[Kezzy&Snoops]

Hey all.

When we first got Snoopy, well over a year ago, we decided that he was going to be a downstairs hound. We already had a dog, Rusty the Springer, and he's now about 13 and set in his ways, and we wanted to reassure Rusty that he was still Alpha dog and had his own space, and that not *all* his life was going to be taken over by his new younger brother.

At night, Rusty sleeps upstairs, Snoopy sleeps downstairs, and we maintain this by having a baby-gate on the stairway.

We'd also been led to believe through various things we'd read that because bassets have long spines, stairs can be dangerous for them, so we keep the gate closed all the time.

Today, after nearly 18 months, Snoopy has figured out how to open the gate....

I'm tempted to remove the gate altogether now... But do stairs cause problems for bassets? What are the risks?

Any views welcome!

Kez [currently busy basset-proofing the upstairs office!]

 

[lala]

Our breeder told us that stairs were not a good thing for at least a year and so we're abiding by her wishes. There are two stairs into our house and Ernest is mostly carried down them and he gets up them okay.

We have three levels, so we have a baby gate to our basement, a baby gate to our bedroom. We also have a set of stairs to our back garden that we're not using anymore because of Ernest. We're getting lots of exercise this way.

Is there anyway you can redo the latch so he can't go up stairs?

Good luck.

lala

 

[Kezzy&Snoops]

short of redoing the gate with bricks and mortar....

it's probably just a phase. hopefully, he'll soon forget his newly learned skill....

 

[Roxysmom]

This is a worry for me also.
I use a baby gate too to block the house stairs but Roxy has to climb two steps every time she comes in from outside. I can tell she hates them. She even pases backa nd forth a little before going up them. She has only gone up a flight once so far and she fell half way. Freaked me out!
But keep in mind she is a youngster still, only 5 months.

So I too will be checking back for more replies here. :?

 

[Emma and Doris]

It's mostly up to 12 months, the bone ends are so soft that
they could be permanently damaged beacuse of the heavy weight
jumping down. Not only stairs, also jumping down from furniture
could be harmful.

Jumping up and down could cause injuries also as an adult dog,
so avoid this if possible.

 

[Kezzy&Snoops]

Staircase update:

It was decided that we'd leave the gate in place.

Snoopy decided that, well fine, if he's not allowed upstairs, he'd have a quiet chew of the bottom lock to make sure that no one upstairs could unlock the gate from that side.

I ended up climbing over the bannister :?

 

[Tom&Daug]

Originally posted by Kezzy&Snoops


I ended up climbing over the bannister  :?

Thats what you get when you try to outsmart a bassett

I have spiral stairs in my house and neither of my bassetts will(would) go down them. Their bodys are just not built for spiral stairs. Daug likes to hang her head over the side and wait till I start back up the stairs. Soon as I am in reach I receive a "bassett kiss" on top of the head.