Homemade Dog Ramp

David McIntosh
by David McIntosh
4 Materials
$50
2 Days
Advanced

Our little dog is scared of the steps I bought...

so I decided to build a simple ramp for her to get up onto the couch.


I also built an outdoor ramp.

See this project: https://www.hometalk.com/diy/craft/pet-stuff/outdoor-dog-ramp-44371738

This is Coco... (4 month old Malteses/Sih Tzu) you can see the steps in the background. She refuses to use them. I decided to try and build a ramp out of scraps and parts I had in the garage.

This all started with a few boards. I took 2x pine boards cut roughly at 40 inches.I put a slight angle on what will be the top to give a little landing pad before the ramp began.

This is a picture of the underside. I decided the strongest way to build it while still being light weight was to add a groove for the thin plywood to fit into. Since I had the flat part on the top, I made it in two pieces. You can see the groove I made just big enough to insert the thin plywood with some glue. I did it free hand with a guide, so a few errors happened along the way... nothing some home made wood filler cant fill


*Home Made wood filler is simply glue with some saw dust added to it. Works great and is why I have a small bucket of sawdust in another picture.

Here is the underside glued together. I added a few supports under as well. You can see the rough homemade wood filler in a few places... bucket of sawdust in the back.

Here is the front side. This is just some scrap plywood I had. It will be covered by some carpet so I am not too worried about the look of it. The plywood is inside the side edges.. with a small space for the carpet... so it would hide the edges of the carpet.

Here is the brains of the operation. I wanted it adjustable... but more importantly, so I could fold it flat and store it. It is all trial and error on lengths. I started with the height of the main longer legs and what angle I needed so it would be 17 inches tall... to the height of my couch cushions.

Here it is folded down. On the left side you can see I cit some notches in a board to make it adjustable. The hardware is just some bolts with washers and locking nuts. I added a few cross supports to give it some support.


The grooves hold the small dowel I used... I found a vinyl end caps for the dowel.. so it would be a nice friction fit. I hot glued those onto the end of the dowel so they would not move. I also pin nailed the dowel into the support under it so it would not move.

Some cheap black paint to coat things front and back.

I has some carpet from a mat that had grooves in it... so I sprayed some adhesive under it so it would stay on. Added a few staples top and bottom to make it a tight fit. You can see the sides of the carpet are hidden by the space I left for it... nice clean edges.

Here is the final in place result. Wife said it looks like something from WayFair... so that that is a nice compliment I think.


Some trining with the dog and hopefully she uses it... It can even be adjusted to fit the bed... but then the angle is a bit too steep. I might need to build something else for the bed.


For now... I just hope she uses it. Worst case... it folds up and can be put away.

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3 of 4 questions
  • Danny Cab Danny Cab on Jan 01, 2021

    What breed of dog is this?

  • Barbara Davis Leirer Barbara Davis Leirer on Jan 08, 2021

    I LOVE your ramp. We have an older Maltese and it's getting harder for her to get up on the couch & bed. Any chance you would make & sell these jewels??

  • Maria Maria on Jan 17, 2021

    I bought a heavy used ramp.she used it from our SUV, a few times, but jumps off the last several feet.

    I wonder if it could also be the scent of a past dog?


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