Charlie has a pinched nerve

We have these steps that go up to our bed so Charlie uses it all the time, but lately he's decided that he doesn't want to go down the steps, it's much more fun to jump off the bed and run around.

Friday night he jumped off and of course I was yelling at him to stop jumping. I was ahead of him and went downstairs. But after a few minutes I noticed he didn't come downstairs so I went up to look for him. He was sitting on the first landing just waiting. So naturally I went to him and was petting him and as I bent down to pick him up he yelped! OMG! I was so scared. I started to feel his back, his legs, paws, everything and he didn't cry while I was doing this. He just sat there, but the minute I tried to pick him up again he would cry.

So I rushed him to the vet and they took x-rays. He has a pinched nerve in his back. The vet said it was from him jumping off the bed. The vet gave him a shot and now he's much better. Thank God!!

So we bring him back home and now for the next couple of weeks the vet wants us to carry him on to the bed or off the bed and he's not allowed to climb the stairs either so now we are carrying him up the stairs too. The vet wants him to take it easy for a couple of weeks until his back heals.

Charlie has now figured out that if he waits at the bottom of the stairs that either my husband or I will pick him up and take him upstairs. He's such a ham! He is too much! LOL!!

But seriously, anyone have any suggestions on how to stop him from jumping from the bed? Right now, I am watching him like a hawk and won't let him strain himself. He loves sleeping with us so putting him in his crate at night next to us isn't going to work. Unless we deal with crying for a few night? Any suggestions?

I don't know how tall your bed is, but I remember someone telling me (maybe our vet?) that a cavalier jumping off a bed is like a human jumping out of a second story window. The chances of him getting hurt again are very high. I don't know how to stop a dog from jumping off the bed, unless you supervise him very closely and reward him for using the doggy stairs to get on and off the bed.

yes, that's exactly what i'm going to start to do. He used to go down the stairs, but he just started jumping off. I guess if i reward him and do clicker training maybe that will get him to start using the stairs again. I hope! Crazy dog!

We've had exactly this twice with Toby.
Our remedy - we bought a bed that is very low to the ground and moved to a bungalow - no stairs and no steps!!!!
Drastic I know, but no trouble now for two years!
I know moving house is a big option (with us it was only a coincidence) but a bed lower to the ground might be worth thinking about.
Anyway, good luck with the stairs and the clicker training

You can get steps up to a bed too. I'm thinking of getting those.

sorry to hear about Charlie hurting himself. We've got a square bean bag next to our sofa, Bailey climbs up this and then only has a tiny hop onto the sofa, getting down then is a fun game as she likes the noise of hopping down onto the bean bag and sliding off! i don't know if this is an idea you could use, but i hope Charlie is feeling better soon!

Thanks everyone for the great ideas! Well, I started Charlie on clicker training him go go down the stairs from the bed. At first he didn't want to do it, but as I taught him it was a good thing, he did it!!! I"ll keep practicing with him and hopefully this will solve the problem!

I had to take Leo to the Vet last week because he was doing the same thing. The Dr. said he had a pulled muscle in his back and gave him a shot and pills. He said not to let him jump for 10 days.

We have a very sturdy ramp to the bed. Not one of those plastic ramps. This is all wood, 24" tall & 16" wide. They all use it. Even the cats.

Thanks Rumor! I'll keep practicing with Charlie so he uses the stairs instead of flying off the bed!

But seriously, anyone have any suggestions on how to stop him from jumping from the bed? Right now, I am watching him like a hawk and won't let him strain himself. He loves sleeping with us so putting him in his crate at night next to us isn't going to work. Unless we deal with crying for a few night? Any suggestions?

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Truman injured his back a few months ago and he had to be on crate rest for almost 2 weeks. The dogs usually sleep with us, but he needed to be confined to the crate almost 24/7, including night time, so he wouldn't be active at all. He didn't cry in his crate, and he healed fairly quickly.

We have a platform bed (very low to the ground) with a Tempur-Pedic mattress (no box spring), and because of the ledge around our bed, it's like a built-in little step for the dogs to get on and off of the bed Here's a picture so you can see what I mean (excuse the junk under the bed!):

I had a problem like this before..what we did was we pushed the bed up against the wall and put a spare mattress on the other side of the bed so when she jumped she only landed on the mattress. She'd still get scolded when she jumped and she soon stopped!

Thanks for the picture Carrie! I'll have to see if my husband can lower the bed some.

I wanted to let everyone know that after a few days of training and just keeping an eye on Charlie to use those stairs he's doing it! Last night while sleleping with us I felt him go to the end of the bed, I thought Oh No! He's going to jump! But I thought, let me see what he does before I scare him by yelling. I waited as he was looking at the floor from the top of the bed.... and then he did it! He went to the stairs and went down the stairs. I was so excited I was praising him with excitement that I ended waking up my husband. LOL! Oh well! At least Charlie has learned to go down the stairs. :rah: