Sabrina is climbing and coming down the stairs now!!??

Yesterday Sabrina decided that she would go upstairs all by herself and then today she decided that she can go down too. Should I be concerned? Is she too young to be doing this? She acts like she has been doing it forever, she has no problem up or down now, of course everytime she does it she thinks for some reason that she should get a treat. She will be 4 months old on Saturday. Just wondering if I should really allow this or not?

Kos learned to jump on the couch friday!! He's been jumping off for a while but not on. He learned how to go up and down the stairs at about 4 months too.. I think it's fine as long as you keep an eye on her! All dogs have to learn anyways Plus it's a lot easier on us, huh? hehe He tumbled down a stair once and got a little scared but I goated him back up with a treat instead of babying him and he has been fine since. Take care!! :flwr:

I'd keep a close eye on any puppy going up/down stairs (especially down! They can have too much confidence). Same goes for jumping up and down on high furniture as they are still not very coordinated and can easily take a tumble down stairs or damage joints by the impact of jumping up and down. In my own case I tried to limit jumping until after about 9 months or so and would just lift up and down (or alternatively, it is a good idea to put a step by a sofa where the pup really wants to jump up and down).

Maybe some of the breeders on the board have a view, same or different -- I remember a thread on an email list a long time ago on such a subject and someone recommended being careful with jumping.

I am still always worried when the dogs go flying down the stairs, that they will slip, as there's a wall at the bottom! :yikes

If there is a reason Sabrina needs to go up and down the stairs, she certainly is old enough to do so. Keep in mind that it is likely she may stumble once in a while and take a tumble. Are the stairs indoor and carpeted? Carpet helps soften a tumble. If they are the type of stairs with open risers (meaning there is no vertical board between the individual steps) then you need to watch her pretty carefully that she doesn't fall through the steps; a tumble down the stairs is one thing, its a lot worse if it's a 4' fall to a floor.

In the past we had almost always started showing our litters how to use stairs before they go to their forever homes, usually around 11 weeks. Lately I've been thinking that may not be such a good idea. I am thinking we may not do that unless the new owners want us to. We have to teach our own puppies that because they have to go down about 6 steps to get to the ground from the deck to do their business.

Leo had appaently never been allowed on stairs and when he first came to my house at age 10 months he froze when he saw stairs. I had to work to lure him up and down with small treats until he gained confidence.

Jaspar didn't even try stairs until he was about 3-4 months -- first he'd only go up and I had to bring him back down.

They go so quickly down the stairs now sometimes, that it always makes me a bit jittery in case they slip and fall as they'd smack into the barrier at the bottom, where the stairs take a small turn to the left. The stairs are carpeted with a rough textured carpet though so their footing is pretty good.

Thanks for all for the advice, I have a two story house and the stairs are carpeted. She doesn't fly up or down she is still going very slow, but I do watch her because I know she will get more confident as the days go on. So I will just keep a careful eye on her. I think she caught on because the cats race up and down them to chase each other and they would go up to get away from Sabrina so I think she decided that she wanted to be included so she figured them out as her and two of the cats are always playing together. My boy cats just love her to death. Thanks again everyone.

We kept the stairs blocked during the day and they were opened when we were home, but had always tagged along when they were outside, as three of them coming down this stairs is a bit hairy..... I am sure Woody goes down on his belly sometime.... :roll: