puppy jumping off couch

Hello,

Our little dachshund (Coco) is 6 mos. old. We also have a beagle.

Coco likes to do what our beagle does like jump off the couch. He has been doing this for about a month.

I have provided stairs for him and he used to use them but when he is excited he just jumps up and jumps off the couch like our beagle does and I am concerned for his joints as coco's breeder told us to not let him jump off of things.

This evening he was not coming up the steps so easily as though he was tired or didn't want to put extra pressure on his front legs where usually he would run up the steps. Could he have done damage already? He has been jumping off the couch like that for about a month now.

Do you have any suggestions that I can keep him from jumping off the couch?

Are there specific supplements that will take care of his joints that I can give him?

Thank you,
Nancy Walters





Hi Nancy
It's true that you some breeds shouldn't be jumping off high things, or running around on hard surfaces, especially as puppies. However, particularly with jumping from furniture, it can be very difficult to stop them!

Dachshunds are more agile than you would think and although they're classified as 'hounds' they have a lot of the terrier characteristics (energetic, somewhat stubborn, determined..) and they want to get into everything.

I'd definitely suggest that you try to limit Coco's ability to leap from the furniture as much as possible, and correct him and show him his stairs instead. Maybe not allowing him to get UP onto the furniture in the first place will be necessary, at least while he's a pup and his bones and joints are developing.

I wouldn't recommend supplements unless your veterinarian feels that there's a problem or he would benefit from them. If you feed a premium puppy kibble then he should get everything he needs from that.

If you're concerned that he may have hurt himself already, have your vet take a look to make sure that all is well, but in my opinion it's unlikely that he's done any serious damage.... although only your vet can make an accurate assessment!

Hope this helps, best of luck with your pup.