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How do you safely pick up your adult ish spoo?

1K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  Johanna 
#1 ·
I have a 6 month old 38 lb spoo puppy. I am still lifting her in and often out of the car, and if she's really tired, she asks me to carry her up our slippery stairs. I also lift her onto my bed, which is tall. Once I have her in my arms, she seems comfortable, but I worry I am not lifting correctly... my method is one arm between the two front legs, arm bracing her front, and one arm behind the rear. I have also tried one arm behind the front legs but its less comfortable for me.

What do you do?
 

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#2 ·
When I had to help a standard poodle I used a towel around the body rather than trying to completely lift her up. The reason I now have a mini is because picking up a 50-60 lb standard is now too much for me. The only time I have ever had to pick up a standard, though, was when the dog was very ill or very old. All my dogs (except the Chihuahua, of course) know how to jump into a car.


I think I would work with the puppy on climbing stairs - most puppies that old can handle even slippery stairs. There is some stuff you can buy to put on the paws that gives them a better "grip".
 
#3 ·
The easiest way is to do it in sections. Put the front feet where you want the dog to go and then pick up the rear end and hoist it up. I put a hand in the dog's crotch to hoist him up, none of my dogs has ever minded my rudeness! If I have to pick him up entirely I put one arm around his chest and the other around his rear.
 
#5 ·
I put one arm in front of the front legs and one arm behind the back legs and lift her up that way. I did a lot of lifting with my girl when she was young to avoid hurting her joints. Probably until she was a year I was lifting her at all the same times as you. But I wish I had worked with her on some little things at a younger age because now she is a little bit wary of jumping on/off things and she hates slippery floors. I would maybe start working on these things in small amounts so your girl doesnt develop a fear of them.
 
#6 ·
We do the two feet up and lift butt method often for cars, forgot about that one. So far as she has grown she has been pretty consistent about not wanting to jump on anything taller than her back. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily for me, I am expected to lift 75 lbs at work, so even fully grown I am not too worried about lifting her. It's also super convenient for example at the vets office this week. She knows to stand still and be good if she is on a table... puppy play happens on the floor! I also like having dogs who are prepared for when they are infirm... my dad's st. Bernard was awful to load in her old age. Wouldn't jump up, but also wouldn't put two feet up. Wouldn't use ramps. We did lift her 185 lb self with two people a few times. He ended up travelling around with a square straw bale for her to use as stairs for years!

As for stairs... after weeks of working with her, she is completely ok with the carpeted stairs at my apartment (putting her down on the top step, then calling her, then second from top, then....). Also fine with any stairs we have encountered in public or at other houses. But we are staying at my mom's and the stairs are bad - steep, open, narrow treads, and super slippery. I have watched her skitter and fall on them, slide backwards, etc. I cleaned up the fur on her pads, which has helped a little, and she will do them when it is light out/I have the light on, but once in a while if i wake her from a sound sleep to go to bed, the stairs are too hard. Meh. I can live with that.

There is no such thing as a 'tired' six month-old puppy.

You're spoiling her. Stop!
The last time was after she had.... walked to the vets office where her behaviour was praised by the other customers and staff, and she politely left 2 cats alone, then to a bus station. Been on a bus, on perfect behaviour for 2 hrs, then went to a train station, went in an elevator for the first time in a few months, went up and down stairs and through a tunnel to the train, watched the scary noisy train arrive, got on a train and was almost perfect for 2 hrs, got in a car and was perfect for an hour, stopped and played with two labs as a break, and was perfect for another hours drive. We overdid it, but I didn't have much choice in scheduling and wasnt able to drive. Spoil her, yes, but she really was an exhausted puppy!!!
 
#7 ·
We do the two feet up and lift butt method often for cars, forgot about that one. So far as she has grown she has been pretty consistent about not wanting to jump on anything taller than her back. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily for me, I am expected to lift 75 lbs at work, so even fully grown I am not too worried about lifting her. It's also super convenient for example at the vets office this week. She knows to stand still and be good if she is on a table... puppy play happens on the floor! I also like having dogs who are prepared for when they are infirm... my dad's st. Bernard was awful to load in her old age. Wouldn't jump up, but also wouldn't put two feet up. Wouldn't use ramps. We did lift her 185 lb self with two people a few times. He ended up travelling around with a square straw bale for her to use as stairs for years!

