making steps dog-friendly

I just put carpet on the steps that was made for that, then I told Charlie to go up the steps or stay out side. He uses the steps now.

I made a ramp out of a wide, aluminum motorcycle ramp for our girl. i reinforced it with 1/4" plywood and small sheet screws ( she weighs 80 lbs ) the just glued the softer indoor/ outdoor carpet from Home Depot onto the top.

She has pretty bad arthritis and cannot handle the 5th wheel steps.

Works great cause it has the no slip on the two tongues to not slip off a pickup. Its long enough so it doesnt have too steep an incline and goes from the inside floor to the ground.

She walks right up and down it.

Everyone who sees it asks how I made it, and wants me to make them one.

Regards!
Cheryl

Deb and Ed M wrote:
I'm thinking a carpet runner, making the steps look "solid", is the answer? Has anyone else had to do that, and how did you anchor the runner to the steps?

That is exactly what I had to do with my Lab when I bought a new camper with much higher steps. Finally, she got to wheree she did not have the strength in her back legs to make it up the steps, so I taught her that I would help. She waited for me to grab her back legs and while she moved as best she could, I pushed up the steps.

Our motor home has four steps, which are pretty steep. Bella navigates them well, but we carry our elderly Petey, both in and out. It just works best that way sometimes. If we had made a ramp he might have used it but to honest I doubt it would have worked well enough to justify the hassle of having it at this point in his life. He only weighs 20 pounds and it really isn't too much to carry him... Your results will vary. ;)

Deb and Ed M wrote:
I kind of figured this was going to happen: we just bought a used 5er, and my dogs who scamper up the 2 steps into our Class C with no problems, looked at the steeper 4 steps and hit the brakes. Finally, Jimmy decided that he needed to get inside and took a flying leap from the ground to the main floor (not bad for a 15" dog!)

I'm thinking a carpet runner, making the steps look "solid", is the answer? Has anyone else had to do that, and how did you anchor the runner to the steps?

I did just that with a rubber mat with carpet on one side, same type that stores use at the front door. I used double sided tape to attach it to the metal stairs. This year at the seasonal site I built wood stairs. The dogs are happy campers now.

Yes, the carpet runner fastened down somehow will work wonders. It's the metal and the open back that they do not like. We now have wooden steps that are closed at the back and wider than the metal stairs.

RV step rugs.......wrap around steps & secured in place.
No more open holed metal steps.

And they last a long time & steps still fold for travel.

LINK

we have three steps and I put the carpet on them, now the bottom step doesn't fold in enough to completely close. I put two bungee cords on it to hold it in place, two in case one slips off or breaks.

Drape something behind the steps so he can not SEE THRU the steps this is what bothers them. Had same problem with our dog, and hung pieces of rubber down behind the steps. Rain road grim etc is not issue when using a rubber flap.

I started with the rv carpet step covers and that did the trick for my chicken dogs who don't do stairs AT ALL. If that wouldn't have worked I would have tried blocking in the backs till they got used to the stairs.

Yummy treats of course help. Also, use the same idea that they use in agility training to build the behaviour - step by step (lure them up one step, then back down, repeat as necessary until they are all the way into the trailer.)

FWIW - Spike, who is the same size as Jimmy, feels he has to back up and take a run at it. I'm sure he could manage otherwise, but this works for him! I should probably take the time to teach him to take it slowly... next summer.