We have nice hardwood stairs that I clean with regular wood cleaner and not polish. My dog has taken up residence on one of the steps where she can see out the window and bark - apparently all the dogs at our intersection do this! Yesterday she saw me coming up the stairs with a vacuum and was so freaked out that she slipped and fell. She's fallen down the stairs before, but this one was bad and I think she would have broken something if I hadn't caught her.

So today we're going to look at carpet for a runner, although I'm skeptical because I've slipped and fallen on carpeted stairs. Any tips?