As dogs age, many of them will develop the joint disease called osteoarthritis in canines. This arthritis disease is exactly the same as the disease that humans experience as they age. The problem caused by osteoarthritis is that it result in the degeneration of the tissue within the joints and thus causes pain and discomfort.

For house dogs which are used to jumping onto off of furniture and beds the joint arthritis disease becomes a significant problem as the dog ages. It becomes more more difficult for the dog to jump onto and off of the bed if there used sleeping there at night. Many pet owners simply have to lift the dog to and from the bed when needed. This is not an optimum solution since many times the dog needs to exit the bed in the night for drinks of water or simply to roam the house for a bit.

One solution is to search for commercially built bed steps which are readily available at numerous online locations. Although these steps are highly functional and will serve the purpose for allowing the dog to negotiate the bed easily, they can be quite expensive and sometimes require significant room within the bedroom. This can be an issue if budgets are tight or for people with small bedrooms.

Another solution for this is simply building the bed step yourself. This can be done quite easily with a few pieces of plywood, nails or screws, and an old throw rug. Begin by buying a piece of half-inch plywood at your local link store. You'll need a soft cut the wood or perhaps in some stores they provide this service for a small fee.

You need to cut a piece of plywood about 18 inches wide and 3 feet long. This peaceful slide under the mattress between the box springs about 18 inches. This allows for about 18 inches to stick out from the bed; this will be the dog step. Now you'll need another piece of plywood exactly 18 inches wide and the distance from the step to the floor. This piece will then act as a support at the end of the step to the floor. You can use screws or nails to fasten these two pieces of plywood together.

Once fasten together this makes for a very sturdy step as 18 inches of the top piece of plywood is wedged between the mattress and box springs. Now then, if you have an old throw rug and a staple gun you can take the rug and staple it to the top of the step and give the dog better traction when jumping onto and off of the step.

Most dogs with arthritis can easily be taught to use the step by offering some treats for them to jump onto and off of the bed when using the step. It won't be long before the dog becomes quite used to using the step at all times when going off of or onto the bed.