Rocco at 11 weeks

[tah1212]

Not sure, here is my attempt to add a video…

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[Ninabeana26]

He is such a cutie!! Love the video. Thanks for sharing

[Janneke]

Very lovely pup! Nice video!

I wouldn't let Rocco walk the stairs, because his body is still developing.

[tanza]

@Janneke:

Very lovely pup! Nice video!

I wouldn't let Rocco walk the stairs, because his body is still developing.

I disagree about stairs… mine from as early as 6wks have played and done stairs... (puppies from my litters). However, that said, I would have to say that carpeted ones are safest...
But all my B's have learned and done stairs from a very, very early age... and now at ages 16 1/2, 15, and 13 1/2... they never have had any problems.

[Janneke]

@tanza:

I disagree about stairs… mine from as early as 6wks have played and done stairs... (puppies from my litters). However, that said, I would have to say that carpeted ones are safest...
But all my B's have learned and done stairs from a very, very early age... and now at ages 16 1/2, 15, and 13 1/2... they never have had any problems.

We don't let dogs walk stairs untill they are one year old. The same for running besides a bicycle. Mirtillo isn't allowed on stairs anyway, because we don't want him in our bedroom.

[tanza]

@Janneke:

We don't let dogs walk stairs untill they are one year old. The same for running besides a bicycle. Mirtillo isn't allowed on stairs anyway, because we don't want him in our bedroom.

I think that becomes a decision that each makes on their own ideas.. I don't think one is wrong over the other…

But I do agree with you on bike running, or running in general (as in forced running). You should be waiting till their growth plates are closed. That can happen between 5 to 8 months, sometimes longer.

[lvoss]

I also have stairs in my home and my pups are on them from about 6 weeks though not really walking up and down them to get someplace until they are about 10-12 weeks. I have not had a problem with the development of my dogs. My last litter also had a wobble board at 5 weeks old.

I agree that pups should not be asked to do forced jogs until their growth plates have closed so about 1 year is usually about right in basenjis. Also only low jumps, for those trying out agility, until their growth plates close.

[tah1212]

Thanks for the heads up with the stairs and jumping. We did not let Rocco go on the big stairs shown in the video until he had mastered the set of three upstairs. Even with those he was not allowed to go on unsupervised and we shadowed his walk down. We got him when he was 10 weeks old, so he was fairly steady on his feet. Right now he is still supervised (from either of the two rooms) which I will stop and watch him go up or down the stairs. If we are solely upstairs the door is always closed so we can keep a better eye on him and not risk him accidentally running down the stairs during one of his “mad dash B” runs.

On one hand we do want to protect him from harm while at the same time consider the multiple environments he should have exposure to in order to properly socialize and generalize his appropriate behaviors. With the stairs we have tried to balance the two. Unfortunately, stairs are part of our life at our house( we have the inside, and out), so I wanted to have some earlier positive exposure. That being said, this means that I have to make sure I don’t get complacent and monitor him while he is on the stairs.

[lvoss]

The big thing with puppies is to not overdo. Things like them going up and down the stairs, jumping on and off the bed or sofa, and racing around like maniacs doing the B-500 is normal. What you want to be careful about are asking them to do these things as part of training or conditioning.