Two Dog Tales

The Handi-Ramp company asked me to review one of their products, Puppy Treads. They are vinyl rectangular-shaped stickers with a textured surface that you apply to indoor surfaces such as hardwood or tile steps or floors to help keep your dog, and you, from slipping.

I totally wish they’d been about a year earlier.

Within a week after moving into our new house with oak hardwood stairs, Chatham had slipped and slid down the steps a half dozen times. The morning she refused to come downstairs, standing at the top step whining, it broke my heart.

I went out that day and bought six seasonal rubber-backed rugs adorned with smiley-faced snowmen, cut them in half, and applied them to the stairs with double-sided tape. The headless Frostys were both obnoxiously ugly and slightly disturbing. I’m not sorry I don’t have a picture to prove it. We lived with those for four months, until we paid about $1,000 we didn’t really have to spare to have a runner professionally installed.

The Puppy Treads would have been the perfect temporary solution.

I say temporary because Puppy Treads are very functional, but not particularly fashionable. Yes, they’re a clear vinyl so they don’t stick out like a sore (snow) thumb. But neither are they invisible. They’d look fine in a mudroom, foyer, or basement or garage steps. But they didn’t really blend well with the dressy living room.

Puppy Treads are, however, effective, simple to use, and well priced. They are $7.99 each, or $69.95 for a pack of 10. Most other stair tread products are made of carpet material, and run anywhere from $60 to $120 for just four pieces.

To apply them, all you do is peel the backing paper off and smooth the tread down into place. At first they had almost an opaque appearance, and you could see foot and paw prints, but after a day or so the print impressions were gone.

I used the Puppy Treads on the landing, where the dogs come tearing down the steps and make a sharp turn to the living room. Without something there to give them traction, they slide into the wall. The Treads worked. The dogs didn’t slip, and the Treads never shifted out of place.

Even better, when I removed the Treads, they came up easily and didn’t damage or leave a sticky residue on the wood floors at all. I’d even venture to say there was enough “stick” left that if you applied them, then decided to move them somewhere else, you probably could at least once.

They also were simple to clean. I vacuumed over them, Swiffered the dog hair off, and wiped mud up with just a wet sponge.

My one other caveat is that you can only use Puppy Treads on a flat, indoor surface, according to the instructions. Last week, I visited a friend with metal stairs from her patio to her lawn, and Chatham slipped. A version for outdoor use would be great.

If you want to try Puppy Treads, Handi-Ramp is offering a 10% discount if you use the code BLOG2015.

Two Dog Tales received the Puppy Treads product at no cost, but was not otherwise compensated for this review.