On 2 seperate occasions I have been told that my boxer dog should never be allowed to go up and down stairs. This was from Boxer dog breeders. has anyone else been told this.

I am still carrying my 10 month old Flatcoat downstairs because she got so used to be doing it as a puppy......   :-/

A puppy of any breed should not be allowed to walk up and down stairs or to jump on and off anything higher than a few inches, once the bones have stopped growing (approx 18 month) then it is fine to start allowing the dog to jump but take it steady start small and work up as the muscles build up. They will do it but it should be discouraged as it can damage joints and growth plates.

For the first 6 months I carry my pups up and down the stairs, then down only till a year old. It is easier to stop a pup going down under their own steam because it is scary to have their bum higher than their head.

My breed only has short legs, I'd be guided by what breeders of boxers say, they have much longer legs which probably go on growing for longer than a dachsie.

they have much longer legs which probably go on growing for longer than a dachsie.

Have not researched myself but am told by someone who has that the bones grow in the same order and more or less at the same speed no matter what the breed and as far as I remember it is long bones first and then the smaller ones and the whole growth stops around 18 months no matter what the breed but individuals will differ because of diet and hereditary factors.

It's generally agreed that puppies of any breed shouldn't be going up and down stairs. The larger the breed the longer this rule lasts - so 18 months would seem reasonable for a boxer.

My hwv is much the same size as a boxer. I have had a stair gate for him since he 'discovered' the stairs. However he sleeps upstairs with me and once he got to 6-7 months old it was dangerous to carry him on the stairs so I let him climb them and come down on his own, as it was only once a day.

Think with different breeds there are different potential problems, with the boxer and my own breed we would be worried about the growth plates in the legs but with a breed like the Dachshund it would be the spine and as the small bones finish growing last I think to be on the safe side 18 months should be the rule for all breeds.

Not sure when agility is started but would hope it would be at least 18 month and 2 years would be better but I suppose under strict supervision it may be younger.

> Not sure when agility is started but would hope it would be at least 18 month and 2 years would be better but I suppose under strict supervision it may be younger.

jumping in agility training is usually started at about 1yo I believe.

jumping in agility training is usually started at about 1yo

Hope it is kept very low, no problem with most of the other equipment but the jumps and the table is a bit of a worry at a year and not sure about the seesaw either as that could be very jarring unless used with great care.

Not sure when agility is started but would hope it would be at least 18 month and 2 years would be better but I suppose under strict supervision it may be younger.

The club I used to go to didn't allow jumping until 2 yr at a minimum.

i'm not sure if it was on here or another forum I use, but there was a link to a Swedish veterinary study into HD in various breeds, in their final recommendations they advised not to allow any breed use stairs until 3 months, and, restricted exercise on gently undulating ground.
annoyingly, i thought I'd saved the site, but i haven't.

I would avoid it whenever possible - you can't always stop a puppy running up the stairs before you've got the stairgate closed, or jumping suddenly off a sofa, but where possible he/she should be carried. :-)

> my boxer dog should never be allowed to go up and down stairs

I wouldn't say never, that's a bit extreme, my advise is not to let them run up & down playing all day long

I live in 1st floor a maisonette so have no choice when it comes to stairs, my recent boxer pup is now 9 months old and I stopped carrying him up the stairs about 2/3 months ago and that was only because he's just too heavy for me! The same applied to my other 2 boxer boys.

I do have a stair gate at the top so they can't run up & down all day long but when coming in from a walk or toilets they do walk up them seleves and I've not noticed it affecting their muscle or bones & I don't think any judges have, my oldest is a champion, my middle boy has 2 RCCs and the pup has been winning well but they are all very fit active muscley boys

I will come clean now and you will all cringe:
When we got our 1st boxer puppy, we used to throw toys up and down the stairs to tire her out inbetween her long walks. I never knew about the "stairs" rule, ot the "5 min per month" rule.
She is now 12 and and still happy and healthy.
I'm not telling you it is ok to let them up and down stairs - merely telling a story.
We have been blessed with a very healthy dog :-)

> I've not noticed it affecting their muscle or bones & I don't think any judges have,

Have any of them been hip scored though?  I notice that sadly few people in your breed do so routinely, can't fathom why, unless it is fear of anastheisa due to heart problems in the breed?.

I notice the Hip scheme procedure notes do now say that sedation is acceptable for hip x-rays.

Think the thing is there is a risk and most people would not knowingly take such a risk with their pup. Yes, most of the time you may get away with it but it is the same as letting a young child cross the road alone, most of the time they will be OK but it only has to go wrong once.

I have been told by more than one breeder that if we stopped puppies from doing all activities they wouldn't build up the muscles to help support the bones as they get older so it is a case of finding a happy medium.

We need to consider the physical envionment that canines would encounter in 'the wild'. That's what they're designed to cope with - and I don't know of many natural flights of stairs!