Puppies and jumping off/over stuff

Archie is becoming quite fearless lately. Launched himself off the sofa the other day. Imagine me in slow motion trying to catch him before he jumps "NNNOOOOOOOOO!" He was okay. We have a plush rug but I'm paranoid about his joints and all. He's a wopping 14.5 lbs at 11 weeks :) He walks down 3 steps outside that lead to his yard. Then we have 2 steps at the front door. We carry him up and down stairs inside the house though.

Although Archie is not a Lab, I'm wondering if there are some guidelines regarding heights puppies can safely jump off or over.

Background: Jules, my last choco lab, had elbow dysplasia and arthritis in his hips that left him limited in physical ability at age 4. I'm hyper aware now of everything Archie does because I want to have a healthy dog that can go on hikes and long walks for a very long time.

I really try to keep mine on level ground or less than ~6" if they have to jump / step off (can't say I'm 100% successful). All you can do is the best you can do. My 10 wk old is only allowed on the furniture on my lap, so never out of my control there but she has given me a few more grey hairs outside.

I carried the puppies up and down stairs until they were just to big to carry, about 40 pounds or so. Even when I started letting them go down the stairs, I kept them on a slip lead and taught them "easy" and to touch every step, no jumping off. Same with furniture. I did keep an old dog bed on the floor in front of the couch to give a nice soft surface to land on. I do let them jump into the car, but, I always lift them out. I know I'm probably over cautious, but better safe than sorry.

In genera,l normal day to day activities are perfectly safe like steps going out into the backyard but I would be careful when he launches himself off furniture, he is small puppy, he is more likely to hurt himself vs a larger breed like a lab. I had to keep an extra eye on my corgi when she was a puppy

I have always been careful with mine with regards to jumping, I dont allow them to play with frisbees, i discourage excessive fetch. I allow enough playtime for them to have fun but not enough to cause injury.

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Originally Posted by barry581

I carried the puppies up and down stairs until they were just to big to carry, about 40 pounds or so. Even when I started letting them go down the stairs, I kept them on a slip lead and taught them "easy" and to touch every step, no jumping off. Same with furniture. I did keep an old dog bed on the floor in front of the couch to give a nice soft surface to land on. I do let them jump into the car, but, I always lift them out. I know I'm probably over cautious, but better safe than sorry.

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40 pounds! More than I could do on a regular basis. BUT we planned ahead for our declining years (:amuse:) and have a ranch style home. I would like to say I don't let dogs up on the furniture... but I gave up on that and bought painter's tarps for the critical sofa's. The older dogs would not share their sofa sites with Rocket Dog so while she was young, she slept on the floor.

I really don't encourage the dogs to get on my bed. But it was so funny when Rocket Dog was young. She just sprouted appendages like spindly weeds. She got tall pretty fast. And she physically could jump up on the bed. But she just couldn't figure out how it was done. She had the legs but didn't have the coordination. Poor baby was so perplexed.