Have you noticed that your dog struggles from time to time when it comes to jumping up onto the couch, chair, or bed? This could point to physical issues that need to be addressed.
When you allow your dog to jump to and from any surface that is greater than 12 inches from the ground, he can sustain serious injury. A foot of height doesn’t really seem like a lot, but it’s enough to cause a broken limb if your dog falls, or longer-lasting problems over time.
While small and large dogs are at a particular risk of sustaining bone or joint injury, any size or breed of dog is susceptible to harm through a fall or as a result of prolonged impact over time. Large dogs, like Great Danes, Golden Retrievers, and Labradors, are inclined to developing arthritis later in life, and condoning a large dog to jump onto and off of furniture everyday could cause arthritis to crop up earlier in the dog’s life. As for small dogs, they are more likely to break a bone in a fall or by attempting to leap down from too great a height.
This being said, you don’t have to necessarily deny your furry friend access to his favourite places—which are likely the places that you frequent. Through the use of pet stairs you can give your pet the freedom to go about his normal routine with the addition of safety and peace of mind.
Dog stairs come in a variety of colors and materials, though carpeted pet stairs are the most popular as they provide extra grip for pet paws. They also come in a variety of sizes to accommodate the size of your dog and the surface that you want him to access. For instance, if you want your dog to have access to your bed, you will need to know the height of your bed from the floor to the top of the mattress. You should know that it can be dangerous to provide your dog with stairs that are either too small or large for him, which can cause him to stumble or fall from the stairs. The general rule of thumb to go by when choosing your steps is this:
Small dogs = steps no wider than 12 inches
Medium dogs = 14 inch-wide steps
Large dogs = steps at least 16 inches wide
For more information about choosing and purchasing a set of pet steps, please visit Help Your Pets – Here.
Have you purchased a set of pet stairs for your dog, or are you considering doing so? You should know that you can get much more out of your steps than simply a means to help your dog safely access your furniture. We’re going to talk about just a few of the things we use our pet stairs for on a daily basis.
Dog stairs are most often used to assist your pet on and off of furniture such as beds, chairs, and couches. Did you also know that there are portable pet steps available? These come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and materials to accommodate all breeds of dog. Some portable pet steps are made of an ultra durable yet lightweight foam capable of holding up to 300lbs, depending on the brand/supplier. Not only can these steps be used in your home, but you can also take them outside to help your pet get on and off of a raised porch or to an SUV or tuck. There are pet steps specifically designed for loading your pet into a vehicle. They can be made of lightweight metal or plastic and vary in height to accommodate most vehicle heights.
Aside from portable pet steps, there are many uses for your standard indoor steps, too! If you have a shorter breed of dog, try pushing the steps up against one of your windows. This is a great way for your dog to satisfy his nosiness at what’s going on outside. Find out the maximum weight limit on your steps. If they will hold you, you can use them for all sorts of chores around the house! I’m fairly short, so I’ve received tons of use out of my dog’s steps, including getting stuff on and off the top of the refrigerator, changing light bulbs, and giving my daughter a boost to the sink. If your pet stairs have a storage area, make good use of it! You can store pet toys and treats or any number of odds and ends! Don’t be afraid to get the most out of your steps!
For durable cat and dog steps, visit the Help Your Pets website.
The effort you put into choosing the right set of pet stairs doesn’t have to feel like a burden; it could really be seen as an investment of sorts. To continuously reap the health benefits and sheer convenience that dog stairs offer, it’s wise to make sure that your purchase is well thought out and thoroughly researched. Luckily, technology has ensured that we are no longer limited to the wares offered in local retail shops—though that’s not to say that they should be excluded from your consideration altogether. There are pros and cons to both shopping experiences, which we’re going to discuss in this article.
Your Budget
The amount that you have to spend will ultimately determine where you make your dog stair purchase. Unless you have a pet furniture store in your hometown, you might be surprised that any pet stairs you run across in a local shop will probably cost a bit more than you were expecting to spend. This is because traditional retail stores–especially those that aren’t of the “chain” variety–can only afford to keep stock of the things that their local consumers purchase regularly. Unfortunately, pet stairs haven’t become quite that popular yet. Thank goodness for the Internet, which allows businesses to offer a niche product and still make money because their “local customer base” include every continent with Internet access. You can browse online and compare prices of several stores in minutes. Not bad!
Decisions, Decisions…
The beauty of shopping online for your pet stairs is that you have a large selection right at your fingertips. This is especially helpful if you are looking for something out of the ordinary–a particular finish, color, weight capacity, etc. You can use a search query on most sites to instantly weed out the steps that don’t meet your needs. If you’re looking for large dog stairs, your search for such will pull up only the products that match that criteria. You might not be in the market for cherry wood steps with a weight capacity of 300 pounds, but the option is likely out there on the Internet somewhere. The variety offered in your local pet shops is likely to be very limited, unless you’re lucky enough to find a shop that takes custom orders–which is not unheard of.
Assembly?
