7:53am

Pippin Can Fly Now!!

47 comments

We have seven steps going down from the deck. Pippin has always skipped every other step in her zest for "whatever" chasing squirrels and/or relieving herself . NOW she only uses one step and it's making me awfully nervous. To see her from the back with those big ears, she looks like the "flying NONE"..........none as in stairs !! Does anyone else have a "flier"?? And if so, how do you curb the enthusiasm?



Discussion

47 comments found.
I swear that all those smaller furry dogs have to prove something to the world!lol
My mom had a Cockapoo and a little shih tzu that must have been born in the circus,because they too loved flying through the air!!

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
That's funny and a good way to describe Pippin, A Circus Act!!! Sounds like Rachel's Kelsie too!!!

Pam
Pam (pammyj3)
1 month ago
Zoey skips every two or three stairs in the house, I think cause they are carpeted. She won't go down the basement stairs yet, she's still afraid of them!!

Mallory19
Mallory19
1 month ago
Its funny you mentioned the stairs because all of mine go up and down different ways. Nacho has short legs and a thick body (21 lbs on toothpicks) and he has to shuffle up and down....Sugar is small but taller than Nacho so she can go up easy, but doesn't use her bad leg on the way down. Rex is like a barrell of bricks going up and down. He even trips over himself and falls a few steps. Skittles can jump from the bottom and hit the 6 or 7th step. It's so cute!

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
I agree.......some bound up the stairs, while others "lumber" !!!

Mallory19
Mallory19
1 month ago
oops, I signed in under my daughters account....This is Paige btw :o)

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
Oh there's nothing that Miss Pippin hasn't explored around here!!!!!!

DanaF
DanaF
1 month ago
Pippin sounds like a spunky little girl enjoying life. I would probably be a little nervous, too. Maybe you can try taking her out on a leash a couple of times and say "slow" or "whoa" as you go down the steps. At the bottom, take the leash off and praise her and give her a treat. After doing this a couple of times, you could try without the leash and see if she responds to the words on her own. I just wish that I still had Pippin's energy. :)

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
I wish that I had 1% of this girl's energy!! Thanks for the suggestions, greatly appreciated Dana.

What a sweetheart...Maybe your enthusiam rubbing off ?..Like mother like daughter, maybe? Are you, now, jumping seven steps instead of a couple?

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
Me jump??? Oh really NOT a pretty sight!!! But thanks !!

clslay
clslay
1 month ago
I can just see Pippin tearing down the steps. I can see why you are nervous. She sure must be full of energy. She must be awful sure of her footing or I don't think she would do it. I would be terrified as well. Isn't it amazing how fast they can go? What a cutie she is.

My Mitsy a cockapoo who passed in July 2006 was a leaper. She would jump up high and get food from my husband. Once my aunt was visiting and was sitting on the couch talking to us and all of a sudden Mitsy jumped from the floor to the top of the couch and landed on my aunts head. It was so funny, my aunt did not know what to say. My little Mitsy was very active in her younger days.

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
I wonder if this is a Cockapoo trait!!! They say that her Mom would jump up 6 feet!!!

Paige
Paige (Paiges)
1 month ago
My kitten likes to fly, and he usually lands on one of the dogs who have really taken it better than I thought they would. Rex will go out in the backyard and tries to catch the birds in the trees behind the house. I'm scared he is going to jump over the fence, but so far so good. Sugar is too dainty to fly, she may get dirty and Nacho's legs are too short and his belly is too big to fly-but he can run in circles until it makes me dizzy watching him.

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
They ALL sound so wonderful!!! I think I'll call Pippin the "Flying Furry" !!

ourstaff
ourstaff
1 month ago
My first cat (the late great) Gatwood liked to fly. He was a dive bomber. He would haul his bulky backside up to the highest perch that he could find next to my bed and wait. I would roll unto my back and he would be air borne. I can't count the number of mornings I woke up to the punch of 4 hairy paws to the gut.

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
A little "Ali"-like!!!!

Andie L.
Andie L. (AndieL)
1 month ago
Our first Border Collie used to do something similar. We lived in a split level house and when we would come home and let her out of her crate she would race out of the crate, sending the door flying nearly off it's hinges, race out of the room, jump down the stairs (there were about 5 or 6), take a lap around the living room and kitchen, back up the stairs and then start all over! She would do that about 3 times before standing in front of us as if to say "how'd you like the show!?". I don't think we could have stopped her from doing that if we tried...we would have been run over. You'll have to take a video of Pippin in action and post it!

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
I can just visualize that!!!!! How playful!

