Stairs

[Dreamer]

Hello everyone

I'm a new frenchie owner and new to the breed.. I had a question about, you guess it, STAIRS. As I understand it Frenchies have the potential to encounter spinal issues, and my Samson's (~4 months old) left knee was graded by my vet to be a level 2 Medial Luxating Patella which isn't an issue now but has potential to be one later in life... We have to go down/up one flight of stairs several times a day right now for both potty breaks and to go out on walks.

My question for you all is, how do your dogs do on stairs? Are they something to be avoided and could it aggravate his knee?


p.s. Anyone got tips for how to get them over the fear of going down the stairs? Samson learned pretty quickly to go UP them and does that with no problems now, but when I ask him to go down stairs he will sit there and look at me like I have a screw loose.

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

We have a very long flight of stairs leading to the backyard. Gus goes down them just fine, although, it took him a long time to learn (he's extremely top heavy). We started training him first on the inside carpeted stairs, so he could gain confidence.

Gracie is 20 weeks old and *just* started attempting them last week. Most of the time, she gets 1/3 or 1/2 half way down before she barks to ask for help. She will typically go down one at a time, walk to the other side of the step and then go down another, in a zig zag pattern.

Here is a vid I took today where she started going down fast, like Gus does, and had a little oopsie at the bottom.

I don't restrict stairs, as it's important to me that they can go outside to potty whenever they want, but I highly discourage jumping off furniture, and lift them down to the floor. I'm not saying that's best practice, but it's what I do.

 

[mattcantwin]

Kind of funny you should mention stairs.


Here is Loki at the top of the cellar stairs:

For some reason, he does not want to go down the stairs.


I think this is great; now I don't have to worry about him getting underfoot as I go up and down the stairs.


My wife doesn't agree and wants "us" to train him to use the stairs.

I refuse to do that, but said she can if she wants.

So far, he continues to stay at the top gazing down.


As far as other stairs, our house is a ranch with few stairs in and out and no issues there for Loki.


I'm sure others will be more helpful.

 

[mattcantwin]

Great video, Frenchie Grrrl!

 

[Dreamer]

Here is a vid I took today where she started going down fast, like Gus does, and had a little oopsie at the bottom.

That is so cute!

So we managed to do it just now! we went down the stairs! I've been encouraging and calling to him every day for the past few days so maybe he just needed a little nudge. I very slowly and gently "made" him take steps down the stairs by slowly lowing his front half, then the back half onto the steps.... we did this until about half way down, he was able to finish the rest by himself! he did the whole thing by himself when we went out for a potty break an hour or two later (albeit a bit slowly and cautiously) :clap:

 

[GraciesMom]

We have a very long flight of stairs leading to the backyard. Gus goes down them just fine, although, it took him a long time to learn (he's extremely top heavy). We started training him first on the inside carpeted stairs, so he could gain confidence.

Gracie is 20 weeks old and *just* started attempting them last week. Most of the time, she gets 1/3 or 1/2 half way down before she barks to ask for help. She will typically go down one at a time, walk to the other side of the step and then go down another, in a zig zag pattern.

Here is a vid I took today where she started going down fast, like Gus does, and had a little oopsie at the bottom.

I don't restrict stairs, as it's important to me that they can go outside to potty whenever they want, but I highly discourage jumping off furniture, and lift them down to the floor. I'm not saying that's best practice, but it's what I do.

How cute is that! I watched the video. It's really amazing they do it all -- the steps looked so big compared to her little body.

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

That is so cute!

So we managed to do it just now! we went down the stairs! I've been encouraging and calling to him every day for the past few days so maybe he just needed a little nudge. I very slowly and gently "made" him take steps down the stairs by slowly lowing his front half, then the back half onto the steps.... we did this until about half way down, he was able to finish the rest by himself! he did the whole thing by himself when we went out for a potty break an hour or two later (albeit a bit slowly and cautiously) :clap:

Yay!!!

How cute is that! I watched the video. It's really amazing they do it all -- the steps looked so big compared to her little body.

Haha! Yeah, she has big brother to keep up with, so that's highly motivating to her. I still carry her almost all the time because potty training is more important to me, right now, than stair skills (and many times we are in a rush). :tongue:

 

[Cbrugs]

Jax is fine with stairs but isn’t supposed to use them as he has IVDD so he gets carried up and down.


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[2bullymama]

I always carry pups down stairs till they are six months old... bones still soft until then and the pounding could cause issues.

Other than that... Cheli is a pro and always has been since coming to us at 8 months. He does have spine issues, so we know when it is bothering him due to his hesitation in using the stairs


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