As for stairs... after weeks of working with her, she is completely ok with the carpeted stairs at my apartment (putting her down on the top step, then calling her, then second from top, then....). Also fine with any stairs we have encountered in public or at other houses. But we are staying at my mom's and the stairs are bad - steep, open, narrow treads, and super slippery. I have watched her skitter and fall on them, slide backwards, etc. I cleaned up the fur on her pads, which has helped a little, and she will do them when it is light out/I have the light on, but once in a while if i wake her from a sound sleep to go to bed, the stairs are too hard. Meh. I can live with that.



The last time was after she had.... walked to the vets office where her behaviour was praised by the other customers and staff, and she politely left 2 cats alone, then to a bus station. Been on a bus, on perfect behaviour for 2 hrs, then went to a train station, went in an elevator for the first time in a few months, went up and down stairs and through a tunnel to the train, watched the scary noisy train arrive, got on a train and was almost perfect for 2 hrs, got in a car and was perfect for an hour, stopped and played with two labs as a break, and was perfect for another hours drive. We overdid it, but I didn't have much choice in scheduling and wasnt able to drive. Spoil her, yes, but she really was an exhausted puppy!!!
I don’t know if this is your first puppy, but even with the day she had, a normal puppy wouldn’t be too tired to walk. Or if they were they would walk anyway and just sleep more later.

Either she is manipulating you, or she has health problems.
 
#8 ·
For a long while Poppy did not leap up on the couch, bed or into the car, even though she was tall enough and certainly able to do so.

I would put the front paws up then boost the back end, while saying the "up" command. One day I said "up" and she just hopped up into the car. Another day she just did the same on the couch, and a few weeks later she did so on my bed, which is really tall. There has been no stopping her since then.

I still boost the rear up onto my grooming table, which is an old sturdy desk.

Here she was at 4 months old, wanting on the couch, but not hopping up on her own.
 

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#9 ·
Well it sounds to me like you have a well behaved pup. My guy was never afraid to jump up on me or anyone else, lol Getting him to be still was a challenge, still is at times at 18 months. At first mine could not jump into the car, and I have a Honda Civic so its not a high jump. I'd lifted his front legs onto the seat and hoisted up his rear once he was half in. Getting out was never a problem he always wants to be next to me so ..I always made him stay till I had the lead secure in my hand and said free. He finally started to jump into the back seat when we were coming home from the groomer or vet. Aha he could do it so now I just say in and in he goes. I don't really have stairs but he does them at the groomer to get in and out of her place. I actually have him take slow steps one at a time going down because I'm unsteady. He does the too. MY biggest problem now it getting him on my grooming table I lift his front legs up then lift his rear. But getting him off is difficult as I have to lift all of him. WE haven't been on the table lately he is about 65 lbs now. He doesn't jump on my furniture or bed. He will climb up on my daughters bed as her is lower, still high but a normal height.
 
#10 ·
Our dogs weigh 53 and 55 pounds, and now that we're in our seventies, they're an armful to put on the grooming table, so I got these steps from Chewy. I have to stabilize them with my foot when the dogs go up, or they'll move/tip, but, with that caveat, they work well.

https://www.chewy.com/pet-gear-easy-step-ii-pet-stair/dp/49490

As for spoiling a puppy, when Blue was little, he slept very soundly. He handled stairs well most of the time, but if we were downstairs late in the evening, he'd sometimes wake up and stumble up the stairs, so my husband carried him until he was four or five months old.
 
#11 ·
I'll second that vote for steps to the grooming table. I had to have hernia repair surgery many years ago that I'm pretty sure was the result of picking up standard poodles!


Besides being good for the groomer, those steps help teach stair-climbing skills to your dog.
 
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