Attention TM Dog Lovers!

We (DW, myself and our aging Labrador Retriever, Kali) just returned from a Trailblazers event in Lake Delton, Wisconsin, where we almost had a tragedy. In the three years we've been TM owners Kali has been in and out of the TM hundreds of time without incident. On Saturday DW was taking Kali's food dish outside and Kali was excited and tried to get past her on the steps. She got a nail caught in one of the perforations on the steps (some older TMs have solid steps) and from 20' away I saw her whole body twist around the trapped paw certain that she was either going to rip out the nail or break the leg. DW dropped the food and grabbed Kali in midair turning her to free the nail.

So DW and I drove to the local WalMart that afternoon and bought a pair of those spring fastened carpet pads to fit the stair treads. They were $8.63 apiece - a pittance compared to the vet bills we almost incurred. This may have been a freak occurrence but one readily possible to be repeated. Those of you who travel with a dog should consider carpet pads or something to protect your pet from getting its nail caught in TM stair perforations. - Camp2Canoe

[tucsoncarol]

Thank you for sharing your experience, camp2canoe. I have my steps covered for just this reason. Repairing dog's legs gets expensive fast. I hope Kali is feeling better, I know she was sore after a stunt like that.

My old TM came with those stair covers thank goodness but I have experienced what happens when a dog rips off a toe nail and it's no small deal.
Thanks for the tip!

Cheri

[Leslie & Nick]

Thanks for the tip! Both my dogs bound out of the trailer with gusto (too much sometimes!)

I'm going to get two of those carpeted step covers tomorrow.

On a related note, our dogs have hurt their peds on the stone driveway where we camp on some land we own. I had a contractor lay down some smaller stones on the driveway to makes it easier on their feet (mine too! )

Nick

I've heard of that before, but forget where.... maybe here. I'm so sorry about the injury to your dog. We put those step covers on our steps almost right after we got the trailer. Thanks for the warning to others.

Thanks for the heads-up. I had a pad on my bottom step, but will add 1 to my top step also.

Chap

I hope Kali is okay. Am a lab lover myself. Maybe we will see you guys out there sometime.

Thank you for sharing Kali's unsettling experience. We also have our steps covered but our Aussie, Deacon, rarely touches either of them and celebrates his youth with leaps and bounds. It's a dog's world. Eric