Stairs & dogs breeds prone to dysplasia

[Anonymous]

Please settle a family argument - if we have a giant dog of a breed prone to hip dysplasia issues, does it make a difference to have then on stairs a lot when they’re young adults.

Basically, is there a limited number of stair flights in this dog and I should be limiting it now, or is it fine for him to go up and down 10 times a day now. Or is it even maybe beneficial to work those muscles?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please settle a family argument - if we have a giant dog of a breed prone to hip dysplasia issues, does it make a difference to have then on stairs a lot when they’re young adults.

Basically, is there a limited number of stair flights in this dog and I should be limiting it now, or is it fine for him to go up and down 10 times a day now. Or is it even maybe beneficial to work those muscles?

Our extended family are all giant breed dog owners (newfoundlands, mastiffs, etc). Clearly that doesn't make us experts but this is what we've all been told (by vets, trainers and breeders) and practiced.

Going up and down stairs slowly (if they can do so) is usually fine, but you should be sure:

1) they don't jump off or on the stairs - for example, our 2-year old giant breed will sometimes run and jump off our backyard deck onto the grass yard which is only three steps down, but it's still very risky so we try hard to stop him to avoid injury.
2) the stairs/bottom floor aren't slippery... if your stairs are hardwood or the stairs are carpet but the floor at the bottom of the stairs is hardwood then it can be dangerous. When they come down the steps they sometimes can't slow down easily and when they hit the hardwood floor they tend to flop down sometimes.

This is probably common sense, but if you are a first time giant breed owner its good to be careful. Especially because if giant breeds hurt themselves or get injuried when young - it can contribute to future joint problems. Our boy can comfortably jump up into or down from the back of our SUV but we are training him to use a ramp (which they are often afraid to do at first), because its not the best for him to do now - and definitely will be problematic as he gets older.