The Guide How to Make Dog Stairs for Beds? Easy Process

Three things can make jumping up and down out of beds a difficulty for dogs;

• First, muscle loss or weakness of legs over time.
• Second, dog health conditions, such as arthritis or joint ailments.
• Third, is the sheer height of the bed relative to the size of the dog.

In either case, you’ll do your dog a lot of good with stairs.

Fortunately, making good dog stairs is as easy as getting your dog to munch on some meaty turkey neck (we bet your dog loves it too!). Not to worry, we’ve compiled this guide on how to make dog stairs for beds. This will easily help the doggie avoid slips and stumbles!

How to Make Dog Stairs from Wood

What image comes to mind when you hear about stairs?

For most people, it is wood. And there are good reasons for this. Wood makes sturdy and stable stairs that are often very portable, so you can move them around. Without much story, let’s get down to how to make dog stairs for beds with wood.

What You Need

For materials and supplies, you’ll need three IKEA knagglig pine boxes.

These are 23 x 31 x 15 cm boxes. But any type around that size range would be pretty much reasonable. Along with a strong glue and staple gun, you’ll also need a cushion cover to lay on the stairs when finished.

All of these materials can be easily sourced online.

The other good thing about this method is that it will cost you less than $50 from start to finish. You’ll need to assemble the boxes following instructions.

1. You’ll cut out part of the fabric to cover the base on two of the three boxes. These two sides will act as the stepping side.
2. To complete the process, you’ll then need to glue one fabric-covered box with another box without fabric.
3. You’ll then glue this again with the other fabric-covered box. Leave this through the night, -and voila! Your dog can move in and out of bed and couches easily and quickly!

The guide above is based on a creatively excellent tutorial from IKEA Hackers. Thumbs up to these guys and the wonderful things they continue to do!

How to Make Dog Stairs Using Cardboards

Wood is one of the best materials if you want to make sturdy and solid dog stairs, but so is simple and cheap cardboard! The good thing is that this makes even more sense if you feel intimidated by a lack of woodworking skills. Many of us do and it’s not a crime. More so, cardboard dog stairs are ridiculously cheap to make.

Wondering how on earth we expect you to make stairs out of cardboard? Well, this can be done by following the procedures we explained below. This expo on how to make dog stairs for beds with cardboard is brought to you thanks to the genius folks at MildMile!

How Do You Make Dog Stairs Out of Cardboard?

Well, you need double-walled cardboard and a box cutter among other things to get started. Here are the steps and processes involved;

1. Buy double wall cardboard online and cut it into a size like a picture below;
2. Double up even more on the sides with the small support bars on the lower right side of the picture above. Consider tripling the cleats so they can have enough weight and solidity to hold up the steps.
3. Use heavy-duty mounting tape to attach all sides and cleats.
4. Reinforce the setup with hot glue to make it hold together perfectly.

That’s all! We just answered your question about how you make dog stairs out of cardboard.

Cardboard materials may not have the strength and durability of wooden dog stairs. But if you follow the process as explained, especially with doubling up the cardboards, you’ll be able to build for your dogs super sturdy stairs that will help them roam around happily and safely. If you’ve always been wondering how to make dog stairs for beds, it doesn’t get any better than these!

How Do You Make A Dog Ladder?

We’ve discussed extensively dog stairs so far.

But if you’re concerned about the safety and health of your dogs jumping and hopping in and out of beds and tall places, you can also consider dog ladders or dog ramps.

Dog ladders are more like dog stairs based on purpose and some bit of design.

But they are just ladders rather than stairs. Ramps, on the other hand, are somewhere in between the two. Dog ramps also make stepping and climbing easier but are usually a flat surface, often without stairs. Ramps and ladders are more suitable if you have very tall dog beds where dog stairs might be less desirable.

Building A Dog Ladder

You can buy dog ladders online at inexpensive prices.

But if you’re a DIY person, you’re probably hoping to build one for your dog by yourself. The section below is an easy-to-follow expo on if you’re wondering how do you make a dog ladder like the one in the picture below from Wayfair;

You’ll need wood, and plywood is just fine for this.

• Among other things, you’ll also need a jigsaw, circular saw, measuring tape, pencil, screw sink tool, and a sander or sandpaper.
• Measure out all the pieces you’ll need to join with a pencil. These include the steps, as well as the side rails, upright support, etc.
• Once you have everything cut out, mount the ladder brackets to the sides and screw the steps into the ladder itself.
• If you would, you can also put a support piece like in the picture above to hold the ladder upright. If not, the ladder will always have to rest against the bed or other surfaces on which the dog has to climb.

That’s it!

As you can see, this last part of how to make dog stairs for beds requires a bit of woodworking skill since you’ll be working with wood. The difficulty level is moderate and it will at least take you a few hours, probably up to four or five to assemble this.

How Can I Get my Dog to go Upstairs with Arthritis?

Arthritis is a joint inflammation problem in dogs and it’s more common than you probably think. According to the Vet Times, even younger dogs in their first year may start to show signs of arthritis. These signs may include a reluctance to move, limping or lameness, muscle atrophy, and even yelping upon being touched.

Senior dogs at eight years and above are 80% likely to experience a form of arthritis.

If your dog starts to show signs of this, consider;

• Seeking the attention and service of an expert veterinarian
• Ask your vet if it’s okay to carry the dog up and down as needed
• Again, you’ll have to make sure the dog’s spaces and places in the home are very easily accessible. And this is where dog ramps, stairs, and ladders may also come in.

Arthritic dogs will find it very challenging to climb up or out of beds and tall surfaces.

It helps to help them up the stairs as may be required. Most importantly though, you should ensure they get the right treatment so they can climb up and down the stairs happily, easily, and safely again.

And if you can choose just one part out of these three different methods on how to make dog stairs, you’ll take the burden of jumping and playing around a lot less heavy for your dogs. If you can help, why not just do it?