When it comes to dog’s stairs are bad news.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve got a large staircase joining upstairs, or a few steps on your porch. Stairs are an accident waiting to happen.
An excited dog rushing down your stairs can easily slip and tumble…
And going up isn’t much better, especially for elderly dogs with hip and joint problems, navigating a staircase can be difficult and painful.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Today, I’m going to share eight tricks to keep your dog safe on the stairs – no more falls!
1. Visit The Vet
Is your dog having stair trouble? The problem may not be your stairs.
It might be your dog.
Some medical issues it difficult for a dog to scale stairs:
- Arthritis
- Hip and hind leg problems
- Joint issues
- Damaged nerves
- Vestibular disease (affects balance)
The symptoms may be invisible on flat ground. However, once your pup climbs up the stairs, they can be easily spotted.[1]
It’s at this stage that many owners miss the medical issue and blame the stairs instead.
Don’t make the same mistake.
The next time your dog goes up or down the stairs, watch him closely – you may notice clues that you should take your dog to the Vet for a check-up…
For example, a dog who awkwardly hops up the stairs may have hip issues, a dog that stumbles while heading down the stairs may have joint problems and a dog that leans against the wall when ascending or descending may have a neurological issue.
Don’t delay in seeing a vet. If caught in the early stages, many of these medical issues are treatable or manageable – your pup will have a better life for it!
2. Block off your stairs
Perhaps the best solution to dog-proofing your staircase is to block your dog’s access to it. After all, your clumsy pup can’t trip or tumble on the stairs if he can’t climb them in the first place!
One of the best ways to stop your dog scampering up the stairs is with a pet gate.
With a pet gate installed at the base of your staircase, it will be impossible for your dog to climb the stairs.
While it may block your dog’s access, you are free to come and go as you see fit, open the latch and step through – many gates even automatically close behind you.
The exact pet gate you need will vary according to you’re the design of your stairs.
For example, a spiral staircase, or those of you with rounded banisters requires a different gate stairs with a wall on either side.
For outdoor stairs: Those of you who want a good pet gate for your patio or deck should check out the Cardinal Gates Outdoor Safety Gate – It’s weatherproof and capable of holding up to harsh Arizona summers or Florida’s wet season.
3. Get a better grip
Are your stairs carpeted? Then you can skip this section. But for everyone else, your steps could be the reason your dog falls down the stairs.
Especially if your steps are…
- Linoleum
- Tile
- Hardwood
These surfaces are slippery. Especially when your dog is scampering up and down them at speed. One miss-step and your pups foot could slide right off the step, leading to a tumble.
One of the best ways to give your slippery stairs some extra grip is with stick-on stair treads.
Place a tread on each step, and your clumsy dog will never slip down your stairs again.
You could also use a stair runner. Essentially an extra long rug designed to run down your entire staircase, a stair runner can also give your dog some much-needed traction on a slippery staircase. I prefer stair treads as they are a considerably cheaper option.
Not feeling the carpet? Check out this clear anti-slip stair tape instead. The coarse surface will give your dog traction as he scampers down the stairs. Best of all, It’s almost invisible.
For outdoor stairs: Grab a Rubber Stair Mat instead. Rubber mats will hold up to the harsh weather and won’t slip when resting on brick or concrete steps.
4. Carry your dog
Feeling strong? The easiest way to get a pint-sized pup down down stairs is to carry him.
With a good grip on your dog, you can help your dog skip the stairs altogether. Plus, it’s a good cardio workout!
If you have a wiggler or your pup doesn’t play nice when being carried, you could always use a travel kennel.
Simply load your dog in the kennel and shut the door. It doesn’t matter how much your dog barks or wiggles, you won’t drop him.
Once you have carried the kennel up the stairs, open the door and let him back out.
Got a larger dog? Check out our next recommendation instead…
5. Use a dog lift
Larger dogs, like Labradors or German Shepherds, often experience hip or joint problems as they get older. Old age isn’t kind to the joints. And neither are stairs.
When going up the stairs, your pup places weight on his hind quarters. To put it simply, going up and down stairs hurts.
In extreme cases, some dog’s find climbing the stairs so painful that they avoid it altogether.
