Are stairs dangerous for dogs
Stairs are not safe for dogs (mostly).
Are wooden stairs dangerous?
Wooden stairs are deadly dangerous for dogs. (Even for kids)
Cats tend to be more cautious, so the big concern is for dogs.
25% of dogs around the world are reported with a deadly accident because of stairs.
I met two people in the past who lost their dog by falling in the stairs, and even mine, last week, almost got severely injured for the same reason. (that’s why I am writing this article today to prevent other dogs’ injuries related to stair’s accident.)
Stairs are useful and even beautiful, but for animals, this is a total treath if the stairs not been safely designed for dogs.
Here are some stairs that are highly considered to be non-safe for dogs, mostly.
Wooden stairs
Even worst, wood stairs with varnish!
I know, varnish makes wood so much more shiny and beautiful, but if you love your dog, please avoid to apply varnish on your stairs. It is way too slippery.
The problem is most people want to add a fresh coat of stain because it can bring out the beauty in a wooden staircase. So at this point, we have to make a choice: our dog safety or the stairs.
Spiral Staircases (One of the worst)
Dark colour stairs
This is what we have at home, and because of the dark colour that is the same as the floor, this is so dangerous for dogs. I guess the dog’s vision can’t make that much difference between dark tones colour.
Straight Staircases
There is no way a dog can walk on this, obviously
This type of Straight Staircases is so dangerous for dogs. Many dogs got injured by slippering between the stairs ending with broken ribs and even broken skulls!
Acrylic stairs
Even if this kind of stairs is not so common, this is a big no-no for the dog’s safety.
Why are wooden stairs dangerous for dogs and puppies?
Varnish or not, wooden stairs are very slippery.
When a dog falls from the stairs, there is a significant probability the frontal bone and the Parietal bone of your dog get broken by accident, and we are talking about death injury.
The problem is there is nothing we can do if you want to keep your stairs as is. In the past, I had dark wooden stairs, and I tried every possible to make it less slippery, which failed badly.
I tried a transparent rubber adhesive for the stairs; it didn’t work (not sure why but it didn’t).
It works for us, humans, but for dogs, it’s not working.
I even tried to apply some kind of anti-slip in a liquid form sold at home depot, which didn’t work either and also make the stairs so challenging to clean.
Last week, one of my dogs had a bath at night and after she ran out of the tub to go downstairs on the first floor. I was walking behind her as fast as I could, but because it was dark, all stairs look the same at night, and she jumped from the per-last step instead of the last one, and she felt on her head very strong. She was crying, and I was anxious about the brain. Luckily, she was ok, but I had to hold her for 30 minutes in my arms until she felt ok. She almost lost consciousness.
Stairs are deadly dangerous for dogs because they act like kids, and we can’t manage them all the time. Every dog owners know about it, so wooden stairs are dangerous, indeed.
It goes the same for dark colour stairs. There is nothing we can do except one solution.
How to make stairs safe for dogs?
How to Make Steep Stairs Safer? ADD TRACTION AND LIGHTING!
So it’s very simple. Add a beautiful carpet and add lighting as much as you can and, if possible, on each step until the last one. Why? because the light will help to brake the dark color that is confusing the dog’s visiblity.
For the carpet, i strongly recommend to keep the carpet up to one meter around the last step on the floor. This way, your dog won’t get hurt as much as if he would fall on the floor directly. There is plenty of nice design online, so there is no reason not to do it it, and it’s even fun as a new house project!
Adding a carpet is the safest solution for your dog.
Conclusion
if you love your animal, dog, cat or any other animal you take care of at home, please consider adding a carpet to prevent possible injuries in the future.
If you have friends with dogs, please share. It is important to prevent dog’s injury caused by stairs. Thank you for reading!