Walking downstairs....need advise

Julie Stevenson · Nov 13, 2013

I have a few ideas on how to work with Oliver on this subject, but I wanted to see how many of you might have other ideas. I just love picking other peoples brains and learning from one another! So, Oliver jumped (more like flew) down only 2 stairs and landed on the 3rd on his left elbow breaking it, about 8 weeks ago on September 23. Since then he has been afraid to walk down steps. Now due to his size I have been carrying him up and down. We had a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs and our teen boy removed it and that's how Oliver was able to get up the stairs. My teen (18) daughter ran after him and Oliver thought it was a game and so when he reached the top of the stairs he whipped around and went to run down and that'w when he hurt himself.

Ok - so the question. How many of you have had to teach your frenchies to walk down stairs and at what age did you do this? Oliver is going to be 6 months on Nov 24 and I think he's big enough to learn to walk down by himself, but of course I'm the over protective mommy and I am worried he will hurt himself! So my plan is to put his harness on him and teach him one step at a time holding him up at first and using a treat to encourage him to walk down. We have 4 steps and a landing and another 4 and a landing and then 5 to the bottom, so it's broken up, but I'm still really nervous about it. It was a tramatic night for me. I was just sure he would hurt himself on the stairs that's why I had baby gates up. But of course I can't control everything all the time (no matter how hard I try). He screamed for 2 mins straight. He would not stop even when my daughter scooped him up. It took my spouce taking him and talking to him to get him to calm down. I just can't go through that again. Everyone was crying and the vet bill for the orthopedic surgeon was $4000. Now nothing is too much for my baby, and I was never so grateful for the pet insurance.

I'm long winded....so thoughts? Suggestions? Advise? All are welcome!

Cbrugs · Nov 13, 2013

I have a split level home so we have stairs from the front door up to the main living area and from the front door down to the laundry and rec room. We usually keep a baby gate at the top of the stairs to prevent Jax from going down and getting into things. We also have stairs outside going up to the front door. Jax is 7 months old now but he has been going up and down the stairs for months now. Most of the time I/we carry him down to the front door when he needs to go out (he is getting heavy though) but he will usually walk down the outside steps by himself. He also goes up the stairs by himself.

Julie Stevenson · Nov 13, 2013

Cbrugs said:
I have a split level home so we have stairs from the front door up to the main living area and from the front door down to the laundry and rec room. We usually keep a baby gate at the top of the stairs to prevent Jax from going down and getting into things. We also have stairs outside going up to the front door. Jax is 7 months old now but he has been going up and down the stairs for months now. Most of the time I/we carry him down to the front door when he needs to go out (he is getting heavy though) but he will usually walk down the outside steps by himself. He also goes up the stairs by himself.

Ollie is a champion climber of the stairs too. He likes jumping up them, it's the down part that he's not fond of or probably more scared of than anything. I just have to get him past that.

Kris Thomas LaBounty · Nov 13, 2013

Julie Stevenson said:
View attachment 1307 View attachment 1308I have a few ideas on how to work with Oliver on this subject, but I wanted to see how many of you might have other ideas. I just love picking other peoples brains and learning from one another! So, Oliver jumped (more like flew) down only 2 stairs and landed on the 3rd on his left elbow breaking it, about 8 weeks ago on September 23. Since then he has been afraid to walk down steps. Now due to his size I have been carrying him up and down. We had a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs and our teen boy removed it and that's how Oliver was able to get up the stairs. My teen (18) daughter ran after him and Oliver thought it was a game and so when he reached the top of the stairs he whipped around and went to run down and that'w when he hurt himself.

Ok - so the question. How many of you have had to teach your frenchies to walk down stairs and at what age did you do this? Oliver is going to be 6 months on Nov 24 and I think he's big enough to learn to walk down by himself, but of course I'm the over protective mommy and I am worried he will hurt himself! So my plan is to put his harness on him and teach him one step at a time holding him up at first and using a treat to encourage him to walk down. We have 4 steps and a landing and another 4 and a landing and then 5 to the bottom, so it's broken up, but I'm still really nervous about it. It was a tramatic night for me. I was just sure he would hurt himself on the stairs that's why I had baby gates up. But of course I can't control everything all the time (no matter how hard I try). He screamed for 2 mins straight. He would not stop even when my daughter scooped him up. It took my spouce taking him and talking to him to get him to calm down. I just can't go through that again. Everyone was crying and the vet bill for the orthopedic surgeon was $4000. Now nothing is too much for my baby, and I was never so grateful for the pet insurance.

