As many of you already know, I have recently moved into a new place. Since I have been here, Wynstan has had only loose stools. He gets more exercise here than he did at my old house, because the yard here doesn't retain that much water and he doesn't get muddy here.

So that leads me to two questions:

1. Could the loose stools be attributed to the stress of staying at a new place? (we have been here for a week and a half, we couldn't move earlier due to a water line busting and they just now made half of the rooms inhabitable.)

2. When is a good time to let him go up and down stairs on his own? I have been training him with it already, if I would let him, he would run up and down them all day.

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Loose stools could be stress or just the extra exercise, mine always get a little loose when they exercise a lot.

Mine both use the stairs, I've read on here not to let them, but in my house, not much choice.
Water? My 1st thought is a change in the water???? Could be a little stressful but maybe try bottled water(gallon jugs). How many stairs?
it is about 12 steps, they are not steep, but he lets me pick him up to go up them. I didn't even think about the water. I will have to pick up some bottled water to see if that helps. This house is closer to the river and probably means we get a bit more limestone in our water than at my parent's house.
Also a little canned pumpkin (no spices, just pumpkin) mixed with his food may help settle his tummy.
Finnigan gets loose stools when he is over excited (such as at the dog park) and when he is at someone else's house he never really calms down. It may take him a while longer to adjust to this place as being his home. I would still try changing the water though to see if that is effecting him.

Finn started climbing stairs around 8 or 9 months but he never figured out how to go down. Down is harder on the joints anyway so at first I didn't mind that he wouldn't go down but now at a year and a half and 40 lbs, carrying him down multiple times a day is quite a chore. Definitely teach him up and down using a couple steps at a time but I wouldn't let him have unlimited access to the stairs just yet.
I have a Pembroke book as well as a Cardigan book that advise caution with the stairs just as they do with jumping off furniture. It says until the growth plates close, activities such as these can cause injury. I have seen a couple Pems who injured their front legs on stairs. I know this topic is address online as well. Some sources say it is ok to let them use stairs after 8 months while others say 10 or 12 months.
I know I'm coming in a few days late on this, but it's because it's so hard on the connective tissue and growth plates in the front legs (wrists, mostly). I always encourage mine to go UP stairs as soon as they feel ready, but I discourage going down stairs before the growth plates are closed.

One of the things that we just have to deal with if we own dwarfed dogs is that the growth plates are not healthy (by definition - that's why the legs don't grow long). They're brittle and thin. Landing hard on one can fracture it very easily, and then you end up with an angular limb deformity and lifelong pain.

Additionally, the ligaments in the carpal/metacarpal area are less elastic and less forgiving of injury (again, because of the dwarfism) so I want to keep them as unstressed as possible until the dog is done growing.
Joanna,

Is there still a big risk with jumping down as adults? I know all about why they shouldn't as pups and have heard the stories of injuries but I don't hear as much about adults. They are still dwarfs so are they not still more susceptible to injury?
My Rosie that I just rehomed had the fractured front leg...she jumped out of a car as a pup when she was living with her previous owner! Has the loose stools gotten better?
Oh, so you did find out what was wrong with that leg? That's too bad. Is it going to cause problems for her down the road?
Yes, it could cause some arthritis at a later stage...nothing right now though! I don't know if they ever even took her in!
How's Wynstan doing? Any luck with switching the water?

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