Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I might be immune to how my house looks but I really don't think my tripawd floors look too bad. But it's been this way for at least 5 years - I am very used to it. I opted to go the many rugs route. I brought these rubber backed rugs at Walmart. They still have them but not in same color as I have. They came in various sizes. They were not that expensive - I may have around $200 in them (I think).
They are pain to pull up and mop the floors - so I don't! 
(well, I do about every 6mths) But the one thing that I learned is the dog hair and dirt will eventually get on the rubber backing and they'll start sliding. And being I'm in the desert, they do tend to dry out a bit. So, what I did after two years or so is glued them to the tile! At first, I used a glue spray made for just that but that didn't last very long. So, I eventually got out the handy glue gun and tipped each corner of the rug. That has worked great! Now I just vacuum them. But if you just barely put glue on the corners, you can pull them up to clean the floor.
Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't eat off my floors and I might be growing diseases but HEY! they don't look bad!
So here's what my kitchen looks like:
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Not too shabby, Comet!
We're going to have to invest in some mats now. We've held off because Dante has been okay - and with house training they were mostly confined to the living rooms, which are carpeted. Now that Dante's legs are too big for his body and they have much more freedom, he slips more. I think I could pick the ugliest mats I could find and they'd still be nicer than the awful lino we have in the kitchen right now, LOL.
We're lucky, right before we got the pups we were going to pull all the carpet and put hardwood in. We decided to wait, knowing we'd be getting a new dog - pull up the floors after any possible house training. Now, we're still going to pull the carpets, but we'll be putting new carpet down instead of hardwood.
We have carpet runners down all our tile hallways and down two sides of the kitchen (from the hallway to Trouble's food tray and from the food tray to the back door). Not expensive runners, the kind that come on a roll at Home Depot. If/when we ever get the house completed I'll decide whether to replace them with nice ones. I started out with the rubberized shelf liner, but it slipped too much. It would work as a temporary measure.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Oh Comet, your floors look really pretty compared to the hideous bathroom rugs we have spread all over our slippery surfaces!
In our old place where we seemed to always have people over, we had pretty nice looking runners that we put down, but here in the mountains where nobody ever comes to see us, we haven't gotten any. So we're making do with seven mismatched throw rugs in the kitchen. Thank dog everywhere else is carpeted here.
We once talked to a trainer who said that sometimes she has clients who refuse to put down runners for their arthritic or Tripawd dogs, becuase they don't want to "ruin the decor." Can you believe that? Geez.
BTW, anyone who hasn't seen this, we did run a post about covering up slippery floors:
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
In our old place where we seemed to always have people over, we had pretty nice looking runners that we put down, but here in the mountains where nobody ever comes to see us, we haven't gotten any. So we're making do with seven mismatched throw rugs in the kitchen.
Who comes to see me?!!! It's not like Comet is good hostess! Neighbors call first and say, "meet me outside"!
Shanna, these weren't expensive at Walmart.
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
cometdog said:
Who comes to see me?!!! It's not like Comet is good hostess! Neighbors call first and say, "meet me outside"!
People tell us, "You come here, I ain't going over there!"
Wyatt Ray Dawg . . . The Tripawds Leg-A-Cy Continues!
Read all about my adventures at my Tripawds Blog
Our dining area, kitchen and hallways all have blue/gray carpet runners. They don't match anything in the house, but we don't care what others think, just don't want Chuy to slip and slide. (he does that enough when he tears out the back door (yes there are runners there too)). When we got the carpet runners thru the Tripawd exchange, we were told to use DFT (double face tape). A roll of it cost about $5 and it works great to hold the ends of the runners down. It's easy to pull up to clean the tile too! The only downside to the DFT is that it can leave some of the glue on the tile, we use goo gone to get that off.
Chuy, showing everyone that Tripawds do everything 3 times better than regular dogs!
jerry said:
We once talked to a trainer who said that sometimes she has clients who refuse to put down runners for their arthritic or Tripawd dogs, becuase they don't want to "ruin the decor." Can you believe that? Geez.
That just blows me away!!! I came across a person saying that to me once too!!! I should post a picture of my house and the runners.... yours, Comet, don't look half bad!!! I have mismatched in one room...looks like some sort of patchwork puzzle!
Half of my house is hardwood or linoleum. The other half carpets. I have up until Maggie being a Tripawd, really hated the carpets..cause when you get fleas, it's tougher to get rid of the darn things without vacuuming every day. But now...I am darn glad half the house IS carpeted!
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
Wyatt Ray Dawg said:
cometdog said:
Who comes to see me?!!! It's not like Comet is good hostess! Neighbors call first and say, "meet me outside"!
People tell us, "You come here, I ain't going over there!"
OMDog!!! Ok....Maggie IS in the right club!!!! hehehe 
I have a sign that says "Maggie on Guard"....and she literally is. You can't even drive slow by my house and she's sure to tell me we have invaders...and heaven forbid you drive in and try to get out of your car! Nope...I wouldn't advise it - especially if you are male, have a beard and wear glasses! 
Tracy & Guard Dog Maggie who's in good company here! 
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
My mom was kind enough to take this pic while Comet was posing and frame it for me!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Comet doesn't look too friendly in that shot. Those teeth look frightening!
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
maggie said:
I should post a picture of my house and the runners.... yours, Comet, don't look half bad!!! I have mismatched in one room...looks like some sort of patchwork puzzle!
Half of my house is hardwood or linoleum. The other half carpets.
Our house looks way more like yours, Tracy and Maggie. When we did renos some years back we couldn't afford to do the entire house so we just did the main floor and lower level with hardwood and put laminate flooring in the kitchen. The laminate, although a small area, I've regretted ever since because even before Catie's surgery neither she nor Riley could get any purchase on the surface. Would never, ever put that stuff in again, way too slippery if you have furry children. At least with the hardwood they could dig their nails into the (expensive) wood. The bedroom area including hallway still has carpet, thank goodness.
We've got an assortment of runners and a couple of larger area rugs. You won't find a photo of my house in House & Garden any time soon.
Comet, your place looks outstanding compared to ours!
And that's a BRILLIANT photo of you. 
Catie -
Birthday – November 4 2003
Amputation – January 13 2010
Crossed the Bridge – June 2 2011
carmenmcconnell said:
At least with the hardwood they could dig their nails into the (expensive) wood.
that's so funny. when we purchased this house five years ago, the entire main floor was hardwood, which developed nice 'grooves' under each window, at the bottom of the stairs, at every turn, etc.... we had a broken water pipe two years ago, and had almost all the hardwood replaced with tile... now the pretty tile is covered with a variety of rugs so gayle can once again get traction ...go figure.
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
cometdog said:
My mom was kind enough to take this pic while Comet was posing and frame it for me!
Whoooah, dude. I'm scared.
Wyatt Ray Dawg . . . The Tripawds Leg-A-Cy Continues!
Read all about my adventures at my Tripawds Blog
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