# Aging Golden and Stairs



## babettesfeast (Jun 26, 2009)

Hi all! My heart dog, Stella, will be 12 in November and has no trouble with stairs. She's in great shape! We will be moving within the coming year though, and I'm wondering how much I should consider stairs in our new house. All perspectives welcome!


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## joro32000 (Feb 25, 2017)

For me stairs were big consideration when looking for a new house. My bridge boy and heart dog “Buddy” had a severe arthritis. He was one of the reasons we sold a two story house (no regrets) and moved to “a sort of” bungalow. In the last year of his life he couldn’t even climb the only 4 stairs we have in the current house, I put carpets over the hardwood floors. On the other hand my 18 year old Lola didn’t have any issues climbing the stairs or walking on the hardwood till the end, and my current 14 year GR is excellent on stairs.


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## Jmcarp83 (May 4, 2018)

Awe. I have an 11.5 week old golden named Stella. My lab is almost 13 and she still can do stairs okay. I do notice it can be slower on rainy, cold days.


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

When my first Golden was 13, he would go up the stairs very slow. Unfortunately, he fell down the stairs when coming down by himself while I was in another room. It was so sad. After that we would be sure we were always with him.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

If you can find a house without stairs, it would be much better for her and you too when it comes time to helping her up and down the stairs. 

I live in a raised ranch, have four stairs going to upper level where the bedrooms and bathrooms are located. My old gold started having problems with the stairs when he was 14-14.5. My husband was really handy, he took some scrap wood and made a ramp for him and put a piece of scrap carpet on it. Worked out great for him.


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

I am in a split level entry home, so there are at least five steps up, no matter how I go in (10 if I enter downstairs). I had a runner put on the steps when my last girl was 10, and when she was 12 and sick, an upper level home became available. Since I was already carrying my 12 year old up five steps, it made me realize how lucky I was to not have that big, steep staircase of about 20 steps. 

When I move from this house, I will likely be looking for a single level home or one with few stairs, both for any aging dogs in my future life and aging me!


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