To Climb or Not to Climb

[hypnos81]

Hello everyone, I'm the proud new owner of a 3 month old Mastiff female and I need some advice.

Basically, should I or should I not allow my baby girl to climb the stairs. My vet tells me that it's entirely okay for her to climb the stairs since hip dysplasia is an inherited trait and therefore stair climbing will not lead to it, if anything, stair climbing will help her build muscles that will be good for her. On the other hand, it seems that in general people tend to be against allowing puppies to climb stairs for fear that doing so will damage their developing joints.

Since I live on the third floor of a building that has no elevator I have to either carry her up and down 5-6 flights of stairs 5 times a day or let her just do the climbing. Any advice would be great. Thanks a lot!

 

[Bentley]

I would say allow her to climb up the stairs which is a relatively smooth motion but avoid the jolting of coming down the stairs for a couple of months yet. This will also help in preventing stairs from becoming too much of a challenge for her later on and believe me a dog who doesn't like stairs can be a real pain in the bum.

 

[Ryan Davis]

Let her Climb

 

[Brad]

I don't think it is so much the act of going up and down the stairs that is the problem. Have to be careful with these graceful giants that they don't fall or trip.

 

[lovemyenglishboy]

i know what you mean. My english is 185 pounds and will not go down or up more then 5 stairs. Which makes it hard to do as i can not carry him up or down.