# Steps for the bed and couch



## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

I just tried to buy steps for Ellie (6 months old) so that she could climb up and down from the bed at night and onto the couch when she wants to.

The bed is very important. I have been crating her at night in the bedroom but she really doesn't need that anymore. 

The other night she was on the bed with me, I picked her up because she can't jump that high, and I fell asleep without meaning to. Several hours later I awoke to a thump. Ellie had wanted to get off the bed and attempted to jump - but it's too high and although she didn't break anything, she could have.

So now I've bought a set of steps from Petco and she can't seem to use them. She seems to climb steps by landing with her two front paws and using her two back paws - she doesn't use one leg at a time. So the steps aren't deep enough for her to get all four paws on each step before she goes to the next one. (I hope this is clear). The steps are 5 inches high and about 5 inches wide.

Is she just not ready for this or do I have the wrong kind of steps for this dog? 

What brands and styles of steps are people using successfully? She clearly likes the concept but is frightened and I think if I got the right kind for her, it would work.

Thanks.

Louise


----------



## Jill in Mich (Feb 24, 2008)

Louise, I made my own steps for both the couch & bed but I had to teach the dogs to use them. Maybe that's all you need to do for Ellie. It was pretty easy. I'd put a tasty treat on the first step where she can reach it. Then do another treat so she has to reach for it. At some point she'll climb up on the first step. Reward her. Then put a treat on the next step - just keep going. Do the same thing going back down the steps - one step at a time. Once she gains confidence in the steps she'll be going up & down in no time.


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Hi, Louise.

My bed is nearly 36" high. My son made me a set of stairs 20" high that match my bedroom set. The first design had three stairs, but Tucker had trouble coordinating the timing with the spacing. So, I had DS raise the middle step up to the top height and it is perfect. Tucker is now big enough that he often bypasses the bottom step totally.


----------



## Jill in Mich (Feb 24, 2008)

WOw Sheri, not only is Tucker beautiful, so is your step!!!


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Thanks, Jill. My son was 19 when he made those. I was very pleased with how they turned out. And, as you can see, so was Tucker. This picture was taken when DS brought the steps into the house and just set them down. Tucker immediately ran up and climbed on, then laid there like it was his special chair. He seems to know they were just for him.


----------



## Lynn (Jan 2, 2007)

Sheri,
I love that picture of Tucker and his new step and how great to have a son that can make a beautiful step like that!! I am very impressed with it all!!

Louise,
Steps are tricky, I have three of them in the house for Missy. One for the bed and one for each couch. It did seem to take her along time to feel comfortable in using them. She would perfer me to just come get her and pick her up whenever she wants as to use the steps.


----------



## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

Could you please tell me the brand and measurements of the steps she is using, even with some reluctance.

I tried using treats and watched her as she was very unstable as she tried to climb, particularly down. Her instability was frightening to me and to her; these steps can't be the best answer.

Louise


----------



## Jill in Mich (Feb 24, 2008)

My steps don't come close to the beautiful one's Sheri has, but just to give you dimensions...mine are 12" wide, 10" deep, 8" high for the bed, with 2 steps. The one for the couch just has one step. (I"d take a better picture, but with the January photo challenge, the dogs just run and hide when they see the camera now.)


----------



## Lynn (Jan 2, 2007)

louise said:


> Could you please tell me the brand and measurements of the steps she is using, even with some reluctance.
> 
> I tried using treats and watched her as she was very unstable as she tried to climb, particularly down. Her instability was frightening to me and to her; these steps can't be the best answer.
> 
> Louise


I will measure my steps and post you some pictures this weekend for you. I shopped and waited along time before I got the ones for the bed, because I knew I had to get the right ones or she would not use them.

The steps for the bed are a solid piece of foam cut into steps, with fabric over them, and they are tall and wide. When I saw them I knew they would work good for her. They were expensive, but I was tired of getting up to pick Missy up at all hours of the night. She would jump off the bed, and couldn't get back on.


----------



## hyindc (Apr 21, 2008)

We bought a hard foam set of steps - 20 inches high, four steps, each with 5inch risers and 5 inch treads - about 2 months ago, and our dogs are only now using them. I think some pups do not grasp the concept of them when placed by a bed, even though they routinely use stairs to get from one floor to another or when they are running along a park path. Paco, in particular, is extremely agile, and would jump down from the bed and up and down from our chairs and sofas since he was a little guy. 

