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Stair designs that suit dogs and don't take too much space


Trishie

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Hi,

can you suggest suitable designs for dogs friendly stairs, that don't take up too much space and that are moveable?

The stairs in the  companionway are ladder like and are not workable for our dogs. We have someone lined up to make us a new set so I would really appreciate ideas and experience led designs.

Thanks in advance,

Trish

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I would think all stairs are dog friendly, they are for our dog. With her at the bottom and food at the top she would climb a builders ladder, in the boat she will hammer from one end to the other and hardly notice the steps in the way.

Perhaps something like this - http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/searchterm?searchTerm=ramp+car - would help.

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On 17/11/2017 at 15:33, artleknock said:

I would think all stairs are dog friendly, they are for our dog. With her at the bottom and food at the top she would climb a builders ladder, in the boat she will hammer from one end to the other and hardly notice the steps in the way.

Perhaps something like this - http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/searchterm?searchTerm=ramp+car - would help.

My dog has severe arthritic elbows and we use a two part folding ramp on the boat. However the grip on most of these ramps aren't that good so we cut a couple of cheap front door mats from b&q to size and fitted them to the treads, and it works exceptionally now. Dog can get off and on easily.

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Our Springer was diagnosed with a slipped disc in July. With some help I built a series of 3 steps that sit on top of each other, and which turn the corner from the alley by the bed to the rear doors. They use the existing steps as part of their support as well as a piece of 2 x 1 screwed to the end if the bed. As the bed is at that end of the boat the steps also help him to get on the bed.

They are such that he doesn’t have to jump/step more than about 35cm.

To get the idea I looked at lots of pictures of boat steps. It needed some thinking about, but was reasonably straightforward.

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We tried a folding ramp for our 14 1/2 year old Black Lab.

two reasons why we gave up on it

1) it took up a lot of space when folded away and was difficult to erect in our rear galley, as you can’t stand at the side of it  

2) even though it was really wide, our lab consistently kept putting a foot down between the ramp and our cupboards  

 

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Hi mrmoss,
We have two large dogs and an almost vertical companionway ladder. There is no way they will be able to get down it. We need to find a replacement that gives a greater tread area and reduces the steepness. A carpenter has quoted to make some, but they become very expensive and not immediately available.
Thanks for your interest.
Trish
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Do you need to use a carpenter? I cut some pieces of thick MDF to fit, adding uprights using steel angles and kitchen cupboard joints. It doesn't look professional, but looks OK, and comes to bits to allow access underneath. I'll see if I can take a picture to give a flavour of it.

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Decent quality 32mm/38mm thick decking boards are ideal. 

We planned an improvement to our 3 step arrangement. We made a trial set of 4 steps at a less shallow angle from decking. Once we were happy, we had a duplicate made in oak. 

They are easier for elderly parents, though our 14 year old Labrador still needs some help. 

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When our black lab had a cruciate op, we got one of these. It's strong and telescopic, and fits beneath the gunnels. In fact it takes up so little room that we haven't bothered taking it off the boat even though she now jumps up the stern ladder-stairs as she did before the op. Expensive but worth it, in our view:

 

https://www.easyanimal.co.uk/deluxe-telescopic-dog-ramp.html#.WhRIaUpl_IU

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