Assisting bigger dogs

[raindove]

Yesterday we were confronted with getting our 65# Chessie in the car.
Her rear had gone out, and she fell, hurting one of her front legs, so she wasn't bearing any weight on that front leg.

My back is shot, so I can't life 65#. DH just had rotator cuff surgery and is at the point that he is not supposed to lift more than 10#.

Even with the pain meds, her rear was very painful and she was snapping when we tried to assist her. Purely pain as this dog had never snapped at anyone or anything in the 12 yrs we had her.

We do have a ramp to load her in the car. I grabbed her life jacket that wraps around the rib cage, fastens with velcro, and has a handle sewn on the back.
We were able to support her without causing her any further pain and she was able to get up the ramp with us pulling on the life jacket handle to help her.

I don't know that we would have been able to load her without that life jacket.

Just thought I'd share, as it made what seemed like an impossible task fairly easy, all things considered.

[Deb_and_Ed_M]

I used a fleece-lined "torso wrap" assist for 70-lb Ike in his last year. Stairs were becoming difficult for him, but there was no way he'd sleep anywhere but our bedroom. In the case of a largisg dog, the handle was at a comfortable height to simply give him some stability, and he seemed to welcome the assist, waiting at the top or bottom of the stairs for his "handle" to be put on.

[campin4kids]

I have heard of wrapping a dog snuggly to ward off anxiety. Glad to see an example of it working Ca Poppy.

[raindove]

Murphsmom wrote:
You might consider trying a Ruffwear Webmaster harness.


PS. I am in my 70s and had no problem helping him load up with this harness.

This looks like a nice harness. Unfortunately, we don't have the need for one now. But it does look like it would do the same thing the life vest did, without all the bulkiness.

I like my 25# dogs. DH is the one who likes a bigger dog. We are getting to the age that I think we should stick with the smaller dogs for practical purposes.

But who knows what life will bring our way.

Kudos for all you've done for your boy. He's a lucky fellow.

[CA_POPPY]

Yay! Excellent use of the resources you had on hand! The older we get, the more we have to rely on our creativity and life experience to help our two legged or four legged family members. Once when Rosie (12 lb chi mix) was spazzing out from a summer thunderstorm, I grabbed a small child's bulky, insulated jacket and put it on her snugly. Whew! It saved Rosie's sanity and mine.

If we had big dogs, we would be in a lot of trouble at this stage of life.

[Murphsmom]

You might consider trying a Ruffwear Webmaster harness. We had one for Murphy, our three-legged Lab/Chessie cross. He used it all the time for going up the ramp into the trailer and the pickup. It was invaluable during his amputation and subsequent total hip replacement. It is lightweight enough that it can be worn for long periods of time. We used to laugh at the harness turning him into a "piece of luggage" when he decided to go somewhere we didn't want him to go.

The photo was taken at Cape Disappointment WA in the summer of 2013, which was six months after the THR.



PS. I am in my 70s and had no problem helping him load up with this harness.

[toedtoes]

A large towel can work to help support the dog. Run it under the dog's stomach and hold the ends up above. A fabric log carrier can do the same.

[campin4kids]

Well done you!

[Big_Katuna]

I feel your pain. We had two Standard Poodles 60-65 pounds each. I had to lift both of them into the RV or car the last 2-3 years of their life. I'm 62. They have both passed. When we decided to get a new dog, I figured out that if they live 14-15 years, I might have a hard time lifting them in and our of a car in my 70's.

Never thought of myself as a small dog owner but we now have a 7 pound Morkie and she is a great little dog.