I'm long winded....so thoughts? Suggestions? Advise? All are welcome!

WOW-sad

Poor Oliver. I taxied my boy til I couldn't carry him anymore (about 22 lbs) then we taught him the stairs. The books I read recommended the "Taxi" approach for house breaking and I have to say it worked. My boy didn't go in my house and he came home at 9 weeks. Unfortunately a trip outside at our house means going down a set of steps because we have a lower living level. He was so scared but we leashed him and tugged him one step at a time and then he got it. This past Sept when he was 10 mos we took him to a house we rented up at Sundance and it's built in the side of the mountain so there are multiple levels and slate floors, He got so excited he started the Frenchie 500 through the great room and rounded the corner to a set of steps that took you to the ground entry level and F L E W and fell down them. My daughter was right there with him and said he looked so stunned because he thought it was all one level. I was scared he hurt himself because of the slate and how fast he was going but he seemed fine but he would not go down the steps anymore which was a problem because he had to go down steps to get out to potty. We had to teach him all over again. I can see how lucky I was with him after reading your story. I keep a baby gate up too to keep him out of the parts of the house he has no business in and to keep him from the lower living level which we really don't use but has lots of things to find and get into :-O (Not my bulldog :no: ) My Sergeant has a healthy respect for stairs now and your Oliver probably will too. Be careful not to let him jump from furniture or the bed. Poor Oliver

Alice Kable · Nov 13, 2013

Poor Ollie and his bad experience with stairs. Buster doesn't like going upstairs at our house because that means he is going to get a bath, but he is very eager to come downstairs away from the bathtub! He has followed our EB Ruggles, and hasn't had problems, but he is half OEB and very athletic!

winginit66 · Nov 13, 2013

I must be very lucky because Gidget jumps off of our bed and takes flying leaps off of the deck stairs into the yard. We don't have stairs inside, so that isn't an issue. She also does crazy acrobatic stuff if you get the Frisbee out... I mean really crazy. I will have to post a video.

davidh · Nov 13, 2013

Poor boy, sorry he hurt his leg. Truthfully I would not let him go down the stairs or jump off the furniture until he gets close to one year of age due to his growth plates. They are not hard yet and permanent injury to his joints can happen. The growth plates usually harden, or fuss together around the age of one.

mhuinker · Nov 13, 2013

I carry Leo up and down the stairs because I'm afraid of him hurting himself.

Jared Richard · Nov 14, 2013

I'm sorry. I don't have an answer but he's a good looking boy!

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Julie Stevenson · Nov 14, 2013

davidh said:
Poor boy, sorry he hurt his leg. Truthfully I would not let him go down the stairs or jump off the furniture until he gets close to one year of age due to his growth plates. They are not hard yet and permanent injury to his joints can happen. The growth plates usually harden, or fuss together around the age of one.

I agree with you David. I'm having a rough time. He's REALLY scared. We had our first lesson at the scene of the accident and he wanted NO part of it. He literally JUMPED INTO MY Arms and would not go down the stairs. What's odd is that he will jumps down the 2 staris from the house down to the garage. But the stairs inside the house are SCARY for him. I had his harness on him and his leash so I could control his movements and I had his favorite treats, but he just layed down and refused to move. I pushed and pulled and when I did he would just jump into my arms. LOL I guess I will just carry his little butt for another 6 months and maybe try again when he's older. My poor puppy is tramautized.

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mhuinker said:
I carry Leo up and down the stairs because I'm afraid of him hurting himself.

It's good to know I'm not the only OVER protective mommy!

mhuinker · Nov 14, 2013

Julie Stevenson said:
I agree with you David. I'm having a rough time. He's REALLY scared. We had our first lesson at the scene of the accident and he wanted NO part of it. He literally JUMPED INTO MY Arms and would not go down the stairs. What's odd is that he will jumps down the 2 staris from the house down to the garage. But the stairs inside the house are SCARY for him. I had his harness on him and his leash so I could control his movements and I had his favorite treats, but he just layed down and refused to move. I pushed and pulled and when I did he would just jump into my arms. LOL I guess I will just carry his little butt for another 6 months and maybe try again when he's older. My poor puppy is tramautized.

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It's good to know I'm not the only OVER protective mommy!

Nope, you're not alone. I'm crazy overprotective!!!