Pet Ramps
 

My friends bought a new bed that is higher than their old one, and the family dog is having a tough time jumping up on the bed at night.

Like me, they have a cocker spaniel.

I wanted to surprise them with a pet ramp or step for the dog to use so it is easier for her to get up on the bed. Right now, my friends are using a sturdy hat box... do any of you dog-owners have any experience with this?

I have an old dog that had trouble getting in my SUV, so we bought one of the collapsible step ladder things.

like this: http://www.stacksandstacks.com/html/...step-stool.htm

And they can just stash it under the bed when not in use.
(Weirdly, it also taught the dog to look for things he could use as steps in other situations rather than jumping. When he tries to get on the bed now, he now steps on the bed rail then the top. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?)

If you wanted to though since it's inside, you could go with a little upholstered foot stool.

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=3733621

As your post indicates, you know they've got the ramps especially for this purpose but I think they are kind of ugly and bulky for someone to have out all the time, but maybe that's just me. You kind of have to scroll down, but this site has a lot of them: http://www.discountramps.com/dog_ram...FQK0HgodJ2M-cw

Drs. Foster & Smith has some like this one:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...pc=1&N=0&Nty=1

That's a nice one! We have the steps for our petite pooch, but he won't use them. This may change soon, though, as he's been missing his wild spring to the top of the bed!

This thread make me feel a little better about how my dogs have run of my whole house. You know, I've heard that there are people who don't let their pets on the furniture, much less provide them with ramps and stairs to do so.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: The Horror!!!!

Our dog is allowed in the kitchen and her (and the cat's) room, where his food and kennel are. It's kinda of like a mud room, but it's a good sized (8X8 maybe) tiled room. The dog is not allowed on carpeted areas. The cat is allowed in the living room (really, how are you going to keep a cat out - the baby gates only work for the dog), but none of the animals are allowed upstairs in the bedroom.

When I look at the volume of dog hair that I vacuum up or think about how much cleaner my house would stay generally, I kind of regret not doing things more like you.

But I think partially because I had one of the dogs before I got married and he was my constant companion, they are both really spoiled and I can't imagine demoting them now. (I suspect if we ever have kids; the dogs will get demoted really quickly.)

When I have kids that are not crawling on the floor or big enough that the dog doesn't mow them over, the rules might change. Our dog is a little over-friendly (never been able to break her of that), and she jumps right into the toddler and knocks her over...which of course makes the toddler cry, etc. Also my husband is OCD about pet hair. I have to brush the dog before she's even allowed inside at all, and I clean the cat off with cat wipes.

Oh, pleeze! Honey, you ought to see my house. Two of our three dogs sleep on the bed with my husband and me and half the time I'm sore in the morning because I didn't want to shift position lest I disturb them! Heaven forbid I disturb the pooches

My friend got this for her dog. It looks pretty nice in the room since it's wood.
http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...Text=steps&N=2

Sounds like us. It'll be interesting now that we've adopted our 2nd Golden, since he's only slightly smaller than our Golden mix. There's only one sofa the dogs aren't allowed up on, but the rest of the house is fair game!

Once when my big dog stayed with my parents, my mother woke up and realized she'd been sleeping with her pillow on the nightstand because he had just kind of taken over her part of the bed.

He feels very entitled, that dog.

Our dog has full run of the house which my husband complains about most of the time. The nice thing about having the dog in whatever room I am in is her alertness. She hears people outside or in front of our door long before I do and sets off the Beagle alarm!

It's funny because when I am working late and come home the pup is curled up in the bed with the husband as much as he complains about her!