Dachshund wheelchair

our dachshund hurt his back, so for rehab we made him swim a lot and i built this chair until he could use his back legs again.

Step 1 Some assembly required

bought about $20 worth of stuff

Comments

[CJSudduth]

How about using insulation pipe foam.. that way you could place anything metal through the pipe foam instead of wrapping anything metal with tape.. or even placing material (cutie stuff) with velcro to wrap it around the metal/foam ... so.. metal placed in foam then material w/velcro ... maybe even when just going for a walk make it safety proof by attaching a little flag to the back so the little dog would be seen like a biker with a flag .. lol.. Using bright color material or tape would make your little guy more visiable..

[solta4]

Where do I get the instructions to build that it looks really cool I read one of the post and someone had said great instruction and I just wanted to know where their at.. Thanks Ed

[airsoft master 25]

great idea i should use that for my corgi

[digem]

We really like your idea of the wheelchair. We just found out our 7 year old doxie, Dig'em, is suffering from IVDD. Can you give more details about the wheelchair? Like what is the curved bar made out of and how did you attach it to the side pieces?

[JohanW]

Hi all, I am from South Africa and has just drowned in debt for my dachsie (son). He is in rehab and I have to treat/look after him all day long. He is a champion mouser and even after surgery he was able to trap one, although I had to help him. Thanks for the info on building a wheelchair for him as I think it is going to take a long time before he will be able to walk decent again.

[carratul]

Archie & I are also from South Africa. Archie lost the use of his legs 5 days ago. The option of surgery is a no go as there is only a 5% chance he will recover the use of his hind legs. My wonderful husband is going to build the wheelchair for him and after his 6 week caging, I am hoping he will be back to his old self. joelsprayberry , THANK YOU!!! I have 7 of these wonderful dogs and although we have had close calls in the past, this is the first time I have had to deal with paralysis and without your design I would not know what to do. Can anyone tell me where I can get the 18" wheels here in Johannesburg, South Africa?

[MPrinsloo]

hi, Im from South Africa aswell, my dachie just under went surgery to fix his IVDD. Im currently looking for someone is SA who makes wheelchairs for dogs. The vet said this would help with the recovery process. did you find someone who could help you? hopefully Archie is doing fine?

[jojojovich]

Also, where can you find a number of sizes of wheels... ? Has anyone found any really light-weight wheels? Thanks SO much!!

[jojojovich]

This looks SO great! Thank you for these plans!!

My 17-y-o dachshund/beagle mix is skidding after coming down stairs, obviously having hind-leg issues, so I thought of a wheelchair option, though will also need to craft some stairs-ramps too. I guess the wheelchair can work on the ramps also... does anyone combine the two like that?

I also see that he is MUCH healthier, hind-leg-wise when he gets more exercise, so I am also worried that a wheelchair may have his leg-use disintegrating even faster.... :(

[tmcmellon]

My dog is Oddie and he is 3 years.Found out yesterday he may never walk again,he is no pain but im really have a hard time with it .Im so sad.So nice to read about everyone else.thank you .How im trying to find a way to make him a chair. thank you all

[volvette]

tmcmellon, My neighbors have a 12 year old dog that hasn't been able to completely walk in about 6 or 7 years. every year in late summer he has a short bust of time where will go back to being able to stumble around outside, but generally he is in his wheelchair. They spent a TON of money trying to get him help-- weekly therapy, surgery that didn't work, and finally on their dog's namebrand wheelchair. The chair looks almost exactly like this one. it has more cushioning, however that's easy to add!

even if you have to put your young dog in a wheelchair, he can still live a long, happy life! :)

[tmcmellon]

Thank you

[cupcake_love]

You obviously loved your dog a lot :) this is really sweet! So the dog can pull the wheels along?

[joelsprayberry]

Knurd, the chair looks great! The best feeling in the world was when we placed JubalLee in it for the first time. He zoomed away at 100mph as though nothing was wrong it was awesome.

[knurd]

Joel, your design is great. Mine was based on yours and of course available materials. It was a true labour of love, re-engineering it, as the needed. thanks again.

[joelsprayberry]

Got any pics yet?

[mcarlin]

Thanks for sharing about this chair we are going to try to make dudley one today, he has lost the use of his hind legs and afraid that he is not going to be able to use them anymore we live in lufkin and just no anyplace to get a wheelchair around here. dudley was a rescusesd dog and we have had him for about 7 yrs now so we dont know how old he is. hopefully this willl make him happy to get back outside.

[Jan54]

hey Mcarlin, I no what your going thu ..I have a resuse dog too Casey she,s 7 yrs old as well , she,s been down now for the past week... now she is creted and is getting better every day...have you taken her to the vet? and has your dog been checked to see if dudley has feeling in his paws ? I have found out alot thu the Vet since Casey has gotta sick she,s eating alot better now and hasa better way about her.... we have to wait another week before water therapy but she can go in her wheel chair then.....hope everything goes well with Dudley........

[joelsprayberry]

hey mcarlin, glad you found the instructables. let us know if you need any help. there are many people on this forum that have discussed and refined the chair.
let us know how he does and take some pics~

[gossumx]

Awesome instructable and I am more than likely going to build one for my friends dog who has lost the use of his hind legs :(

My only question is, will this make it difficult on the dog to go pee? Meaning, will it get in the way of his fireman?

[joelsprayberry]

Not nessecarily. It is not intended to be on for long periods of time though. Our dog couple control his junk anyway at that time.

[utahgent66]

Awesome......I have two Dachshunds myself and I can't think of how boring my life would be without them....

