Stairway to Heaven
How a dysplastic dog got a new lease on life
By Christie Keith

I don't really know exactly when Colleen couldn't get up on the bed anymore. I don't remember the precise day she started avoiding getting up on the sofa. I can't place the moment I realized that getting in and out of the car was causing her problems. But one day, there it was: Colleen was grounded.

From the day I got Colleen at the shelter at the age of two, she's had health problems. Diagnosed with hip dysplasia when she was around three, I had been taking her for acupuncture treatments that had helped her a great deal; so much so that by the time she was around twelve, it took me a while to realize their benefit had all but disappeared.

We were fortunate that Adequan injections, combined with ongoing acupuncture, restored her to a high level of comfort and mobility, but she still wasn't able to get up on the bed, sofa, or in and out of the car without trouble. I wasn't quite sure what to do, but one day I saw an ad in the back of Dog Fancy magazine for a set of carpeted pet steps. I was in the middle of moving, and once I was settled in the new house, I ordered a set and placed them at the foot of my bed.

That night Colleen marched up those stairs like she'd been doing it all her life. Tail curved up over her back, head high, she settled in at my feet, radiating delight at being back in her rightful place. I confess I cried. What a tiny thing, and what a huge difference it made to her!

I immediately ordered two more sets, one for my sofa and one for my car. The first time I used them with the car, she was so happy she gave two short barks before going up them. As I pulled them out at our destination so she could get out, I swear she was grinning from ear to ear.

Colleen was used to being the top dog, and while my deerhounds still defer to her majesty in all things, my cattle dog mix, Scarlett, had long ago knocked Colleen down in status. As Colleen aged, she also lost her hearing, and my once-hypervigilant watchdog rarely barked when strangers came to the door or pulled into the driveway.

I know I can't really know what's in her mind, or if she grieves the loss of her days as Queen Alpha of the Universe, but I do know that she's gotten a bit of that "top dog" feeling back again, all because of a couple of carpeted steps.