worried

[riva_red]

we've had Louie for a week now and he is doing great, his cheekey cocker personality is starting to come through We are a bit worried about him though and was hoping you guys could hopefully give us some advise... the problem is we have a few steps down to the back garden from the house and Louie is a bit wee for them... he is always dashing at them and either falling up them or down them, a few times he's come down so fast his front paws can't keep up and he falls forward scraping his chin on the ground. He just picks himself back up and seems unphased by it but i'm worried he's going to hurt his legs and/or jaw.  Should we start carring him in and out till he gets a bit bigger or am I being over cautious?

[Annette]

I don't know to be honest. I guess he could hurt himself if he landed awkwardly. I know a few members have had young pups with injuries from this sort of thing. But part of me thinks that he just has to learn not to rush at them so much. And the only way he can do that is to get the odd little bump.

Let's see what some of the more experienced owners think!

[Pammy]

Could you make a temporary ramp for him? Too much up and down steps for such a youngster could damage his joints. Won';t show until later life but it could. If he's not managing them well then I wouldn't just leave him to keep hurting himself anyway - it's just not nice. If you can't do a ramp - then I would lift him until he is able to get up and down without banging himself.

[Rhona W]

Personally I would carry Louie outside for now. At that age I was going outside everytime with my pups anyway to heap on lots of praise when they 'performed'. IMO it's just not worth the risk of him injuring himself. Imagine how guilty you would feel if he did hurt himself when you knew he would tumble. Besides - it won't be for long. It's surprising how quickly they grow! 

[ali]

i agree with rhona and pammy. i think i'd worry too about him hurting himself, either in the short or long term. could you get some planks of wood or something, to provide a temporary ramp for him? then you could let him go in and out without needing to stop him and pick him up.

barkers scared my mum when he first went to visit by happily jumping off a garden wall (about a metre drop) onto the lawn.    he would have done it again without a hesitation but we blocked it off. i think you do have to protect them from themselves whilst they are very young. they seem like such resiliant little things    but we're constantly being warned of the potential long-term problems.

[riva_red]

Thanks everyone... we have started to lift him in and out untill he gets a little bigger . I hoped you would agree that this would be best as I was sure this couldn't be good for the little fella...they don't half give you a scare when they do these things...

[paulb]

hi, we did the ramp thing, our house has the bigest ever so a make shift ramp did the trick,

it's funny you look at the step a year later and the way barney leaps in and it feels like eons ago,

[MaxG]

We made a temporary step out of our patio doors with some housebricks last summer when Max was 9 weeks old when we first got him - he's 1 yr old now & has long since been able to leap in & out like a loony but still often uses the step & we haven't got round to taking it away!! I reckon it's like taking the stabilisers off his first bike - hubby thinks I'm mental of course!! 

[cazza]

I think you are doing the right thing, however can I pls ask you to make sure you have Louie Insured,

Fern fell up a step at 10 weeks and broke her jaw   thankfully she is now fine but the cost of the specialist she was referred to was horrendous.
Thankfully we had her ins

[riva_red]

I think we are going to try to make a ramp today as we've been trying to carry him in and out but sometimes he's a bit to quick for us... little scamp that he is. On the insurance front it's one of the first things we did when we got him home.. we went for the m&s option 

[cazza]

They are quick aren't they?

Fern only ran to go up one step and slipped as her feet were wet from the grass.

Good luck with making a ramp

[hamfam]

I made some tempary modifications to decrease the height our steps with some old pieces of slate and some sand - works fine when she isn't going mad, when Lucy's having a funny five mins it really makes no difference at all, she ends up landing on her chin anyway.
Short of putting old mattresses down everywhere i don't think there is much that you can do! its another cocker thing

[debbie321]

They do grow alarmingly fast!  I remember Ben leaping through the cat flap and worrying as it was a 12" drop the other side!  He then went through a phase of 'head out and legs paddling the door'   He now just fits his head through to bark for a lost toy or a cat 

[karen45]

We had the same problem with Jake when he was 8 weeks old.  He couldnt manage the steep step down from the patio door.  I tried to carry him out as much as possible, and he landed on his chin a few times when attempting the step by himself.  However, a few weeks down the line and he was big enough to manage the step by himself.

Karen

[JaneB]

We had the same problem when Dodge was a tiny pup, we improvised with a shoebox which acted as another step and this did the trick. He grew so quickly that he only used it for a couple of weeks and then it came in useful as a great chewing toy which lasted him weeks!