When your old dog can't jump on the bed anymore

There is usually a first night. Your dog walks to the side of the bed, looks at it, looks at you, and waits. Or it tries, gets its front half up, and scrabbles with the back legs until you help. For a lot of owners this is the moment a dog's age stops being something they know and becomes something they can see.

It is also a symptom, not just an inconvenience. The AKC lists "reluctance to run, jump, or play" among the early signs of osteoarthritis. Its page on intervertebral disc disease lists "avoiding jumping on furniture (if they usually do so)" among the signs of a spinal disc problem, which is a different condition with a very different level of urgency. So before you buy a ramp, the first question is how the change happened.

Gradual or sudden: the question that decides what you do today

The slow version

Over weeks or months, the dog hesitates longer before jumping, needs a second try, starts choosing the couch over the higher bed, and eventually stops trying. It may still get down on its own. It walks normally on the flat, eats normally and does not cry out when you touch it. This pattern fits the ordinary stiffness of age and arthritis, and it is what most of this page is about.

It still deserves a vet appointment, just not an emergency one. The AKC's osteoarthritis page says that if you suspect the signs, it is important to have your dog evaluated, and warns that some dogs "will hide their pain until it becomes severe." And slow does not prove arthritis. VCA's page on disc disease describes discs that rupture "slowly and gradually" over days or weeks, in a dog that is in pain and reluctant to move, often without the owner realizing a problem exists. VCA's page on discospondylitis, an infection of the spinal discs, says a dog with it may be "reluctant to jump on or off furniture." A vet can tell a sore hip from a sore back. From the bedroom doorway, you cannot. Our guides to the quiet signs of pain and a dog struggling to stand cover the wider picture.

The sudden version

Yesterday it jumped; today it will not, or it tried and yelped. Treat that as a different problem, especially if you also see any of these, all of which appear in the AKC's or Cornell's descriptions of disc disease:

• Crying out in pain, for example when it jumps or moves.
• A hunched or arched back. The AKC's list says "arching their back like a cat."
• Wobbly, weak or dragging back legs. The AKC describes "looking drunk while walking"; Cornell describes a wobbly gait and weakness in the rear.
• Reluctance to walk, turn its head, or get into position to toilet.

The AKC's article quotes Dr. Amy Attas, VMD: "All of these symptoms require immediate veterinary attention," and "The symptom that is an absolute emergency is if the dog is unable to walk." VCA notes that discs "may also rupture suddenly," and that some dogs "go from walking to total paralysis in less than one hour." Cornell's Riney Canine Health Center puts the rule in one line: "At the first sign of back discomfort, contact your veterinarian."

It still jumps down, just not up

This version of the problem has a plain reading: getting up has become harder than getting down. Going up, the dog has to lift its own weight onto the mattress. Coming down, gravity does that part. So a dog can lose the jump up long before it loses the jump down.

That does not make the way down safe, and the sources we read agree that the landing matters:

• Cornell's advice for reducing the odds of disc disease is to minimize "jumping on and off a deck, bed or sofa." On and off, not just on.
• The AKC's disc disease article names "an injury that results from jumping or experiencing a hard landing" as one cause.
• VCA says a disc rupture often happens "after a minor fall or a relatively small jump," while adding that the jump often gets the blame for damage caused by long-term disc degeneration.
• Canine Arthritis Resources and Education (CARE) says walking downstairs "increases the force on the front limbs," particularly for dogs with elbow, wrist, shoulder or neck problems.

None of these sources measured a dog jumping off a bed, and we are not going to invent a number for it. Together, though, they point one way. Whatever you set up has to be a way down as well as a way up, and it has to be where your dog actually gets off. Most dogs learn the climb before the descent, so our ramp training guide teaches the two separately. While your dog is still jumping down, VCA's advice is simple: if a dog still jumps on or off furniture, have non-slip rugs where it lands.

Should it still be on the bed at all?

Worth asking before you spend anything. VCA's guide to setting up a home for a mobility-compromised dog puts it conditionally: "If your dog sleeps on the bed or other furniture and your veterinarian says it is safe to continue, you can teach them to use stairs or ramps specifically made to help them get up and down." For many stiff, arthritic dogs the answer will be yes, with help. After a disc episode it may be no, at least for a while. For the breeds Cornell lists as commonly affected by disc disease, including dachshunds, toy and miniature poodles, beagles, cocker spaniels, German shepherds and Doberman pinschers, its advice is to minimize jumping on and off beds and sofas to begin with.

It also helps to be honest about what the bed is for. For most dogs it is about being near you, and that can often be delivered from the floor beside you rather than from on top of the mattress.

The four ways back up, in the order to consider them

1. A ramp, for a dog that is unsteady or long-backed

The AKC's guide to making a home accessible for a senior dog suggests a ramp for dogs "that can no longer master stairs," with a gentle slope and a non-slip surface, and a weight rating you have checked against your dog. A ramp asks for one continuous walk rather than a series of small lifts, which is why we suggest it for a dog that sways, knuckles or has a long back. Its catch indoors is floor length: a ramp long enough for a gentle slope to bed height takes a lot of bedroom. Our ramp vs stairs comparison walks through the choice by condition, and the ramp sizing guide does the length math.

