Newfs and stairs...

[Nicoletta]

Hello, I'm new here
We are currently on a waitlist, and if all goes to plan, we will be picking up our Newfy baby at the end of July!

I will of course be asking the breeder when we go meet the litter, but in the meantime...what's the general consensus on Newfs and stairs? I've had a hard time finding much information on this particular topic, and what I have found has been very conflicting. Some sources say they can never use stairs, some say they just can't use them when they are small with developing joints, and some say it's not a problem at all.
We live in a two story house. There are many places that the puppy can sleep downstairs, but I feel that he will probably prefer to be with the family...either in my room or in one of my sons' rooms, or even in the hall. There's nothing but bedrooms on the second floor of our house, so I guess he would only be going up once in the evening, and down once in the morning.

What do you think? If stairs are a no-go, do you think he will be okay downstairs on his own?

TIA!

 

[new_2_newf]

i think you'll get varying opinions on this. I think for as long as possible, I would not have the puppy climb the stairs...I would carry. That won't last long unless you married an Ox like man or something like that.

Once the puppy is large enough you can't carry any more, I'd teach the pup to go up and down the stairs sllllllloooooooowwwwwly, and on leash. after that, I'd restrict access to the stairs unattended so you can make sure there are no slips or falls until the puppy is, oh I dunno, 4 maybe

 

[wrknnwf]

Are your stair carpeted? If not, you may want to install a secure runner that will give some footing. I would teach the puppy how to use the stairs, but restrict him to using them under supervision until he is older. A baby gate at the top and bottom will work well until he is older.

My dogs go up and down stairs...well not Hugo, he's too old now. But he did them up until he was 12 years old. Their dog door is in the basement walkout door to the backyard. I've not had any problems as long as they are fit and you teach them to go up and down slowly. Both of mine have good hips, but Piper's elbows are dysplastic. In a couple of years, she will be too old for stairs, too.

Anyway, you are right that your dog will want to be wherever you are. And if you don't teach him to do the stairs when he is a puppy, you may regret it later when he's grown. That doesn't mean he can do them whenever he wants as a puppy, though.

 

[NinaA]

I have a house similar to what you are explaining, and I have never had a Newf who wanted to sleep on the second floor (our floors are carpeted and the kitchen tile is cooler). They do need to know how to climb stairs, but they don't need to be running up and down. Ours only go upstairs in the house when asked. Even our Labs prefer the first floor (again cooler). They need to be able to do stairs simply because you can't carry them for very long. Teach them on a leash - slowly, and then don't encourage them to use the stairs until they are way into their growth - I guess a year or so - if that's what you want to do. You will need to crate or at least pen up your pup for about a year (more or less) wherever you have it at night. They get into too much trouble otherwise. Browse the threads here. There is lots of information.

 

[OodlesOfNoodles]

Our guy is 6 1/2 months and around 65lbs - which I've determined is my max for being able to consistently carry him up and down our big stairs. My husband, however, is one of those big ox like men who at this point is saying he'll carry him until around 90lbs We have a similar style house and Finn is 100% convinced he must sleep with us (even though upstairs is carpeted and downstairs isn't), so having him do the stairs is a necessary evil at this point. If I'm on Finn-duty, I have him walk up the stairs on leash with me to go to bed. They're quite steep stairs, although carpeted, so he's not very confident going down them, so we don't make him to that yet. But note, once you've taught him how to go up, it may pose a challenge to limit his use on them. Baby gates sound good, but our guy has no respect for them - he knocks them down or jumps over them to get where he wants to be (which concerns me almost more than him using the stairs at this point!). If I need to run upstairs for something and am leaving him downstairs, we have to move a big chair in front of the stairs to block his access, as he's started to chase up after us. We don't want him doing that if there's no one there to ensure he goes slow enough (which, judging by the loud thumping, he's not doing).

For the half dozen smaller steps out our front door, he's been doing those since around 4 months. It was very important to us for him to learn how to do stairs and be confident in using them, but at the same time, we don't want him doing the big ones inside as much (ours has 2 flights of about 13 stairs each, straight up).

 

[Brandie&Maggie]

Definitely what others said...teach the stairs once you can't carry anymore, but don't let him use them unsupervised.

It's important they learn the stairs since, at some point, you are going to need the pup to use stairs. Either out on a walk, at someone else's house, etc. Trust me...it's really a problem if they don't know how as they are too big to carry as adults!

As far as sleeping, it depends on the dog I think. My Maggie likes to be where we are and whines if she is left alone and we are in the house. Luckily, our bedroom is on the first floor so she doesn't have to do the stairs. However, if we have a dogsitter stay over they sleep upstairs. In that case, Maggie goes up at night, down in the morning. That's it.

We don't even need a gate as she won't go up without coaxing and a treat!

 

[jane]

Are your stair carpeted? If not, you may want to install a secure runner that will give some footing. I would teach the puppy how to use the stairs, but restrict him to using them under supervision until he is older. A baby gate at the top and bottom will work well until he is older.

My dogs go up and down stairs...well not Hugo, he's too old now. But he did them up until he was 12 years old. Their dog door is in the basement walkout door to the backyard. I've not had any problems as long as they are fit and you teach them to go up and down slowly. Both of mine have good hips, but Piper's elbows are dysplastic. In a couple of years, she will be too old for stairs, too.

Anyway, you are right that your dog will want to be wherever you are. And if you don't teach him to do the stairs when he is a puppy, you may regret it later when he's grown. That doesn't mean he can do them whenever he wants as a puppy, though.

I agree with Jane....Teach the puppy, under your supervision, to use the stairs and keep a baby gate there for when you can't watch him. You will eventually see that they have no problem going up and down the steps. And...Yes...It will want to be where you are. I also agree with a runner for the steps if you don't have one there already.

 

[Nicoletta]

Ah, you're all amazing! Thank you so much for the responses. Our stairs are carpeted, yes, and we have baby gates in place already as we have little boys that would otherwise be running/falling up and down the stirs all day

Thanks again!

 

[dumainedogs]

Echo all that. Especially taking time to teach stairs. Obie had the option of stairs or a ramp into our backyard when he came home as a pup. He used the ramp mostly, and for awhile REAL stairs scared him. That made his first couple of trips to a beginning clicker obedience class at six months -VERRRRY- interesting since it was up a rather intimidating flight of wooden steps. It took lots of treats and the irresistible allure of another dog to get him up that first day :roflmao:

 

[Nicoletta]

It sounds so silly, but I'd never thought about having to "teach" them to use the stairs before. This is the first house I've ever lived in that has stairs, and we don't have a dog at the moment

 

[CMDRTED]

I agree, I have some stairs, as we live in a Raised Ranch style house. Important that they not be running up and down the stairs, but slowly. That will have less impact on joints that are developing. My youngest is a little over 2 now, I still have a gate at the top of the stairs (Main Living area), to keep them trying to run up and down all day long, and using the stairs as a play thing.