The stairs can be tricky for a puppy, much like the way you need to protect a baby from climbing the stairs, which can lead to injury or even death. There are a few ways to make sure your puppy doesn’t get into this quandary. The following will be covered in this article:
- What to know about the difficulties stairs pose for puppies
- Ways to prevent your puppy from getting in a tricky situation
Stay in the know about the difficulties that stairs pose to your new puppy
Stairs pose a threat because puppies can get injured on them, or they may ruin them with their chewing!
A steep staircase may be too much to handle for a tiny puppy that is new to your home. In turn, if your puppy tries to conquer this feat, it may wind up severely injured, or it may even cause death if it has a really bad fall.
Additionally, your puppy may have the urge to squeeze through the narrow uprights of your stairs. This can not only lead to your puppy getting stuck between the rails, but it can also lead to them falling through. We’re going to discuss later in this article how to make sure your puppy doesn’t act on this faux pas, and how you can prevent potential injury.
Lastly, your puppy may want to chew on the stairs you have, especially if they are wooden. The wood is all the more appealing to chew on, and is a good chew toy, if you don’t mind your stairs getting ruined, that is. Therefore, be sure to secure the stairs in a way so they’re just not able to do this.
Ways to prevent your puppy from injuring itself
Follow a few simple steps to help you and your pup
Setting up a baby gate, or more specifically a dog gate, is a sure way to make sure your dog steers clear of the steps. A dog gate is much like a baby gate in that it is specifically for preventing dogs from getting to the steps. This will prevent them from both chewing on the steps as well as struggling to climb them and potentially falling.
Set up the gate at the top of the stairs to prevent your puppy from tumbling down the stairs. If you have a particularly curious puppy who wants to climb the stairs, set up an additional gate at the bottom of the steps. This will prevent your puppy from being able to clumsily climb the steps, leading to a potential injury.
To prevent your dog from squeezing between the railing of the steps, the gates can provide the same effect as partitioning off the entire staircase. But if you don’t want to completely separate your dog from the staircase, you can buy nylon mesh fabric and rope off the railings. You can find this fabric at a hardware store, and put it up along your railings. This will help prevent your dog from wiggling its way between the railings.
Your puppy will probably be about four months old when it can conquer the steps. This can lead to chewing on the stairs. In this case, you will want to protect your stairs. This can be done in a similar way to preventing your dog from tripping down the steps, with a gate that prevents them from gnawing on tempting wood in both the railings as well as the steps if they are also made of wood. In addition, you can treat the wood with a bitter apple spray that makes sure your puppy is adverse to chewing on the railings and steps. Another solution to this problem is to make sure you get your puppy plenty of chew toys that it likes so it will revert to chewing on its toys rather than on the wood. These toys can include plush stuffed animals, ropes that are fun to chew on, or rubber Kong toys that can be filled with treats!
It is an exciting time when you bring home a new puppy. You don’t want it to be ruined with trouble on the stairs, so use this as a guide to safeguard your stairs from your puppy and your puppy from your stairs!
