Slippery hard surfaces, such as hardwood floors, laminate, and tile are dangerous for dogs.
While the floors may look appealing to us humans, it can be a disaster waiting to happen to our furry friends. Slick and slippery floors don’t give dogs traction to move around.
- Little to no traction – smooth surfaces don’t give dogs anything to grip to. Making getting up, running, and even walking a difficult task.
- Joint pain and muscle strains – Dogs that don’t have any traction while doing the tasks mentioned above puts consistent extra stress on your furry friends on muscles and joints. It can also cause soreness, chronic pain, stiff joints, it can also exacerbate arthritis symptoms.
- Soft tissue injuries – Torn Craniate Cruciate Ligaments, (human equivalent of an ACL), Increased risk for slips and falls. Injuries such as muscle tears, sprains, making hip dysplasia worse.
- Can give your dog anxiety about walking on certain floors, they may even avoid them entirely.
- Can cause unnecessary stress and increase nervousness around certain floors.
- Chronic joint damage slipping repeatedly can accelerate joint degeneration – Arthritis and hip & elbow dysplasia are both possible in the long run.
- Difficulty moving – hard floors don’t provide cushioning for impact, putting unnatural stress on joints and muscles trying to maintain balance.
What you can do about slick floors to help your dogs
- Add area or throw rugs in high traffic areas, especially the bottom of the stairs to give them traction.
- Ensuring dogs have traction gives them stability, giving them confidence to walk freely. This is particularly important for senior dogs, puppies, and breeds prone to joint issues, who may already be predisposed to mobility challenges.
- Add some grip to aid traction for the stairs.
- Keep their nails trimmed short to help maintain proper balance and traction.
- Trim the hair around their toes, reducing slipping by giving more traction.
- Get some specialized toe grips, traction socks, or boots to help with stable standing.
- Applying paw wax to keep pads moisturized.
- Place non-slip pads under water and food bowls to keep them from moving.
~Canine PT and Me Team