We have a 3 year old female German Shepherd who is hesitant to climb
stairs. She walks/runs around fine on level ground. She can go down
the stairs just fine. However when she goes up, we hear a cracking
noise. We *think* its coming from her front area (front legs or
shoulders). She also cracks when she gets up from laying down on the
floor.

The vet checked her out but did not take xrays yet. He prescribed
Deramax (25mg per day) for about 15 days. Her condition is up and
down. We thought she was getting better after 7 days but then today
she really needed to be persuaded to climb the stairs. She refuses to
climb up on the couch too (she knows she's allowed on too).

Could anyone explain the problem or the cracking noises?

i have arthritis in some of my joints and on the stairs im very
musical,maybe something to look into?

lay off the stairs for now and the sofa you maybe aggravating her
situation