Dog has no traction on hardwood floors. Any advice?

[Anonymity82]

So we have a dog who's at least 17 but possibly 19. My fiance's family adopted him over 15 years ago and they said he was probably around 4 years old.

Well, after a recent bout with another (he beat cancer a couple of months ago) illness he's too weak to walk on the hardwood floors down stairs. He slips around and now he refuses to move at all. I was looking online and so far I've seen socks that have grips, grip boots and even toe grips. The socks aren't expensive but they have as many one star reviews as 5 star reviews. The boots are around 22 dollars which is something we might be able to do and the toe grips are about 30. Has anyone tried any of these products and if so were they any good? Any suggestions otherwise? Thanks!!

 

[Formerphobe]

Sometimes it's difficult to teach an old dog new tricks, such as wearing booties. I would suggest non-skid throw rugs/runners strategically placed for wherever the dog needs to go. If it is a breed with hairy feet, trimming the hair between the pads so that the pads come in more direct contact with the floor can be beneficial, too. Also, keep the nails trimmed as short as possible.

 

[tarantulagirl10]

+1 to everything Formerphobe said. If you can sew, I would think it would be fairly inexpensive and easy to make some little boots with grips to try out.

 

[Anonymity82]

Honestly I can't sew and don't have too much money. None of us do. Her parents spent thousands of dollars on this really old dog for cancer treatment, medicines, vet and oncology visits etc... We're officially broke and to be honest I can't imagine this old timer lasting much longer nor do I think we should force him. But we'll see how the next couple of weeks go.

Honestly, I don't think he would put up much of a fight with booties. Too weak. He's getting his nails trimmed soon but I saw these interesting things called toegrips. They look ridiculous and there may be a bunch of reasons why they wont work, not being able to stay on for one but here's the link: http://www.toegrips.com/

He's not very active, especially as of late. He's on a ton of meds for an illness the vet can't diagnose. Sporadic neck muscle spasms that cause him to lose balance, squeal in pain and lose strength. Her family has a hard time letting go and is spending money out the ying yang to keep him alive. There's still some hope that he'll regain some strength but at 17-19 years old I have no idea for how long. Anyway, for now we're just looking for a temporary fix to help him on the floors. Thanks for the tips!

We do have a yoga mat that he spends time on downstairs and some other rugs but the whole first floor is hard wood and it would very expensive to try and cover the entire path with throw rugs. It's a good idea and I'll bring it up though.

Just a little fun backround info that has nothing to do with this question:

When I first met Chip he would try to bite me. He did this to everyone. He's a true hater when people come into his home. This was back in their old house around 8 years ago. He was like this the whole time until we all moved to NC together. Money has always been a problem and I wont lie, they put his behavior problems towards the bottom of their list of worries but he always had good medical care. They did have a trainer come once and teach us some tricks which kind of worked for awhile. The kneel and let him smell the back of my hand type of thing. He still wanted to rip my throat out but tried less often. He was usually upstairs with my fiance's parents when I visited anyway.

We all moved here together and chip then accepted me, being that we all moved into this house together and I guess he didn't feel the need to protect a territory that wasn't his yet. He only growled at me once when I was petting his scruff. Although I don't love this dog as much as I do our other dog, I still wish him the best. Sometimes though I really want to put a boot to his face JK! But honestly he has caused me much anger. We're on the first floor (he's upstairs) and he LOVES to pace around at night. If I didn't know any better I would think his legs were wooden pegs. Lately he's been too old and weak to do this but for the past couple of years he would bark at the walls or anytime it was night and her father wasn't here (best friends). Sometimes he would just bark at 3am for no obvious reason. I have a real hard time sleeping so this would piss me off a ton!

He has a tumor next to his penis that causes him to urinate on his leg which for the past couple of months has been a dark brown and sometimes red color. Yet the vet can't figure out why. He ALWAYS manages to squeeze out a dookie so there's never any hope that this time I wont have to pick up his poop... He would occasionally lose control over his bladder and pee around the house, usually on my watch... He has a very annoying bark which he also likes to use anytime he sees my other dog wag her tail. I'm guessing because he uses her for his eyes and ears. Oh, I forgot, at least twice a month he would eat grass and vomit... I know this isn't a huge deal and many dogs have a lot more problems but when I moved here I was a cat person. I hated dogs. Well, not hate but they were on the bottom of favorite animals. Despite Chip's annoying ways I fell in love with dogs. In fact, I'm going to school to be a vet tech because I can't think of any other way I'd want to spend my time and make money other than helping animals. I wish I figured this out when I was younger but at least I figured it out at all! Could be stuck at a factory with no hopes or dreams. I was actually for awhile.

 

[Formerphobe]

There comes a time when the quality of life has to be seriously considered.

 

[poisoned]

I've heard dogs can have a lot of problems wearing socks. It's similar to putting duct tape on cat.

 

[Anonymity82]

Eww, wouldn't want to do that to the old man.

I was thinking those toegrips but I'd like to get some testimony on how well they work. Or how awful they are before we spend 30 bucks on a possible gimmick.

---------- Post added 03-23-2013 at 11:49 PM ----------

There comes a time when the quality of life has to be seriously considered.

I totally agree. We're probably going to keep him on the drugs for a couple of weeks and if there's no improvement I'm sure they'll come around. It's going to be really sad though. That's the main thing I worry about being a vet tech. Not sure I want to do the putting down. I understand it's need but still.

 

[The Snark]

Trim the fur well away from the pads as well as keep the nails clipped. Rub the pads with oil(s): coconut, olive, almond, grapeseed etc. to keep them soft, supple and higher traction. And above all else, the animal gave you many years of devoted affection. It's time to return the favor. My family evolved a standard routine for over 2 years caring for our Alsatian that could no longer stand up due to hip displacia. After a bit of getting used to it we would automatically included Shasta mobility as we went about our daily lives.

For getting a dog used to booties, wrap a piece of masking tape around both front feet very loosely an couple of inches above the floor. When s/he removes them just replace them without any remonstration. Eventually s/he will learn to accept things on hisher legs. Best booties are like those cloth gardening gloves that have little rubberized dots. You can make them from those gloves without much effort.