Tara runs up and down stairs, I think that she finds it easier that way.  though it is not ideal to be on the stairs yourself when she does it.  Zak on the other hand takes them delicately; being careful where he puts his feet.

Timmy was absolutely hopeless with stairs when he first arrived. We had to assist him to get up and down the 3 steps at our front of back door. He is still not much good with the internal stairs in the house - but he doesn't get much practice with that as he is only allowed upstairs by special invitation.
Sheila

I am also in a tenement flat, I'm on second floor.  When we first got Indiana he had obviously never come across stairs before and we had to train him what to do - it was hysterical.  My friend and I were lifting paws, we must have looked a right sight.  Now he pretty much leaps up them.  Tigerlily is much more dainty and takes her time.  At the cat and dog home they asked if we were going to remain in the flat long-term since after the age of 6, greyhound hips can make it difficult to deal with stairs regularly.  I don't know if this is true as I'd imagine that if I was in a house they'd be going up the stairs to sneak into the bedroom anyway.  So in answer to your initial query - I don't really know!

Tilly's quite good on stairs. We have open-plan stairs, and she didn't like them when she first arrived and refused to go up them. However, with a bit of coaxing with a few slices of ham, and the discovery of comfy beds at the top, she soon got used to them and flies up and down them. Not sure how it affects their joints, but guess it can't be uncomfortable for them if they do it so willingly - and in Tilly's case frequently.

 Bovril bounds up and down stairs no problem he is 7 now.we live in a split level house so have two flights of stairs occasionally we hear a clank as he has come down too fast and clonked his head on the storage heater on the bottom landing!!!!. He can also sneak up without making a sound,. would be a great spy.

I have two sets of stairs inside my house and Neo and Sally rush up and down them with no problem (usually with a toy they have just stolen from one of the kids and are trying to make a quick getaway)

When Sally first arrived she would do the whole first flight in two leaps but has learned to slow down a bit now and put her paws on a few more steps, probably because she came down them in two big leaps as well and kept banging her head on the wall at the bottom

It took Sally a while to get used to the stairs when she arrived here, she didn't know how to get up them initially but with a bit of training she got the idea. She runs up them with quite a commotion even now though, and down again too! Dan on the other hand is fine with the stairs, despite his age of ten. The only problem we have is that occasionally he gets 'stuck' half way down, not quite knowing which paw to move first to get going again! It doesn't seem to bother his hips though.

Angus couldn't climb stairs when i first got him and absolutely refused to try so for the first few days i carried him (yes carried him) up 2 flights of stairs. After a few days i had to force him to walk up them or i was going to end up with a hernia!
The only other problem i encountered was last year when Angus dislocated his hip and tore some hip joint muscles. I had to carry him up and down the stairs for about a week cos he really couldn't walk.

Fiona wrote:

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JENNY wrote:

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So Fiona. Do I feel something in the air? Are you going to be taking a little greyhound up your stairs in the near future?

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Could be...! My work doesn't generally rehome greyhounds to flats, but I might just ask to take one home overnight and see how she gets on...

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Definitely something in the air, you even said she!!!!!! ooh how exciting - you've been waiting soooooo long

 

-- Edited by Siouxsie at 22:47, 2007-02-15

Fiona wrote:

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Could be...! My work doesn't generally rehome greyhounds to flats, but I might just ask to take one home overnight and see how she gets on...  

 Did you get to take her home fiona?   Fingers crossed for you.
Not rehoming to flats is mad, we are all proof how happy hounds can be living in flats.
Landess

We don't have stairs in our house, none of the houses we visit have stairs, so as you can imagine Cara has no idea what to do with stairs. The only ones she has seen she has refused to try. She doesn't jump fences at all, even small ones so any hares or rabbits she chases always get away, they go in to the next field and sit and laugh at her.
Anne