However, our bed was just a little to high for him to jump on to. The result was that, if he heard a noise during the night (we live in the city, so all is not dead silence), he'd jump down during the night to investigate and then would wake us to lift him back to the bed. Luke is less agile, and needed to screw up his courage even to jump down. The stairs seemed the perfect solution.

Essentially, we had to teach them how to do it...using treats to entice them up and down. It still took a month for them to comprehend and two months for them to run up and down them as a matter of routine. So, you may need to do the same training.


----------



## Kathy (Nov 9, 2006)

If you can't make your own, you can buy them on Ebay that are hand made or you can buy a variety of different styles online at most dog supply web sites.


----------



## Lynn (Jan 2, 2007)

Here is the site where I got my steps - they have alot of different kind

http://inthecompanyofdogs.com/itemd...EN1=&OR=&parent=&T1=D17070+CML&PageNo=1&pos=1


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Lynn,
Those are very nice stairs, (although very expensive, too.) But, I really like how they say they are light, and you can remove the covers to wash them!!


----------



## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

Thanks so much.

Her problem seems to be that she wants to have all four legs on each step before she moves to the next step  When I got her, she was also afraid of going in and out of doorways but that has been gone for over a month. The stairs are still scary.

I also found the following - did you look at these and what do you think as compared to the ones you got. I am beginning to realize that it's going to be costly, so I'm adjusting to that.

http://www.puppystairs.com/index.php?cPath=12

Louise


----------



## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

Thanks. Does Cody climb by putting all four paws on one step and then moving to the next? Ellie seems to need to do that and so the extra depth of yours (10" deep) looks like it would be helpful.

Did you get them ready made?

Louise


----------



## CinnCinn (Mar 30, 2007)

Hi Louise,

One of my Havs ran up the stairs first time, no problem. The other needed to be trained. I did just what Jill explained in her post. We learned how to go up first, and once he was really good at that, the down came quickly.

Keep the faith.


----------



## Kathy (Nov 9, 2006)

What about something like this? The dog doesn't need to put each foot on each step. Available here: http://www.orvis.com/store/productc...680&prefix=SD&varcatidsrc=SD09&item_code=34E0


----------



## Jill in Mich (Feb 24, 2008)

louise said:


> Thanks. Does Cody climb by putting all four paws on one step and then moving to the next? Ellie seems to need to do that and so the extra depth of yours (10" deep) looks like it would be helpful.
> 
> Did you get them ready made?
> 
> Louise


I think when they're first learning they need to put all 4 on a step. Once they get the idea, then they'll start moving faster. You might want to just put some treats on a step and leave them there. Let Ellie approach it on her how terms. Tess is very skittish and I've been trying to teach her to get on a platform - she wouldn't go near it for the longest time, especially when I was standing right there. Finally, she just did it on her own. After a few days of that, she'll jump up and down, without hesitation.


----------



## louise (Dec 5, 2008)

FOUND SOLUTION FOR STAIRS.

Taking the advice from the many links and treat suggestions offered here, I made a fake set of steps to the couch, which is much lower and less intimidating than the bed.

I used a very wide cardboard box for the bottom (about 18" deep), on top of that I put a smaller box, about 11" deep, on top of that I put a large soft sofa pillow. By that time, we were pretty close to being able to get on the couch and she had a setup where she could climb putting all four paws on each step.

Then I took the suggestion of using treats. Little by little, over the period of about an hour, with lots of encouragement and lots of patience on Ellie's part, she was able to go up and down these "steps", encouraged by the treats.

The next day I took her to the local pet store that had a very nice set of foam steps, about the normal 6" deep. The people were very nice and helped me to try her out on them, again with a heavy use of treats. 

Having gotten the idea of the steps from the night before, she climbed up immediately, although still showed a lot of anxiety climbing down. But it looked good and I bought them with a 2 day return option.

Ellie is now bounding up and down the steps to my bed without much trouble at all. She is still a little hesitant going down but I can see this will go away pretty soon.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and support!

Louise


----------



## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

Yeah, Ellie and Louise! Way to conquer the mountains!


----------



## Jill in Mich (Feb 24, 2008)

Yeah Ellie & Louise - soon she'll be bounding up & down. Don't be surprised when she starts taking the steps down at a run and gains enough confidence to skip the last few steps!


