better days
Well… Oslo our Newfoundland dog has started falling down the exterior front steps when she goes outside. It’s not quite “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” territory, but it’s mighty close. She basically biffs the last 3 steps altogether (“biff” is a verb, right?) and her back legs collapse on her when she hits the ground. The steps are just too steep, and she’s just too old at this point.
So G and I have started carrying her – CARRYING A 163 POUND DOG – down the stairs. Why has this not made its way on to youtube yet? G grabs her front half under her dog armpits (“dog armpits” is a noun, right?) and I grab the caboose from under her legpits (again, “legpits” – a noun? I’m officially coining it as a word) and we haul her down slowly, one step at a time, praying we don’t slip. She makes this guttural “I hate you guys you are embarrassing me in front of the world” growl the whole way. One time we were losing our grip and she panicked and actually tried to grab the stair railing to save herself like she had opposable thumbs. I am cracking up as I type this, because it was the funniest thing I ever saw. We were laughing so hard, that by the time we got to the bottom, we were in hysterics, and then she was really quite mad and embarrassed that she just walked off down the street and sat down with her back to us in a neighbor’s yard.
But I digress.
So we need to do something here. That something is a new exterior staircase. We’re going to
build it off the back of the house. The current back stairs (off the kitchen) are in bad shape anyway and Oslo has always hated them, so it’s the perfect fix. Friend/neighbor/architect L has helped with a plan for a new back staircase that’s more of a wraparound, lazy, platform-intensive, no-more-than-three stairs-at-a-time design. We hope to get this done in the next few weeks. I’ll keep ya posted.
HEY IT’S AN UPDATE: Click here to see what we did.
biff-free
Great plan. I look forward to watching the building process. Do yo take requests? Show the building stages, please! My builds are never plan, before, BINGO DONE! I’d love it if you could include intermediate stages of the build, and safety precautions you use if you have to leave it half built for some days. Thanks.
I hesitate to be so knowitall here, but the dog-lover in me is compelled to tell you about our experience with our three dogs. When our large dogs’ age-related arthritis (an Anatolian Shepherd and a Komondor) and the retriever’s hip dysplasia forced us into the same stair-assist routine, I was amazed at what a special food (Rx Joint diet), pain meds, and supplements for joint health did for our pups. Losing 10-15 lbs made a big diff for their joint health, and quickly.
Oslo the newf is a handsome old boy. Thanks for responding and accommodating his need. Good luck with the build.
Thanks – I’m planning on documenting all stages of the build, so I’ll post as much as I can.
As for Oslo, we’ve been trying to get her weight down for years, with little success. She’s been on glucosamine supplements forever (Cosequin for dogs), and last year we switched her food from her large breed/glucosamine formula to a Senior Wellness line (to help her lose some pounds – it didn’t help much though). We increased her walks, and started giving her veggies for treats – but she’s still over 160. The vet now has her on Rimadyl for the pain, so we’ll see how that goes.
Komondor?? Love those dogs.
Sorry for the gender confusion, Oslo, old girl.
A, I commend your compassionate and active apprach to getting her safely up and down. I hope we always have a big dog or two, and being as large as a human they require (and get) consideration in space planning and flooring that doesn’t arise with smaller dogs. With any pet, their behavioral lifespan unfolds in our home, and the process (destructive, active, inactive, incontinent?) is accelerated in larger dogs.
So we have made compromises on style for the safety and comfort of our oversized and under-coordinated animals, present and future. Flooring in the main living spaces is still an issue. We learned that an indestructible laminate floor causes the dogs to skitter (even with a good canine pedicure), large expanses of tile is too hard for old bones (mine included), and although I hesitate to put any wood product down unless we want it to achieve a rustic look, I’m still thinking about it. It would look so much better, but it would have to stand up to our big dog’s special challenges (sheds a lot, runs heavily, and the occasionall spillage.)
We went for a durable carpet (so NOT) and waterproof padding (I guess) for its safety, softness and sound-dampening properties. But indoor air quality suffers, and cleaning becomes an ordeal no matter which tool, machine, or method is used.
Your hardwoods appear to have held up well, and really love your new small tile (esp the herringbone). That vintage hardwood is solidly installed and settled in, and it just seems so easy. Oslo’s customization of the grout is kind of charming. Do you have a special maintenance strategy for keeping your (inherited and newly installed) floors comfortable, durable, and waterproof under big dog conditions?
A friend of mine suggests that hardwoods plus ceiling fan on high means only having to collect dog hair from the perimeter of the room. I have not tested this, but it sounds good. Really good.
(P.S. Yeti was our Komondor and he was a treasure, for sure.)
Our hardwood floors have held up kind-of-sort-of well, but not really. The last time we refinished them was 10 years ago when we moved in. Today, you can clearly see Oslo’s “walking paths” – they are well-worn. But we are planning to refinish the floors again in the next year. For us, hardwood and random area rugs have been fine for her – but not nice area rugs- one swipe of a tail and the drinks on the coffee table go flying everywhere. We have tile in the entry and the kitchen, which she loves to sleep on because they feel cold. As for maintenance, we really don’t do anything to the wood floors aside from basic sweeping/cleaning – but no slippery cleaning products, of course!
As for the hair, the ceiling fan suggestion makes sense. Oslo’s hair tends to collect in tumbleweeds, which makes for easy pick-up.