Pet Forum

Hey. I am starting to get nervous because our dog keeps jumping off of our bed. She's a 15 year old poodle, so obviously her bones aren't as strong as they used to be. I bought her a little stool to make it easy for her to get in the bed (yes, our dog sleeps with us lol), but she refuses to use it when leaving the bed. have any of you ever experienced anything like this? If so, did you figure out any answers?

Wow, your poodle's quite old and she can still jump off beds! What do you feed her?

My lab jumps all the time but he is bigger than my bed (yes he sleeps on my bed as well, takes up most of the space actually as he is quite humongous).

I don't know if there's any remedy to that. If she has been doing that since she was a pup, she probably just can't quit the habit. Either that or she just wants to feel young.

Maybe you could put like a soft mat or carpet rug on the floor to break her fall.

It is really hard to break old habits especially in senior dogs who have been doing that type of behavior for years. I would not worry so much unless you notice your dog limping or favoring a leg. Watch out for stiffness in the legs as well. You have a stool for the dog, they will use it when they think that they need it

Have you tried holding your dog and going through the motions like she is getting off or on the bed (with the stool)? In other words have her practice using the stool by holding her. I'll bet that your dog will always use the stool on her own after you practice with her a few hundred times.

From when is she with you? Is it for years? Normally its hard to leave a habit for animals as any animal it might be, its hard to adjust to the new habit.. May that be anything.
It might be just unaware of the fact that the stool is specially for her to jump or it is her fear that she might slip from the stool either. I feel not to make her jump with the help of stool if the bed is not very high.

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Meow! lol

Don't worry too much about that, admin. Dogs - or most animals for that matter - are by nature equipped with the build and the ability to do things we think would be risky for them to do health-wise at their age. Like jumping. Dogs don't jump whenever they sense the fall would hurt them, except when they are forced for some reason to do so. When they jump, it's because they instinctively feel it would be safe for them to do so.

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Have you tried getting some doggie steps for her?

I don't think jumping off beds is too much of an issue for poodles - if she were a Dachshund it would be a different matter because I've known a lot of them who have developed serious back problems from jumping, even on and off quite low things like sofas.

But, your dog's age is an issue too. I wouldn't worry about it unless you start to notice her develop problems. Your vet will of course be watching out for problems too. If she does have problems, consider the steps. Most dogs are fine with walking down steps and even enjoy it.

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