Calling Klutz Dog Owners!

[Guest greyers]

The new 9 year old adoptee we hope to have in our care next week apparently is an easy sweet and wonderful boy, but one thing that the adoption rep mentioned is that he is a huge klutz and has had several accidents it sounds like. She said she would explain more about how to help him with stairs, etc when we meet him.

 

Now all my Greys have been somewhat accident prone (I think it's a breed thing), but I've never owned a "klutzy grey" and in preparation for his possible admission into our lives I am trying to think of things in my home I may need to adjust or change to assure his safety. So I am wondering if any klutzy grey owners might have some advice from experiences they have had that I may not think of. I think overall this boy would be by far the easiest grey I have owned. All the rest have been multiple failed home attempts that were spooks, snappy snarly Greys, or had something about their personality that made them "unadoptable". This guys seems like an absolute easy boy, I just want to klutz proof my home and make it safe for a senior that has arthritis and is possibly injury proned.

 

Oh and we live in a condo, no back yard to hurt himself in, but we do have stairs. Some carpet, some tile and some hard wood floors.

 

Thank you in advance for your expertise!

[OwnedBySummer]

Klutzy is one thing... but senior with arthritis added to that is another. Wow. Summer is a klutz but it's almost always outside and usually involves blood. Whenever we're at a greyhound playgroup and there's blood, we all check Summer!

 

For inside... my first suggestion is mats/area rugs (if they slide, put that sticky stuff under them). You didn't specify if he's an inside or outside klutz but, reading between the lines, he sounds like either inside or both? I wonder what the accidents were? If they were bare floor accidents, then I'm guessing he'd keep doing it at your place unless you put down mats.

 

I have a rubber-backed mat at the bottom of the staircase. I taught her to come down the stairs, hesitate at the bottom and then step carefully onto the mat. I have another mat in the formal living room in front of the window seat. As soon as I discovered that she hangs out there whenever I'm out, I knew she'd do something to herself getting off the window seat onto the hardwood floor. So I was pro-active with the mat! She also has a mat to stand on at her food and water station (which is on very scary and shiny kitchen tiles). And I have rubber-backed runners on both sides of my bed. I keep one crooked, from the carpeted hallway to the side of the bed, so that she doesn't have to traverse the wood floor and can't accidentally miss the mat when she jumps down. When guests come, I straighten it out, .

Edited October 15, 2011 by OwnedBySummer

[Guest Scouts_mom]

My Henry is also a klutz (and not all that bright). However, no matter what he runs into, he doesn't seem to hurt himself. It is more that he hurts the other household members by stepping on them or running into them (me, my other dogs and my cats). And I will never understand how he managed to run into the garbage can which was in the same spot it has been in since he came home. He screamed but wasn't hurt and helped me pick up the garbage he had scattered. So I don't really have any advise for you. Just make sure there are no sharp corners around for him to run into.

[Remolacha]

Well, Fletcher is a klutz, AND he has arthritis, AND he's 9 1/2, almost a senior Until his arthritis got bad, he mostly hurt himself out in the yard, and going up and down the three steps into the yard. The steps are cement with a marine paint with grit to keep them from being slippery, but he still scuffs his feet on them sometimes. Honestly, outside I rarely know how he gets cut/scraped/scratched he just comes in with a new (almost always minor) owie.

 

He would occasionally wipe out in the house, on the wood floors, but when he was younger, he would just bounce back up, apparently unharmed I now have rubber backed area rugs everywhere, I buy multiple cheap ones so I can just throw them in the wash, and throw them out when the backing goes.

 

Other than non-slip rugs, you may just have to wait and see what kind of accidents he is prone to.

 

I know part of Fletcher's problem is his attitude, which is a full speed ahead, leap before you look, "what do you mean I'm not a puppy anymore"

[Guest greyers]

Thank you all for your advice! I will definitely add an additional rug or two. I love the idea of one at the bottom of the stairs. We have an area that has 4 small stairs and I hadn't even thought about one there. Our full set of stairs is on carpet, but the small set is on hard wood flooring. I love the newer vinyl type mats like you use in kitchens. Not only do they stay put, but they are easy to clean when a cat pukes on it!

[JJNg]

My boy Wiki's a bit of a klutz, and another one who's not all that bright. He's a super sweet, goofy boy, though. As Scouts_mom mentioned, most of the time, I'm not sure there's much I can do in terms of prevention, but he usually doesn't hurt himself. Wiki will sometimes trip over his own feet or over toys on the floor. He's also jumped out of the car, and then turned around and hit his head on the door.

 

One thing I do try to do is to make sure doors (any door, including crates or baby gates) are open all the way before he tries to go through. If the door opens toward him, and is only open part-way (for example, trying to go into a crate), he will sometimes misjudge the opening and scream when he catches his shoulder and gets stuck on the edge of the door. I'm sure every klutz has his own individual tendencies, so finding out exactly what your new adoptee has done in the past will probably help you prepare.

[Guest FullMetalFrank]

I think the most important thing is to address any slippery floor areas as best as possible. Also look for things that he might trip over or that might " jump out" and get him! Things like plant stands, decorative objects, etc... Anything that might be in a doorway or close to a corner where he might knock it over and scare the bejeebus out of him. Good luck!

[Guest greyers]

Thank you everyone. We did get some extra rugs for the tile and wood floors and he actually has done great! He is slow going up and down the stairs and doesn't run around on anything except the carpet. This definitely helped me take a look at my house and safety for a new dog, so thank you all for your posts!