2. Steps, for a dog that is still steady on its feet

The AKC is specific about who steps suit: "If your senior dog still has good balance and is relatively agile, but has trouble jumping on or off your bed or couch, a set of pet stairs can help." It says to choose deep steps with an anti-skid surface such as carpet or textured rubber, rated for your dog's weight, and notes that rounded tread edges help. Step height matters most for small dogs. CARE points out that small dogs who have to jump their own body height from one step to the next are putting in a lot of effort, which is probably not ideal if they have arthritis. Our steps for small dogs page sets out how to check the rise of each step against your dog.

3. Lower the destination, or bring the bed to the floor

This is the option people skip because it costs little and feels like giving something up. It is often the kindest one. VCA recommends beds a mobility-compromised dog does not "have to climb over or onto," and describes the ideal as "a recessed orthopedic bed that doesn't require your dog to climb onto it." In practice that means a good orthopedic bed on the floor on your side of the bed, where your dog can see and hear you, and another at the end of the couch where you sit in the evening. Our guide to why one bed is rarely enough explains how to place them so they get used, and our beds for arthritis page covers what to put there. If you are willing to lower your own bed, taking the height out of the problem works too.

4. Lifting, when you have to

For a small dog, lifting on and off is a real option, provided you lift it down as well as up. Putting a dog on the bed and then letting it jump off undoes most of the point. For a big dog, lifting onto a bed every night is how owners hurt their backs, and our guide to lifting a large senior dog safely says plainly that a ramp or steps is the better answer there. If you do lift, use that guide's method, and remember Cornell's warning that a dog with back pain may snap even if it never has before.

What to look for in a way up

Whether you choose a ramp or steps, the same handful of things decide whether an old dog trusts it. Most come straight from the AKC and VCA guidance above.

• The right height. Measure from the floor to the top of the mattress with the topper and bedding on, not to the frame. Steps that stop short leave a small jump at the top, which is the movement you are trying to remove. Our ramps and steps for the bed page has typical heights and ramp lengths.
• A surface your dog trusts. The AKC names carpet or textured rubber. Smooth plastic is the usual reason a dog slips once and refuses the whole thing.
• No movement at all. VCA's wording: make sure the ramp "is sturdy and doesn't slip, or your dog may not want to use it," and that it is "built so the dog can't fall over the side." On a hard floor, put a rubber-backed rug under the base.
• A weight rating with room to spare. The AKC says to read the product specifications to confirm it will support your dog. For a big, heavy dog, our ramps and steps for large dogs page covers what changes at that size.
• Deep treads and low risers, for steps. The AKC asks for deep steps and rounded edges; CARE's point about small dogs means the lower each step, the better.
• The right side of the bed. Put it where your dog gets down, not where it looks tidiest, with a non-slip rug at the bottom.
• A few days of training. VCA is realistic: "You will need to spend some time encouraging your dog to use them." If yours flatly refuses, our page on a dog that won't use the ramp works through the usual reasons.

Our PetSafe CozyUp bed ramp review goes through that ramp's listed specifications in more detail.

The couch, and the car

The couch

The couch is usually the easier half of the problem. It is lower than a bed, so a ramp of a sensible length is more likely to fit in the room, and the AKC notes that pet stairs come down to a single step for a low couch. It is also where your dog most wants to be in the evening, which is why a bed on the floor at your end of the couch works so well for a dog that should not be climbing at all.

The car

The car is the bed problem at a greater height, usually landing on something harder. VCA's home-setup guide says "any dog can get injured when they jump into or out of cars of any size, and this is especially true of dogs with mobility issues," and suggests folding car ramps and support harnesses for a dog too big to lift easily. VCA's osteoarthritis page adds that a vehicle ramp can "help reduce stress on the back and leg joints" and that "most dogs can quickly learn how to use ramps." The AKC's tip for a travel ramp is to look for one light enough to move easily. Our guide to car journeys with an old dog covers loading, staying upright on the move and the vet trip, and the car ramps page ranks the options.

A plan for this week

1. Decide which version you are looking at. Sudden, or with yelping, a hunched back or weak back legs: call the vet today and keep the dog off furniture and stairs until it has been seen.
2. If it has been gradual, book a routine vet visit anyway. Mention the bed specifically, and ask whether your dog should still be on furniture at all.
3. Tonight, put a good bed on the floor beside yours. If your dog still jumps down, lay a non-slip rug where it lands.
4. Measure. The bed to the top of the mattress, the couch seat, the floor space beside each, and your dog's weight.
5. Choose the shape. A ramp for an unsteady or long-backed dog, steps for a steady dog in a tight room, a floor bed if your vet says no furniture or your dog will use neither.
6. Train it before you rely on it, up and down separately, over a few days.
7. Then deal with the car the same way, as its own project.