Climbing Stairs and Walks

Hello! I have a couple of questions...

After reading warnings here that young puppies shouldn't climb stairs because of joint issues, I haven't allowed Coco to climb more than 2-3 stairs on her own. Coco is now 7 months old. Is it okay for her to start climbing up and down stairs now? If not, when?

Before her surgery, I walked Coco for 10-15 minutes outside daily. (She also plays in the backyard and inside the house quite a bit.) Can she have longer walks at 7 months or should I stick to this time? I'm again concerned about her joints.

Thanks so much! :flwr: :flwr:
Of course, I'm going to wait until she is completely recovered from her surgery to start anything. :flwr:

She should be fine on stairs. You definitely want them to be able to manage stairs but just not spend a lot of time overdoing it when they are really small.

I'd stick with shortish walks til she's a year old but you could go for more than 15 minutes. I walked Jaspar for 2-3 wlks of that time period when he was young as I had no choice -- he had to go out for a walk to do his jobs. But they were spread apart. After about 5 months he decided he wouldn;t go in my little side yard so it was walks or in the house!

:yikes

An experinced breeder, on another list, recently said that a puppy shouldn't get propper walks until the ridges on the front leg bones, just above the feet, have smoothed away. The ridges are an indication that the bones are not yet mature.

Perfect. Thank you so much!