Have you ever jolted out of sleep—and likely one of the best dreams EVER—only to realize that the reason you awakened in the first place was because your dog pounced on the bed? Many of us dog owners are familiar with this scenario, and frankly, it can be a little difficult—especially in a fear & annoyance-induced stupor—to resist the urge to shove Spot right back down off the bed and demand that he sleep on the floor.

For the most part, most of us don’t actually mind letting our dog sleep with us, but dogs don’t sleep in one spot all night long. Dogs are naturally inclined to protect the people they love, which may include a few nightly prowls around the house to make sure things are okay. In fact, your dog likely jumps on and off of the bed several times throughout the night, which is enough to leave you at your last straw if you’re a light sleeper. However, you should rest assured that there is a solution that can make both you and your dog have a happy night, and that’s by the use of dog steps for beds.

As the bulk of your night time stress is in fact due to your mattress jolting as your dog jumps on and off the bed, then dog stairs are the perfect solution. Your dog is able to evenly distribute his weight from the stairs to your bed—and vice versa—so you needn’t feel a thing when your dog goes for his night time patrol. The fact that most pet steps are carpeted also means that the sounds from your dog’s movement will be completely muted.

Okay, so now that you know the comfort side of purchasing dog steps for beds, you should also know that dog stairs are a great way to prevent joint and bone ailments from impairing your dog in the future. This is especially true for large and small dog breeds. Larger dogs are prone to arthritis and hip dysplasia, and small dogs can develop spinal issues or even break bones by leaping from heights.

See, there are JOINT advantages to both your dog’s health and your sleepy time happiness through dog stairs for beds. Just make sure that you have the measurement of the height of your bed (from floor to the top of the mattress) when you go to purchase your dog stairs. It doesn’t do you or your dog any good if he has to leap to and from the stairs. Best of luck to both you and your dog!

Choosing a set of dog stairs does require a certain amount of effort in making sure that the stairs will meet both yours and your dog’s needs. Some of your concerns might be that the stairs won’t be sturdy enough or that they will stick out like a sore thumb in your home. Hopefully by the end of this article your concerns will be soothed and you’ll be ready to shop around!

There are three common materials that pet stairs are made from: plastic, metal, and wood. First, we’re going to talk about plastic pet stairs. Plastic stairs have the advantage of being light-weight, which means that you can easily move them from room to room as you need to. The down side is that most of these require that you assemble them yourself, which can be a bit of a pain if you aren’t feeling up to a project. Also, they usually have a limited range in colors, the most popular being beige. Plastic steps make a fair selection for a small dog, but if you have a heavier or larger dog, you might find less availability in steps of the plastic variety that are capable of handling a larger weight range. Lightweight plastic probably isn’t a good choice of construction for a large dog.

Metal stairs are generally used for loading and unloading your dog into the car, but they can be used for other purposes as well. They aren’t nearly as light as plastic steps, but they are very easy to store or take with you in your car as many (but not all) are built with the ability to collapse into itself. The adjustable incline (again, not all metal steps have this feature, but most do) allows you to adjust the steps to various heights, which means more versatility! Metal stairs are great for all sizes of pets and usually have a fairly high weight capacity. They probably wouldn’t be the most attractive type of stairs to have in your home, however.

The last pet stair material we’re going to talk about is wood. Wood dog steps offer a great deal of convenience and safety. They are solid enough that your dog won’t be likely to slide or knock over the steps, and they have a higher weight capacity (some even a sturdiness capable of supporting up to 250lbs!).  Of the wooden variety, you can choose between a stained wooden finish or a carpeted one. Both the stains and the carpeting come in a wide variety of colors, so you shouldn’t have a problem matching your decorating scheme.

Now that you’re aware of the different types of pet stairs, your luck in choosing the best stairs for your pet should be a little smoother. Good luck and happy shopping!