Assembling something–with or without instructions–is not a very fun process. Unfortunately, both online and traditional stores are more likely to sell their steps in an “assembly required” state. For local shops, it saves on warehouse and sales floor space if they don’t have a massive amount of pre-built steps lying around. For Internet-based businesses, it costs a great deal more in packaging and shipping to send a full-sized pet stair through the mail, so many online retailers also ship their pet steps flat-packed. Don’t feel as though you have to resign to the idea of spending hours on assembly for the sake of your pet. There are still online pet stair websites that ship their items pre-assembled, such as HelpYourPets.com, you just have to look around and even send an enquiry to see if it’s possible to have them built before shipment. One perk of ordering online and having the steps delivered, though is that home delivery means you can bypass having to load and unload the stairs from your car!
Now that you’re aware of your options, it’s time to start doing some research to weed through the possibilities. Remember, it’s much easier to find a supplier if you base your search on the three key points we mentioned above. Good luck with your purchase!
Have you noticed that your dog seems to be struggling to get on and off of furniture or other high-up places? As flexible as dogs are, we often overestimate their ability to cope with the impact of leaping to and fro areas. To help prevent long term damage, we’re going to talk about the benefits of using steps for dogs.
No matter what breed or size of dog you have, there are certain physical consequences that result from repetitive jumping. Every time your dog jumps down from something, his bones and joints absorb the shock of impact. Granted, he may only be leaping down from the sofa—which isn’t a fair height—but how many times a day does this happen? Multiply this by the number of days in his lifetime, and the result could be quite surprising! Physical hindrances such as arthritis and hip dysplasia can crop up earlier on in a dog’s life if his joints aren’t properly maintained.
Of course, you could incorporate certain limitations to your dog, such as not allowing him onto the furniture anymore—but does that really seem fair to him? When a dog leaps onto to the sofa for a cuddle, he isn’t simply trying to find a comfortable place. It’s natural for dogs to want to be with their owners—they love us and seek our companionship. To suddenly cut that sort of contact off with your dog could result in behavior issues.
The best alternative is to purchase some sturdy steps for dogs. Pet stairs allow your dog to disperse his weight over a series of steps rather than one jolting movement. The impact of walking down stairs is only slightly more than that of normal walking, and a great deal less than jumping from the full height of the furniture or vehicle. You will find that a lot of dog steps have a carpeted finish. This is a huge advantage for a dog as it minimizes his risk of slipping, especially if the floor (which he would normally jump onto) has a hard or slick finish.
You may wonder why you should opt for “made-for-dogs” stairs, rather than a normal step-stool. Dog steps are specifically designed to accommodate the size of your dog both in terms of weight as well as his stride. Small dogs take smaller steps, therefore the width of their stair steps shouldn’t be any greater than 12 inches. Medium dogs should have a stair step width of 14 inches, and large dogs—with consider strides—should have at least 16 inch-wide steps. Providing your dog with steps that are either too large or too small could result in your dog tripping or falling off the stairs.
Some breeds of dog are especially prone to joint issues later in life, but that doesn’t mean that these breeds are the only ones needing preventative care. Young dogs whose bones are still developing as well as older or special-needs dogs can too benefit from pet stairs. While there are many factors that contribute to your dog’s bone and joint health, dog stairs can certainly play a major role in staving off joint problems in your dog’s future.
You’re snuggled nice and warm under your comforter, dreaming that you’ve just gotten supernatural powers and you’re exploring the fun of running super fast…when suddenly you’re jarred awake by your dog had pouncing onto your bed. –Ignoring the part about the super powers, does this sound familiar to you? It’s great to have a fuzzy pooch to snuggle with during the night time, but sometimes it’s hard to overlook your annoyance at the dog for pouncing onto the bed while you sleep.
Even if you are overcome with annoyance when awakened by your dog, a part of you probably thinks back to all the times your dog snuggled with you while you cried or chilled out next to you while you watched The Godfather marathon on TCM. It just doesn’t seem right to suddenly deny your dog the tradition of sleeping with his favorite person—you!—when the reason he gets off the bed in the first place is likely to scope out the house to make sure you aren’t in danger. It’s completely natural for a dog to feel compelled to get up a few times during the night; he’s the watchman while the family sleeps. That being said, you DO need your sleep, which is why it’s highly suggested that you consider investing in a set of dog steps for beds.
As the bulk of your night time stress is in fact due to your mattress jolting as your dog jumps on and off the bed, then dog stairs are the perfect solution. Your dog is able to evenly distribute his weight from the stairs to your bed—and vice versa—so you needn’t feel a thing when your dog goes for his night time patrol. The fact that most pet steps are carpeted also means that the sounds from your dog’s movement will be completely muted.
Now that you are aware of the comfort that dog steps for beds can bring you, you should also know that they can play a major role in preventing your dog from developing serious conditions such as arthritis later on in life. Yep, dogs can acquire joint issues with age just like we can. Large breeds of dog are already susceptible to hip dysplasia and arthritis, and small dogs can actually break body parts from landing improperly from a jump.
See, there are JOINT advantages to both your dog’s health and your sleepy time happiness through dog stairs for beds. Just make sure that you have the measurement of the height of your bed (from floor to the top of the mattress) when you go to purchase your dog stairs. It doesn’t do you or your dog any good if he has to leap to and from the stairs. Best of luck to both you and your dog!
