Rugs for my aging dog?

April 11, 2019 10:21 AM

I've never liked rugs because I've (almost) always lived in hot places, and didn't need the warming/cozy vibe, and because I'm not good at keeping them clean and they get gross. Yet my sweet girl has failing strength in her back quarters and is not doing well on our slippery (tile / polished wood) floors. Help me figure out some sort of rug solution? I have some wishes...

I'd like these to be easy to lift up and put down and add more in different places as needed; I'd like to be able to quickly, easily pick 'em up and shake them out / clean them / clean under them without it being a grand effort. IOW lightweight, easily shifted, easy maintenance, easily configured. Preferably, smaller sizes that I can combine and move around furniture and stuff rather than a big roll-it-out carpet kind of thing.

Like, for example, I've imagined just getting a bunch of those Chindi rugs (I had to look that up) to arrange where needed and letting them overlap as necessary — though I'd rather none of us ended up killing ourselves sliding on or tripping over such a hodgepodge.

At this point, I'm least worried about aesthetics, though in a perfect world, this wouldn't be perfectly hideous. The main goal is to provide some traction for my dog on our slippery floors, especially in the areas that she most frequents, and we do not have open, spacious floor expanses.

Pertinent: I have a clothes washer that barely, barely accommodates my queen duvet (really, it doesn't accommodate it, but I will just carry on refusing to acknowledge that, thanks).

posted by taz to Home & Garden (26 answers total)

Go to sears or walmart and look for some runners with a grippy back to them and put them in the main corridors/walkways that your dog is going. You’ll end up shelling out a fair amount of money for additional grippy mats for the carpets if you don’t do this. Look for things meant for garages as they tend to be very low profil and easy to sweep clean.
posted by raccoon409 at 10:28 AM on April 11, 2019 [2 favorites]

The Chindi rugs or similar might work even better if you get non-slide mats for under the rugs, like so. Then the main hazard are just the edges, but the Chindi rugs don't look prone to curling up, which is good.
posted by ldthomps at 10:29 AM on April 11, 2019

Vinyl backed carpet tiles might work very well for you. The ones from Flor are a bit expensive but they're larger than you'd think. I've had an area rug's worth of some pet-friendly ones for about six years now that have been absolutely abused but they vacuum like normal, they can be picked up and rearranged because the backing is grippy but not sticky, and for deep cleaning I can pick one up and soak it, scrub it, and lay it in the sun to dry if it really needs it, without involving the rest of the carpet tiles at all. The key is the backing which isn't like a foam rug pad at all, it's a smooth vinyl, and the pile is quite low.

After the success with those carpet tiles I've gotten a few from other brands but none have been as nice. I much prefer the set of on sale matching throw rugs I got from wayfair compared to the crappier carpet tiles. They make my basement pleasant to do laundry in but they like to curl up and can't be cleaned like the flor tiles.

Be prepared for sticker shock whatever you do. Floor coverings are crazy expensive it seems. But it's also worth it for your doggo.
posted by Mizu at 10:50 AM on April 11, 2019

Have you thought about indoor/outdoor rugs? Made out of polypropylene I think. They're supposedly very easy to clean with a hose, and are very soft underfoot. I'm a recent convert.
posted by acidic at 10:50 AM on April 11, 2019 [2 favorites]

you should get rugs that have "sticky" backs, otherwise your dog is just going to slide around even more on the rugs than she did on the floor. and humans might slip too. the other alternate is the mats as people have suggested above.
posted by misanthropicsarah at 10:51 AM on April 11, 2019

None of my dogs do great in our all-laminate house so we have a fair number of area-type rugs, but my oldest was really unstable in the last year of his life and I couldn't leave an accessible sliver of floor or he'd go find it and fall on it.

I don't know if you'll be able to get your hands on any, but the most productive thing I found were dollar store yoga mats, which is also what my vet's office uses, often cut in half to cover a dog-size area without being too awkward to get unrolled. They've got a bit of grip to them on both sides (in fact I've got one next to my chair right now where I stand/sit from and it hasn't moved in weeks, even when I've rolled my chair over it), and if you're lucky you can find a neutral gray or black or non-jarring color. And, of course, you can cut to fit where you need to.

Rubber-backed bathmats or doormats are also deployed. It's real ugly but if you can get your hands on a roll of astroturf it's heavy and rubber-backed as well. (On preview: yeah, don't get anything not backed, I found that separate rug runners were not great for small rugs, though rug tape was okay.)
posted by Lyn Never at 10:53 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

I had a dog with IVDD resulting in weak rear end and incontinence. We just got cheap nonslip bath mats to put around since we had hardwood floors. He liked them and they were easy to wash if we needed to.

Also, one thing I tried that did not work out well: I got a bunch of cheap yoga mats at Five Below, but they weren't grippy enough and ended up a tripping hazard for me.
posted by disaster77 at 11:00 AM on April 11, 2019 [2 favorites]

Have you looked at IKEA rugs? I was thinking of going there next weekend, because it's getting warmer and my dog goes in and out all the time and likes to lie in the doorway too. Cheap rugs from IKEA look fine, can be moved around and are cheap enough that when I can't get them clean anymore, I just put them in recycling. Apart from vacuuming, I've learnt from the carpet cleaner that the best thing is to beat them vigorously (outdoors) and then wash them with spuds in a tub. They move around when my dog is zooming, but not when he is walking sedately about.
posted by mumimor at 11:00 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

You an also buy yoga mat material in bulk for cheap on 100-foot rolls here . Musher's Wax can help give some more grip and won't hurt carpet/upholstery. Some more tips for traction control from Animal Medical Center NY here.
posted by SinAesthetic at 11:33 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

You might try a few different inexpensive alternatives and experiment with gripper/rug material combinations. I have a mostly non-carpeted house and a dog (not old, but hard to get traction on tile/wood nonetheless). I had a living room rug that was almost like carpet that my dog could get great traction on for when he gets the zoomies. Not this one, but something similar to this.

