Pets and Trinity Staircases

[ArcticSplash]

Question for the group...

I of course have a dog. This dog is a whiz at straight staircases--so good that he lifts his butt in the air and goes down the stairs only on his front paws and he runs up the stairs skipping steps. He can reach the top floor from the basement in 4 seconds when he's motivated.

How good are dogs at dealing with the tight narrow staircases found in some rowhomes and trinity houses? Is it easy to train the dog to walk on the outside?

I've padded my staircase because my dog has slipped and fallen enough times running to the front door to bark at visitors. I have a fear that his instinct to overract to visitors will get the best of him and he'll come crashing down the stairs.

I'm also not really fond of floating stairs. One wrong move by this dog and he'll go between the steps and fly out the other side and crash into the floors below.

[toxigal]

I'm also not really fond of floating stairs. One wrong move by this dog and he'll go between the steps and fly out the other side and crash into the floors below.

can't help you as i really dont' know what the stairs you are talking about look like. i do know that my stairs are narrow and my dogs seem to have an evil plan to trip me on them.

and i hate floating stairs because the evil axe murderer is waiting at the bottom to grab my ankle through them.....

[Dayman]

My cuz at one point had three border collies in a trinity. I believe it was cramped but I'm sure they survived their stair travel.

[luchobucho]

hehe. your dog sounds awesome.

we used to have a dog that would slip on our wood floors and crash into the wall at the end of a VERY long hallway.

I don't have a dog, but I do have floating stairs. my 6 year old nephew slipped through the treads partially one time. I though it was funny, but my sister did not.

[BeardScraper]

I'm also not really fond of floating stairs. One wrong move by this dog and he'll go between the steps and fly out the other side and crash into the floors below.

one of my cats has done that a few times. the cat was in one of his freak out modes, running all over the place and when he got to the top of the stairs he just slid right through the top step and crashed on my wine fridge below. it looked and sounded painful, but he toughed it out.

[Pibbles]

I think carpeting the stairs is your best bet if you're worried about your dog slipping. We pulled the carpet off of our stairs a few months ago and now our Rottie sometimes slips when he runs up or down. He's not the most agile guy to begin with. We used to be able to tire the dogs out when they got an evening energy burst by throwing a ball or toy up the stairs, but now we can't play that game anymore.