Lol.Pippin is taking lessons for Kiko and Flip:).

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
She hasn't done a back FLIP yet !!!!!!!!!!

That is lesson #3 in flight training.

What a picture! I can just see those ears flapping in the wind! Hopefully she doesn't make a crash landing! Stripe decided to take a flying lesson the other morning. He was trying to get my attention while I was busy doing dishes. He was in the livingroom which is divided from the kitchen with the sofa. He pounced onto the back of the sofa and then launched himself across the kitchen and into my legs. He than sat there and looked at me as if to say "now do I have your attention"

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
And he did get your attention, real quick!!!

Cassie3
Cassie3
1 month ago
Morgan (GSD) has been a flier since a puppy. My fear now that she's 90 pounds at nine months is that she's gonna take out one of us! All we'll hear is the sound of tumbling, a SPLAT! and a scream.

Maybe we're selfish, but we've never worried about her when she's flying...we only worry about US. LOL

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
TOO funny!!!Yup you're in trouble, our Pippin is only approx. 20 lbs. She looks like a toad in mid-air!! Her nickname is "grasshopper" !! She springs into action. Oh we have many nicknames for our girl!

susan9207
susan9207
1 month ago
Our little foster, Milo, tends to be a flier. The first day he joined us he happily followed the other dogs upstairs, and then when it was time to go down, he launched himself into the air from the top step. It was as if he said "Geronimo" and took off. I nearly died.

Thankfully we still had carpeting on the stairs at that time and he landed safely. He has never climbed those stairs again, and when we carry him upstairs, we make sure there is a gate at the top, or that the door to our bedroom is closed. He was able to go down the back stairs to the outside by himself for a long time, but he recently launched himself there, after he'd gone down a few steps, and landed on the doormat. Since then we are very quick to carry him down the stairs. He's just too fragile to take any chances.

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
"Launched " is a very good description of what takes place here !!

patty
patty (mikkizmom)
1 month ago
Sorry Deedee, my fliers are of the feline persuasion and I'm sure there is NO curbing that enthusiasm! Can't offer any advise but I'm sure Pippin feels she's "in control" and will curb her flying once she is "out of control" aka takes a spill.

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
WE do have pet insurance..........once she was "getting silly' I thought that we'd need it just in case!

Banjo, my foster dog did this. He did tend to get enthusiastic but I think he mostly did it because his eye sight wasn't so great anymore. I only have 4 steps but he had many bad landings, knocking his face into the concrete That's a sound that still makes me retch.

I switched him from a collar to a harness and put his flexi lead on when he went out. When he would leap I would put the breaks on before he would hit the ground. He had much softer, safer landings and could just waddle off to explore. The harness kept the stress off his neck and was a stabilizing factor.

I expect Pippin wouldn't appreciate this option at her age, but I just thought I'd let you know in case it ever seems necessary. As long as she's not getting hurt I sure hope she's having fun.

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
Thanks Cheryl. I appreciate all suggestions!

If Pippin can do that, then you are now the "Stair Master".

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
She's "something else". I just love her to "bits"!! I don't want her to hurt one of her LONG legs!!

I hear you! The last time I tried something similar to Pippin's stunt, it took my ankle six weeks to heal.

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
And WHAT were you trying to accomplish??????????????

I was just going down the stairs and "missed" or forgot to do the last step...I now pay closer attention.

Willow help get down the stairs faster and I broke my ankle a few months ago.

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
You've left this WIDE open, but I'm going to be polite and take the "high road" and leave it alone!!

That's why you are the Queen!

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
???time for the dungeon again...........

Tam
Tam (PartiPomMom)
1 month ago
That's hillarious, DeeDee! She's spreading her wings, or ears in her case...I don't have a flier.I'm surprised, because Foxy has such boundless energy...

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
It's hilarious to watch, but could have some awful consequences. The backyard is her "domain" !! Besides the ears flopping, the legs are going in 4 different directions! She's as graceful as me!!

Hahaha! Oh what a picture you've painted! I love it!

That is hilarous...flying NONE! I don't have a flier, but Kelsie's aunt Sandy does. Her 'baby' of the crew, Bear (a Lab/ Chow mix) will bolt from the top of the porch and make a flying leapover the steps and lands squarely on the grass. He's very active and loves jumping. It's hard to get them to NOT 'fly'....Bear just loves to do that. Sandy has tried everything she can think of, but he still enjoys being 'SuperBear'.....scaling steps by leaps and bounds! ^_^

deedee
deedee
1 month ago
Thank goodness I don't have the only "NONE" !!!

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