Jumping off stairs and other high places

I found a really old thread (prehistoric in forum terms) that discussed when to allow a young dog to start jumping off things. However, it's now five years since that post (and 10 years since we've had a puppy around) I thought I'd ask again at what age is it safe to allow a puppy/dog to leap from tall places? I'm hoping to generate a resource that future generations can use.

I'm particularly interested in kai, but have put this in the health category so all of the NKF community can chime in (and benefit). Since NKs come in small, med and large, please specify which breed or size you are talking about. Also, in order to frame our discussion, let's say there are three different "standard" heights:
  • Short = 7 inches (17.78 cm) or standard stair height
  • Medium = 18-19 inches (45.72-48.26 cm) or standard park bench/sofa/chair height
  • High = 30 inches (76.2 cm) or standard bed height (frame, box spring, mattress)
For instance:
Large Dog Breed X
-Short @ 9 months
-Med @ 1 year
-High @ 1.5 years

Comments

  • Ok, my opinion is just that, but here we go.

    Tiny dogs like my chihuahua (5lbs) should never be allowed to jump as their bones are very small and fragile. They are also prone to joint issues.

    Small dogs like my Shiba (15lbs) are agile and I never encourage them to jump. I let it happen naturally. With that said, short @ about 5-6 months. Medium @ not much older, but usually around 9-10 months. They are not encouraged to jump any higher, so whenever they do that, it is at their own discretion.

    My Kai Ken was never encouraged to jump. I am deathly afraid of her developing hip and joint issues later in life because of all the elderly dogs I have seen with joint problems. She jumps on the couch sometimes, but is content to lie in her bed.

    Like I said before, these are my opinions. I have never taught or encouraged jumping. My chihuahua was taught to jump many years ago by an ex of mine who thought it would be funny. My Shiba came to me at almost 2 years old and already a jumper. I thought about jumping before I got her because I had originally planned on a puppy. My Kai jumps up on me and my husband, but we discourage bad manners.

    So, there you have it. I hope I'm not mistaken I'm my opinions, what do y'all think?
  • I only limit Conker's jumping, since he's got a bad knee. Despite that, he can easily clear a 3 foot obstacle, but I don't let him attempt to jump (on or off) any higher than that. The other dogs are allowed to do whatever they want, and always have.
    Unless, of course, the dog is in danger of injuring or killing itself, then I won't let them jump onto/off of a particular object. Same with pups, I don't limit their agility unless it is actually dangerous.
  • I'm such a nervous person when it comes to jumping. I probably baby my dogs too much. :P
  • I was always told not to let dogs in general (though I was working with a dog that was approximately Kai-sized--a Finnish Lapphund) jump higher than their elbow joint until one year, and not above wither height until sometime after that (and to generally limit most repetitive jumping to their wither height if possible). I'm not sure if it was good advice or not, but she never did have any joint trouble of any kind. That, however, was mostly in the context of agility training.

    But for jumping off things... short is really probably whenever they're bold enough to try it, medium a bit older (9 months? I'm not sure), and high I would wait until around a year or so if possible. But really, most dogs are going to decide for themselves when they're comfortable jumping off a given height and you may not have much control of it. I watched a seven week old puppy launch itself off a deck once--and he came to no harm from it, though it freaked his breeder out.

    But that's just a guess based on very very limited experience...
  • Lol, that reminded me of the time when my chihuahua was a puppy. She was 6 weeks old when I got her and she fit in the palm of my hand. I was sitting on my bed one day with her and playing with my kitten as well. Well, I looked over just in time to see a chihuahua butt go over the edge of my bed. My bed at the time was really high up and I was sure Sophie had broken her neck. I peer over the edge of bed and she looks up at me. I was so relieved. I picked her up and put her back on the bed, only to watch her try to jump off the bed again! Crazy little half pound puppy!!! :)
  • edited July 2013
    Not allowing a large breed to go down 7" until 9 months old seems silly. I mean, they basically step that distance, its not even a jump.

    Whether or not a dog should be jumping off of things really depends on the shoulder joint. This also has to do with distance running, because the impact on landing is absorbed by the shoulder. A dog with very straight shoulders where you can see the shoulder blades above the spine like a cat will be good at leaping and bad at landing or running long distance. They will eventually develop joint problems and arthritis. A dog with well laid back shoulders and proper front angulation has good shock absorbers and can handle landing impact much better, allowing them to do things like pull sleds across country. A straight-shouldered dog would get tired out quickly, and this is why we don't pull sleds with snow leopards (LOL).

    From watching my dogs, puppies, foster kittens, pet rats and gerbils, etc over the years, I have come to the conclusion that jump/fall distance is not relative to the size of the animal. That is, falling or jumping from a table is about the same regardless of size. After all the velocity (gravity) is the same. In fact the smaller animal might do better since force (mass) is less. Just some random thoughts, dunno how scientific it is.

    I like the elbow height and withers height rule of thumb. It seems to be a good one.
  • Most dogs will not do anything to intentionally hurt themselves so if a dog wants to jump they will jump, if the landing is rough the first time they generally won't try it again unless the motivation is 100x better. My parents dog up until the age of four, and she is kai sized (knee high though alittle broader through the chest @ 34lbs and fit), could straight jump a four foot wall walk along the top and then drop the three feet to the other size. This started at about a year. She was fine, could do it and chose to do it so why should I stop her? Once four came around she was less inclined to do it as it was harder for her so she put her brakes on herself. She is now 12/13 and doesn't have any joint issues yet.

    Sachi isn't as vertically inclined as some of the other Kais (Leo) and I've only really seen her jump over obstacles during walks or the babygate in my house so if that is what she can handle she is welcome to it. I agree with whom ever said it above, that smaller dogs (though not necessarily small dogs) might do better as jumpers as they grow less in the same amount of time a big dog does and have that much less strain and pressure on joints and bones (i.e. why Great Danes are recommended to only really take about 30 minutes of combined exercise a day until 2years as there is so much stress on their body).

    @tmd your kai will be very cat agile, but depending on who the parents are will determine their inclination to be vertical, but I would say most kais know their own limits pretty well.
  • edited July 2013
    When I had Sasuke, I was training him to do parkour with me. He would jump onto walls, jump down, and leap gaps. I started with really small heights but didn't heavily train him until he was about 1 years old. As with agility, bones aren't fully developed until they are one.

    With Mochi, I slowly got him to jump for frisbees. at a young age, he only received rollers. when he got older, I would toss small throws to make him jump about 26 inches. Now, he can get a foot off the ground at the age of one. Same mindset goes with running.
  • tachi and karin used stairs from day 1 and they don't have problems.
    but its better to not use them till 1-2 years old. also jumping in concrete is not really good even when they get older. I think grass or regular ground should be safe.
  • Thanks all! A big part of my concern is that both exits from my house include a few (6-9) wooden steps down to concrete, so at some point the new puppy will be forced to take the stairs, but I don't want risk injury if I can help it. Maybe then allowing stair traversal will be based on when the elbows are the height of the stairs.
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