Making a slippery house safe.

Owners spend a lot of time thinking about walks and comparatively little about the hallway. For a dog with any hind end weakness, the hallway is where the confidence is lost.

Why floors matter more than you think

A dog whose back legs are unreliable relies on grip to compensate. On a wood or tile floor there is nothing to push against, the legs slide apart, and the dog either falls or catches themselves in a way that is uncomfortable.

What follows is not just the physical risk. Dogs who slip repeatedly stop attempting the route. They stop following you between rooms, stop getting up to greet people, and settle into one spot. Owners read that as the condition progressing when a good deal of it is the floor.

Map the routes first

You do not need to carpet the house. You need to cover the paths your dog actually uses, which are fewer than you would guess.

Spend a day noticing. Typically it is bed to door, bed to water, and the spot where they turn to follow you. Turns are the highest risk points, because that is where the legs move laterally and where slipping happens. Cover the turns even if you skip the straights.

Flooring options

• Rubber backed runners. The most effective option. Look for rubber rather than latex backing, which perishes and marks some floors.
• Interlocking foam tiles. Good for a whole room, cushioned for dogs who lie down a lot, and cheap. Less attractive, and edges can lift.
• Yoga mats. A genuinely good stopgap, particularly at the base of stairs or in front of the sofa.
• Carpet tiles. Individually replaceable, which matters if there are continence issues.

On the dog

Floor coverings do most of the work. Adding grip at the paw handles the gaps.

• Traction socks. Silicone gripped, useful indoors. They come off easily, so buy in multiples.
• Adhesive paw grips. Stick directly to the pad and last a couple of weeks. Better tolerated by dogs who will not keep socks on.
• Trimmed paw hair. Free and frequently overlooked. Hair growing between the pads acts like a ski. Trim it level with the pad.
• Short nails. Long nails tip the paw and stop the pad making proper contact.

The rest of the room

A few adjustments beyond flooring make a disproportionate difference.

• Raise food and water bowls if lowering the head is hard work, and put a mat under them.
• Move the bed away from the middle of the room, so getting up does not start with a slip.
• Add a ramp or steps to the sofa if your dog is still trying to get up there, and expect to teach it flat on the ground first.
• Light the route to the door at night. Older dogs with poor sight compensate with confidence, and darkness removes it.
• Block the stairs with a gate if your dog is unsteady, rather than hoping.

What it costs

Less than almost anything else you will buy for a dog with mobility problems, and it often delays the point at which you need the more expensive things. A few runners on the right routes and a pack of socks is a small outlay against the difference it makes to a dog's willingness to move.

If you only do one thing, cover the route from where your dog sleeps to the door they go out of, including the turn.