Winston has his four legs back again

There's probably a way, Di. Maybe you could pile stuff on the stairs in obstacle course fashion- laundry basket, whiskey barrel, abandoned pickup truck - so that Winston would have to slow down just to maneuver the stairs. Our Yorkie knows that he doesn't 'do' jumping but we taught him that from puppyhood. Our first Yorkie had to have his hips replaced because of the stress on those tiny bones and we didn't want a friend to have to go through that again. Polly

"DiMa" Hi all,

Glad to hear Winston is doing so well. We have an old, wobbly lab and every steep, narrow stairs. Came home one night and found him laying at the bottom of the steps and not able to put any weight on his front leg. Once we got over that hump, we now have a baby gate that lives at the bottom of the stairs so he can't go up/down at will. Well, almost. In the last couple of weeks he & the Monster Girl have learned to just knock it down so they can be upstairs with me. The overall plan, however, is to not let the old man go up/down unescorted. We hold onto his collar on the down trips just to slow him down and stabilize the back end on the way up. Unfortunately, with the way the stair treads are positioned, we can't lock the gate in place - they could just slither under the gate and I'm afraid they'd just hurt themselves more. So the unescorted trips happen but he's pretty good at taking his time now. And the Monster Girl has been pretty good about not tripping or dragging him.

Kim in sort of snowy NJ

My dog doesn't know about jumping at all, which is best for her. She not only has a back that is too long for the length of her legs, which puts strain on the back with jumping, but also has a crippled front leg and deformed ankle and foot from birth. She gets around just fine and doesn't seem to know she has a problem at all, but she has a "hitch in her giddyup", her muscle development is out of balance at the front, and she has to be slow on stairs.

Would it be worthwhile for you to block the stairs all the time when you are not actually using them, and then have the dog on a leash and walk with you at a slow pace with stairs?

SOOOO nice to get good news about Winston. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^< (RCTQ Queen of Kitties) Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their whiskers! Visit my Photo albums at

That is just great news Di. Good to hear the terrific outcome. When golden retriever Georgia had trick knee surgery they told me she is going to have to calm down. Huh? That just wasn't happening or in my control once she was done with the post surgery tranquilizers. She just is really rough when she is moving. Always has been and probably always will be. Good luck with that! Happy healing to WInston. Taria

Great news, Di! :)

Great news, Di!!

glad to hear of his good recovery.

amy in CNY

So glad to hear Winston is doing so well! Yippee! :-)

Michelle in NV