----------



## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

I am looking for steps. Any latest feedback and recommendations? Thanks!


----------



## Kathy (Nov 9, 2006)

Poornima,
I bought a ramp covered in paw print carpet from ebay. Love it and it doesn't stick out too far either.


----------



## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

That was fast! Thanks! I looked up eBay,

Is this the one you got?

http://cgi.ebay.com/18-tall-wood-Do...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item4a9cb5e428


----------



## Kathy (Nov 9, 2006)

No, this is the one I got http://cgi.ebay.com/18-tall-wood-Do...ultDomain_0?hash=item33575f6eec#ht_2129wt_937


----------



## mintchip (Apr 19, 2007)

Kathy those look great!


----------



## Luciledodd (Sep 5, 2009)

Well, I was too cheap to buy steps, so I took the three pillows from the bed that had my shams on them and used them for the base (the square ones) then I added another down pillow and coaxed Rosie up. She immediately got the idea. Course, since all were feather and down pillows, I had to keep them plumped up for her. I never thought that she would be able to jump up on the bed; but over Thanksgiving holiday as she was doing the RLH and having a great time she leaped up on the bed and that was that. Up until then, she had never gotten on any of the furniture either and I had not encouraged her to do so. But the leap on the bed ended that. Now she is on top of everything and looking up to see what other mountains she can conquer. She is small, but the little legs are powerful. Now I have had to strip my side tables of all knicknacks that she can break and am training her not to jump on the sofa and chairs without permission. I have left a pillow on the floor by the bed for her to jump down on so she doesn't break a leg. Naturally, she doesn't jump on the pillow though--just have to hope for the best.


----------



## Kathy (Nov 9, 2006)

All mine ran up the ramp as soon as I put in front of the sofa, without any issue or encouragement needed. They acted like, "thanks, it's about time!!!" lol

A ramp is better then steps too for dogs as they age who might have heart issues or arthritis.


----------



## TheVintageVamp (Oct 14, 2009)

Well, if Murray keeps gaining weight, he will certainly need a ramp to get on the bed. His butt is getting too big  and our bed is a bit high...every once in awhile he only half way makes it and slides back off....


----------



## Miss Paige (Apr 4, 2008)

Kathy:

I really like the idea of the ramp-how do you get it to stay on the couch and will it work for a bed-I have hardwood floors now and don't want the "kids" jumping off the bed and landing on the hard floor-same with the couch. I think all of mine would use the ramp-Never mind-I checked the web site and think this will work great.


Pat (humom to)
Miss Paige
Mr Roman
Ms Frannie


----------



## mellowbo (Aug 12, 2007)

Kathy said:


> No, this is the one I got http://cgi.ebay.com/18-tall-wood-Do...ultDomain_0?hash=item33575f6eec#ht_2129wt_937


Wow, I like that one.
Carole


----------



## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

I got these steps from eBay. They are from the company Kathy recommeded. They are well made and look nice too. 

Benji thinks it's stupid to use the stairs when it is faster to jump up and down the bed. :doh:. He gobbled up all the treats I had placed on the stairs by jumping up on the bed and stretching down the stairs. Lizzie, the good girl that she is climbed up and down dutifully eating the treats.


----------



## TheVintageVamp (Oct 14, 2009)

Great looking steps and what a hoot that Benji figured out a way around having to actually do what you wanted him to in order to get the treats. ound:


----------



## pjewel (Apr 11, 2007)

Poornima said:


> I got these steps from eBay. They are from the company Kathy recommeded. They are well made and look nice too.
> 
> Benji thinks it's stupid to use the stairs when it is faster to jump up and down the bed. :doh:. He gobbled up all the treats I had placed on the stairs by jumping up on the bed and stretching down the stairs. Lizzie, the good girl that she is climbed up and down dutifully eating the treats.


Poornima, did you get the 20" ones? I was thinking of getting that for my troops. Milo never gets up on anything and Cagney hasn't been able to get on the bed for a long time now.


----------



## Poornima (Jun 29, 2007)

Geri, I got the 20". My bed is 24" but the height varies depending on what is piled on- comfortor, quilts, blankets etc. 

Lizzie uses the stairs now but Benji still can't see any use for them.


----------

