a-mechanic

Hi, I am new here, and my family will pick up our puppy in January. I have enjoyed viewing all the posts here and am sure to become a regular visitor.
I have questions about stairs. I have seen several posts that stairs are bad or difficult for these dogs. We have friends with a basset (whom we dog sit) and he does not seem to have issues at our house or theirs.
How bad are stairs for this breed? and how concerned should I be?
We have a split foyer and plenty of stairs just to get to the ground. Will I need handicap ramps or am I worried now over nothing?
Thanks in advance.

Lisa and joey

I was a little worried when we got joey as a pup but to be honest he doesn't even attempt to go up or down the stairs, he waits to be carried up or down like a lord of the house lol.
I think the main thing is not to let them jump off of the furniture when they are pups as I believe it can cause problems later in life as there bones are dense.

Someone will be on here soon that will be able to go in depth with you about it.

Welcome to the site it's absolute brill, if I have ever had any issues I come straight on here and the advice is brilliant. Xx


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Basically, while they are growing puppies it's best to carry them down the stairs for as long as possible. Their bones tend to get big and heavy before they get strong, and since bassets usually don't "walk" down stairs but "hop" instead, putting all their weight on both front legs, there is greater potential for damage or injury. Once they're fully grown there is generally no problem for a healthy (sound and not overweight) basset to do stairs.

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Lemontart01

We have a one big stairs and i put a gate.. my two bassets rarely go there


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FranksMum

The biggest problem with Bassets and stairs is not so much the going up, but the coming down. And likewise with jumping off furniture. Their fronts are very prone to injury when the muscles are not there to support their heavy bone. This is a big boned heavy breed, even as a puppy, compared to most other breeds really, and so reasonable care should always be taken with them when they are young. Once they are adult, and fully bodied and muscled up, there should be no problem, provided they've come through puppyhood sound. It only takes one moment of madness for a puppy to be in trouble, and for this reason, much as it might seem to be unnecessary, it's better to be careful, than live to regret it. We had a car-ramp outside our back door here with our latest buy in so he could manage the quite steep steps earlyi days - he was 4 months when we had him. And whenever we've had steps, we've built in ramps. Obviously the heavier the hound, the more risk there is.

If you are buying from a reputable breeder, they should advise youi as to the do's and don'ts with this breed

Mikey T

actual that is not the case. The biggest risk is from having an overweight obese puppy. Puppy should be skinny for the first year then allowed to fill out to minimize the risk of orthopeadic damage for "over nutrition'

again stairs pose the biggest risk to puppies before the growth plate close And this risk is greatest in paired bone like the radius and ulna in the forelimb because damage to one growth plate can stop growth wile the other bone keeps groing causing an agular limb irregularity, some irregularity is require for proper basset conformation to much however can cause a lot of problems.

kee in bind because we are talking growth plates hear damage done when the dog is older will have much less efect than when it is younger, and has more time to montinue to grow.

see EPIPHYSEAL PLATE CLOSURE IN DOGS
the ulna and radius typical close at 10 and 8 months respectivly for the average dog. and given that very growth occurs the two monts prior to closure the recommendation of not stair till the dog is older than six months make some sence, But t say a basset can.t or should not ever do stair streching the fact beyond reality.

shakespeare

I hate stairs and Bassets - we moved 3 years ago to get away from them. Lula is an old lady, Isabel has short legs and Margs is fine... You can train them to use stairs properly but not always - I hate the sound of that that ba..bump.. (hop) going down and hate what it's doing to the front. LOL that's me.... If it can be avoided in their daily thing - great...
Like said we carried them down til they were around 7 months old.

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The Highbury Hounds Tallulah, Isabel and Margot

Zeagle

We live on the water and our houses are raised and have plenty stairs. Buster came from a neighbor who allowed him as a pup, up and down access by himself. Now he is a race dog and I can barely keep up/down with him due to no Rt. ACL. He stays upstairs most of the time but I do let him down to his run on really nice days when the yard is dry.

rebobinar

I was concerned about my stairs for my pup, but she goes up them, then cries for me to come carry her down. I would say just be prepared to do some carrying... she seems to know she can't handle them. She'll come down every once in a while, but rarely.

shakespeare

If she has already ventured down she'll start doing it more. Might be a good idea to put a baby gate up until she's older just to be safer.

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The Highbury Hounds Tallulah, Isabel and Margot