I upgraded to a visually nicer rug, but I can tell he doesn't get near as much traction from it (the new one is cow hide and is held in place with a grippy layer underneath). I'm not sure whether solutions like an indoor/outdoor rug (at least the kind I'm imagining) or even the chindi rugs you linked would add much traction, and they almost certainly wouldn't without some good grippy layer/weight to hold the rug in place.
posted by kochenta at 11:35 AM on April 11, 2019

You can buy the interlocking black foam tile pieces designed for garages at Costco for cheap (they make these for kids playspaces as well, but the colored ones are way more expensive). They are ugly, but meet your other requirements. link
posted by AlexiaSky at 11:37 AM on April 11, 2019

I found gripper socks worked better for my dog then using area rugs. I just took them off when she going outside.
posted by Ftsqg at 11:37 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

No rug solutions, but definitely look into toe grips or traction booties as an option. My friend’s mastiff does much better on her laminate floors with non-slip booties on her hindquarters.
posted by charmedimsure at 11:39 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

When our old guy started really aging, we got a bunch of rugs at ikea and positioned them strategically. The ikea rugs were acceptably decorative and provided good traction.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:43 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

When I was in a similar situation, I bought a 100’ roll of yoga matting online and cut it to the exact sizes I needed. It comes in lots of colors, is cheap, easy to clean, very grippy, and has lots of other uses when you’re done using it for your dog.
posted by HotToddy at 11:45 AM on April 11, 2019 [2 favorites]

Pretty sure this is the place I used, but there are others.
posted by HotToddy at 11:47 AM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

If you go to a big box store for grippy rugs, beware the kind made up of little nylon loops. Our current rescue, Jill. has long toenails and dewclaws (despite frequent trimming) that get caught in the loops and cause all kinds of drama. That wasn't an issue for any of our former dogs.

Also, if you've got some cash to spare, Ruggable makes washable rugs perfect for doggos and life. The top of the rug comes off the base grippy layer for washing.
posted by sarajane at 11:53 AM on April 11, 2019

Response by poster: I should mention that I'm not in the US / NA, so many specific things are not available to me, though I can use the suggestions to look for similar items. I'm taking all ideas!

Also very good point about the nails and loopy stuff! She has shocking meltdowns about anything to do with her feet, and nailtrimming is a huge, major, megamajor all heads asploding deal. Even our groomer and our vet are utterly intimidated by her vehemence (and she's a pretty small, never-bitey, normally super quiet doggo). So, yeah, long nails. clicketyclackety.
posted by taz at 12:23 PM on April 11, 2019

I'm also gonna suggest putting the "rug" on the dog. I bought some of these pawks on clearance because I thought they were funny. But they've come in handy several times now when one of the dogs has had a scrape on their foot that they won't stop licking.

Now that my older one has some hind-leg weakness I find myself putting them on his back paws to help with the slipping issue. (He refuses to walk on rugs on hard surfaces.)

Both of the dogs handle these better than any kind of snow boot/shoe thing. Bonus: usually when first putting them on, he thinks he can't move from one spot, so that settles him down for a few minutes. :)
posted by pixiecrinkle at 12:24 PM on April 11, 2019 [3 favorites]

I think you were posting your update as I was typing, so I'll add that my dog has a similar attitude regarding nail trims, so I was shocked when putting the socks on wasn't a huge ordeal. Plus it mutes the clicketyclackety.
posted by pixiecrinkle at 12:28 PM on April 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

One of my cats is very slippy (he has fuzzy toes, bless). I've found that woven area rugs that don't have any pile plus a rug pad means he gets a place where he can walk like a normal cat and I get something that I can lift and shake all the assorted gathered schmutz off of, plus the robo-vac goes over it pretty nicely. Indoor/outdoor rugs are often without a pile, too, and you can probably just hose them down outside or in the shower or something.
posted by kalimac at 12:30 PM on April 11, 2019

I went to a cheap store and bought lots of yoga mats. They have them with prints now, so they look a bit more like rugs. The added benefit is that, since the mats were already there, I tended to use them for stretching and poses as well.
posted by MountainDaisy at 1:33 PM on April 11, 2019

My friend did this by just getting the carpet tiles and using them to make paths throughout the house. The dog has been good about using the carpet paths to get around.
posted by Knowyournuts at 2:20 PM on April 11, 2019

Oh, I can see you can't get the traditional Swedish carpets I was thinking of at your IKEA. But you can get them at amazon.de -- they are a little pricier there, but also nicer and still easy to handle. Here is a picture of a Swedish dog on a Swedish carpet. I read somewhere that they can actually go in the washing machine at 30 degrees, after the beating, but the tub version is better.

(If you don't beat them first, then the dust will get stuck in the weave during washing, so they will literally get dirtier from washing)
posted by mumimor at 2:40 PM on April 11, 2019

You didn't ask, but for stairs I installed sandpaper sticky tape strips and it gave the dog a lot more confidence.
posted by bonobothegreat at 6:47 PM on April 11, 2019

Response by poster: Semi-update: I did find some bathroom rugs super cheap on sale, so the problem is ... deferred. They're super grippy on the floor, and provide the traction she needs, but they are not going to stand up to the kind of traffic and washing they're getting. I kind of like the nonslip bath mats idea, and will probably try that next. Onward!
posted by taz at 3:36 PM on May 21, 2019