Fortunately, you can help take the weight off your dog’s hind legs by using a dog sling
Loop the sling around your pup’s rear and lift. The sling supports your dog’s back-end, keeping weight off inflamed hips and joints.
Your dog can now walk up your stairs without discomfort.
For outdoor stairs: Grab a Solvit Carelift instead. Supporting your dog up stairs you come across on your walk becomes effortless.
6. Install a ramp
Got a short staircase? A pet ramp is a perfect solution to getting your dog safely up and down your stairs.
While pet ramps may be designed to help dogs get in and out cars, they work exceptionally well as a stair-aid.
Suitable for stairs with fewer than five steps, installation couldn’t be easier – set up can be done in seconds. all you need to do is lay the ramp over your stairs.
Your dog is now free to climb up and down your stairs whenever he wants.
Since ramps reduce the pressure placed on your dog’s hips and hind legs, they are ideal for older dogs. Best of all, there is no slipping – pet ramps feature a non-slip coating to stop your pup sliding back down.
Once your dog has made it up or down the stairs, you can remove the ramp.
Those of you with wide stairs can leave the ramp in place permanently. There should be enough room for you to get up the stairs without tripping over the ramp.
7. Improve visibility
Have you ever tried going down stairs on a pitch-black night? Not easy, right?
If your dog can’t see the stairs, then a fall is inevitable.
Poorly lit stairs can be incredibly difficult to navigate, especially if your dog has poor eyesight, depth perception, or mobility issues.
Exactly how you increase visibility will depend on your staircase and dog.
For example, is your staircase is dimly lit and your dog is healthy? Leaving the lights on could be all that is needed.
Poor eyesight can be overcome by making the steps stand out. The easiest way to do this is with duct tape. Place a strip of tape so that it folds over the edge of each step for some extra visibility.
Duct tape will stick to wood, vinyl and, laminate, making it suitable for most staircases.
Be mindful that dogs don’t see colors the same way that humans do.[2] A yellow or blue tape will be the easiest for your dog to see.
8. Train your dog
Just like you can train your dog to stay out of specific rooms or stay in your yard, you can teach your dog not to go on the stairs. This is known as boundary training or invisible barrier training. [3]
Here’s a quick tutorial on how boundary training works:
How far you take this training is entirely up to you…
One particularly clever owner we spoke to during our dog doorbell review trained her dog to ring a bell for assistance. When the dog wanted to come up the patio steps, she would ring the bell and wait patiently for her owner to come and help her.
How do you stop your dog from hurting himself on the staircase? Got a tip to add? Let me know in the comments below!
I did not see any comments about how to help an older dog come down the stairs.
My Shepherd lab mix is almost a month from turning 15! She uses a few steps to go outside but refuses to use ramps. She even fell down a step or two steps on her face outside thought she was hurt but she shook it off. She took awhile for me to baby her. I was scared and worried.
Then every night she sleeps with me on our bed upstairs or on the floor. I have noticed she looks up the stairs like it is a challenge but never refuses. Like you mentioned she sometimes hops on her hind legs near the top of the stairs but walks fine at the bottom going up. She has a few times falling up them by missing a step. I help her get her balance and walk behind her she does much better. But going down them she was taking her time and going slow but yesterday she went down so fast that I was in front and stopped her before she fell the last few steps. Would a leash work too as controlling her speed? She has vision and hearing issues but not extreme. I do turn on the lights for her to see. I remind her to go “SLOW” if I’m get behind her and she does but I just worry when doing stairs is too much for my Sugar anymore? She is the sweetest and her dad is a black full Shepherd and is pushing 17 so she has good genes! Quite impressed actually. She is the oldest dog I have owned. She has outlived Lady, Shepherd lab mix, passed at 12 (eleven years ago) , Sara, same mix passed this past Father’s day at 11 yrs old. I love my girl so I just want to make her life easy. Our vet says she is in good health. I also give her a really good joint supplement. Sorry for so long of comment. Just wanted to give you everything that might help you answer me.
