Stairs?
 

Any suggestions for keeping stairs safe for your babies?

I am busy puppy proofing my house before my little one arrives. (next week...I hope)

We have a staircase where the posts are separated at the top and the puppy could fall (jump?...she wouldn't do that would she?).

She won't be free to run in the house for awhile but I want to prepare for the future. She got up one small step at the breeders, then cried because she didn't know how to get down.

How do your dogs do on stairs?

Any staircase advice appreciated.

thanks

I have been really lucky in that Tini can go up stairs but cannot go down them.....I am not sure if she is afraid of the down or if she really can't do it. So far so good.

I would suggest maybe some plexiglas for the railings to block it but so you could still see through it and maybe a baby gate at the top of the stairs.

I put plexiglass panels all along my stair railings. I had to have them made and I'm glad I did. My puppy only goes up the steps, but I am with him when he does. I am afraid he'll fall backward.

My boys aren't allowed upstairs unless I'm there. I just put one of those cheap little garden fences on the bottom stair and that way they don't go up by themselves. I'm always afraid of them falling down, going up I don't have a problem with. This way the cats can still jump over so they can use the upstairs whenever they want...

When they were babies, they went up this 2 step platform we have and started crying because they were afraid to come down. After a bit, they could both go up, down, and they look over the side which used to scare me, but they never do more than put their head over the edge. I sometimes use a baby gate at the halfway platform if I don't want them to go upstairs. When zowie got preggo, she never climbed the stairs and still hasn't???

Pebbles goes up and down the stairs faster than I do. She just learned last week to come down the stairs and now she is faster than we are.

lexi learned to go up the stairs a few weeks ago but only learned down last week. She feel down about ten of them and i almost had a heartattck. She is okay but now i have baby gates at both ends and she only goes up, I carry her down. She is supervised on the stairs at all times.

Tucker just learned how to go upstairs, but is still too afraid to try to go down. I've been lucky, but I'm afraid that he will try to go downstairs without any warning to me!

Oh! I forgot, when Bronx and I are coming down the stairs, he jumps down about three or four and stops to look back for me. I have to be careful not to step on him, but more likely you try to jump over him... It can be scary, I guess it's like learning to walk on the floor around them, you take one step at a time to avoid hurting them or you.

Laura that is hysterical!!! My Dolce does the SAME THING!! She has been going up and down stairs for prolly 5-6 mths now...maybe longer, but it did take her a while to learn how to go down because she was scraed at first. Now she's like a lightening bolt up and down those stairs, but whenever i am upstairs and she is up there with me and then i decide to go down, she races ahead, gets down 3-4 stairs, stops, turns to look back at me like "Ok, Mom, lets go, ur coming right? Make sure u follow me...cmon" Its hysterical...she'll keep going if i say "im coming"...but sometimes she stops and i have to 'jump' over her....im like "ok Dolce, make up ur mind on whether u wanna go up or down...dont hold up the line on the stairs..." lol They are too funny....

I would say be careful though when they are so little, because they can be pretty daring...I wouldnt let her NEAR the stairs when she was young because i was so afraid. If she wanted to go by the stairs, i went with her and helped her, so she would get used to going up and down. Then my boyfriend and i taught her how to come down. Just be watchful and u could def use a gate at the bottom of the stairs so they dont have access if ur not around. Good luck with ur new one!! :D