10, 2015

Radar jumps on and off of the couch with no issues. He, very rarely, jumps on my bed and prefers to be lifted but will jump off with no problems.

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hannah · Nov 10, 2015

I monitored Banksy when he was younger and didn't allow him to jump off things... so yeah at 4 months I would monitor him jumping off higher areas. But now that he is bigger and 8 months old and visibly strong enough I am not concerned with it.

roxski · Nov 11, 2015

I just want to thank everyone for their input. Sebastian doesn't roam the house freely yet. It will be a long while before he does, he is still a baby. We do have stairs, however he never climbs up and down them because he does not have access to them and the only time he is on my bed is at night when he is asleep (yes my baby sleeps with me lol

), but my bed is low anyways. We are always in the living room throughout the day so the only thing he has the opportunity to jump on/off is the couch, which I am right there with him. Since he learned how, I have been training him to behave on the couch. I worry about him jumping off so I try to carry him off, but occasionally he beats me to it (little booger lol).

2bullymama · Nov 12, 2015

At 4 mths....-- the bones are still growing/forming .... so definitely limit that type of activity

Schimpfy · Nov 14, 2015

Chance was similar a major jumper and i would always worry about his joints to the point of bringing him in with a limp for xrays nothing wrong just a bruised muscle rest and no jumping. Lost that battle too but he turned out just great. We do tend to be a bit over protective. Good luck have fun with each other and be good for each other. :yes:

JuniorsMom · Nov 15, 2015

I asked my vet this same question when Junior started jumping around fearlessly at the same age. While our vet was familiar with the worry about joints and growth plates, he wasn't concerned. He said Frenchies can be athletic and suggested we use common sense around high places. There are obviously disagreeing schools of thought on this issue. This vet is a "gotta let a dog be a dog" type. He also thought that planned socialization with other dogs as a puppy was better than holding off until Junior had had all of his shots. I respect his views.

Meanwhile while all this crazy jumping was going on, Junior was terrified of our hardwood stairs. They are slick, so he would scrabble around in a panic and make himself fall. So we cut up some rubber-backed carpet and taped a square to each step. Now he goes up and down like a pro. The things we do...as I'm typing this, he keeps slamming a giant bone into the keyboard on my laptop. Wants me to hold it for him...