Hi, my almost blind 15 yr old JRT still goes down a full flight at full speed and often tumbles down the last 3-4. The stairs are wood, so I tried painting them with the non-skid sand like additive in the paint and it did create a lot of traction, however, I’m realizing the problem is more about his speed than slipping. So I tried standing an orange cone on the 4th step and another one on the 8th step, one on the right half of the step and one on the left, forcing him to have to zig-zag and it works great and he seems to enjoy it too. He’s already getting faster, though, so I might have add more.
Hi, Our 11 yr old husky is starting to have some issues with arthritis. There are a set of five stairs to the front door and basement stairs of about 15 to the back. We live in Upstate NY where the winters can be harsh. We have to salt the front steps so that the mailman, delivery people, and we don’t fall. The back steps are becoming too much for her. We walk her one to two times a day, but she needs to go out a lot more lately. Which means either down the basement stairs, or out the front where the salt is. None of the products I’ve researched are completely safe, and we have caught her eating the salt. It’s already winter so there’s no physical fix right now. What can we do? Thank you for any help!
I have an older dog and It’s getting hard for her to descend/ascend the stairs to go potty. A sling won’t work because we aren’t capable. Considering outside pee pads??
my 12 year old pug has recently quit going down my deck stairs to go to the bathroom on the grass. up until lately, she never pooped or peed in the house ever. i saw her fall down the stairs one day so shes scared to go down now. she will climb the stairs however. she does have arthritis and stiff joint problems of course do to her age and im addressing that as well as possible. i need her to start going down to the grass again espescially when im not home. when i carry her down to the grass she goes to bathroom immediately. she has always been easily trained, shes a smart dog but now poops all over the house. should i get her a ramp and if so, how do i teach her how to use it? are there any other tips that could help me?
I have a 12 year old Chinese Crested who is functionally blind in one eye and probably doesn’t have great vision in the other. She’s always had a habit of rushing up the small set of steps to the couch (doesn’t do this with larger steps to the bed) and has started falling off to the side while doing this. I’m trying to transition to the ramp but it’s slow going. I don’t think she has a lot of strength in her back legs and is un-confident. When she does go up and puts both back feet on the ramp the right foot lifts up and down repeatedly. Also I haven’t been able to get her to go all the way up, instead she just jumps off the side which is frightening to witness. I made the mistake of putting the ramp by the couch and when she tried to jump off the side she smacked her face into the coffee table. Anyone else have this problem? She doesn’t like me to pick her up and put her on the couch. She’s having a vet visit soon so I’ll have the vet do a orthopedic and neurological exam, but if it turns out nothing is wrong I’m unsure how to proceed other then to keep working on build up her back leg strength and hope she begins to feel more confident.
Hi and help. My 16 year old wiener who has a lot of jump left is going blind. I’ve blocked off all the stairs but when navigating the outside to in – misjudges the length and whacks his nose so hard we have major bleeding. We’ve also been through a round of vet/sneezing issues which is so “violent” that he bonks his nose and has a major nose bleed. Would the halo prevent these two issues before I make/purchase or is there something else you’d recommend. Thank you very much.
Hi Deborah,
It sounds like your Dachshund is going through a rough patch. I have limited experience with a doggie halo. I understand it’s great for stopping dogs from bumping into objects, but do have some concerns in regards to its use on stairs. Unless your Wiener hugs the wall on the way down the steps, there isn’t anything for the Halo to come into contact with. On the way up, depending on the design/depth of your stairs and how your little pup climbs them, may catch and make ascending the stairs even more difficult. That’s not to say a Halo won’t help your dog, but there are a lot of things to consider here before deciding if it’s the right product,
My dogs front legs are weak going down the stairs as he is old but he has no trouble getting up the stairs. He’s a bit too big for me to carry. The only thing I can think of is a front harness but that would mean him wearing it all the time when he was indoors. Have you got any other ideas?
Hi Emmaline,
I’d look into preventing your pup from walking up the stairs – moving everything he needs onto the lower level of your house. Otherwise, a lift harness might be your best option.
I need to make a dog ramp for a Golden Retriever. What color is best so he can see better?
Hi Maureen,
Based on the colors dogs see, either a blue or yellow/orange – this will also contrast with the color of your current stairs.