[mr.squeakers]

he is so cute the dog

[PaulaDoxieMom]

There are two treatments for disc disease: surgery or conservative treatment.

Disc disease is not fatal.

The ability for each dog to return to a good quality of life no matter the degree of healing is absolutely in the cards regarding IVDD! Make the choice to be self educated on IVDD. It will play a powerful role in your helping your friend. Remember crate rest of 8 weeks is the single most important care you can give. No wheelchairs until crate rest has been completed. Learn how to care for your IVDD dog at Dodgerslist http://www.dodgerslist.com

[TechGnostic]

Hi

This is such a great design.

Not sure if anyone suggested it, but I would suggest cutting some kind of sheet plastic (an old place mat?) to work as a lining between the wheels and the the L-Brackets so he can't get his tail caught up in the works.

I am very impressed - your Dachsund has a Great owner!

[jptrsn]

Fantastic. When our mutt needed back surgery, I spent a few weeks afterwards walking him around, bent over, holding his butt off the ground until he got the use of his legs back. If that didn't work, I was planning on putting one of these together (with knobby tires and a flame paint-job). Just great!

[ARJOON]

i need a vid please. my cousin's dog was born with no leg in the back.

[knurd]

Thank you soooo much for this post. I built one for Kawika, our 6 year old dachshund, who lost the use of his back legs. After a few weeks of backrest in the crate, we had him on steroids for three weeks. Then I read somthing about Adequan, The vet thought it could not hurt. We got him on the wheelchair and he was so happy to again check his pee-mail. Your post is the reason I became a paid member. I made a few changes, but I ended up using materials from my house stock and not more that $10 at the hardware store. I am not sure what element of the therepy helped him, I don't care... with all this therapy, He has since regained use of his legs, thanks in part to the rehab he got with the wheelchair. The wheelchair is hanging on the wall to remind us of that time and how lucky we now are. Thanks again. David Kohn

[joelsprayberry]

Hey man! That's awesome. Upload or send some pics of your model or pics with your dog when you can!

[Jan54]

hey joel, I have something to ask you ...I,m a new person her on the block I,ve checked out the wheel chair and I,m going to need to made one for my mini doxie Casey she has lost the use in her back legs yesterday moring ,I HAD TO RUST HER TO A VET the vet bill going to kill me butI can,t put her down she means to much to me she,s 7 yrs old and was a resuce dog my late husband got me we already had her sister when we got her ...My question this would I need to change anything to make it smaller for her ? she,s 16.5 lbs....If you could answer we (Casey and I) would appericate it very much. I,m going to crate her and do the pain and steriods and I,m praying it will help..........Thanks

[joelsprayberry]

Hey jan54 and Casey! Crating the pup is what we had to do for quite a while. It was helpful.
The wheelchair can be adapted be length and width easily. I measured my dogs hips and made sure the figure 8 piece was very close to the same size. The length was changeable depending on how much of the shaft I would allow out of the aluminum tubes. Shorter or longer.
Hope that helps and God bless you and your little friend.

[vbunze]

Joel, Your cart is great. Unfortunately, the instructions leave a lot to the imagination. Is the threaded Rod used to form the U shape part? How does it mate with the tent Pole? Does the silver rod slide into the gold rod? Any help is much appreciated. Thanks, [e-mail]

[joelsprayberry]

Vbunze, sorry I just now read this bi trust you fond your answer in trial and error. Yes the silver rod slides into the gold aluminum shaft.

[knurd]

Some notes on construction: The frame and cushion and wheels are from a discarded folding shopping cart. The shoulder cushion and saddle have an internal frame of romex. We already had the harness (most expensive part $40). the saddle is wrapped with closed cell foam window insulation. I think I had a pic of the Kawika in the unit but can't find it right. I can't see putting him back it it as he got nervous when i was taking the pics.

[Mauna1]

Hello,

I love your dachshund wheelchair but have a question. My doxie is having "jet" another episode of disk problems. We already had surgery 3 years ago but he has been having backslashes now and then. This time it is severe. He lost control of his back legs.

My question is whether or not to exercise him. I was told that he needs complete rest. However after reading some of the posts I find that some people exercise their dogs while they are having an acute disk problem.

Is there a certain exercise that works and might help?

Btw. This time around I am not putting him through surgery. He gets chiro and also accupuncture. Unfortunately he is on Rimadyl but he is also on MyoCalm a natural muscle relaxer and Discuss Compositum (for the treatment of discogenic disease). Both are natural and from the alternative doctor who does the chiro and accu.

So far so good. He gained a little more control of his bladder and maybe a slight improvement with his hind legs. We have just started the treatment though and there is no way of telling for sure.

Any suggestions?
THANKS SO MUCH!!!
 

[Camisdaddy]

Our 6 yr old doxie just lost use of her hinds 2 days ago. In 2004 she experienced the same, but recovered with steroids, pain meds and rest. This time after spending a day at the vet, the vet indicated she lost pain sensation in her back paws. Therefore, they referred us to a specialized surgery place. I couldn't make the trip, so my wife went. She was given 2 options; 1) they tests/surgery package which was a $1,200-$2,000 dye test to determine what was going on, then the option of surgery (with only 50-60% chance of success) which brought the price up to $6,000. Like many we can't swing that, especially with those odds. Option 2 of course was to put her down. Not wanting to give up and knowing that there have been recovery cases or even doxie's living the remainder of their lives in a cart. We would/will put her down if we have to, but I can't make a lightspeed decision of My wife is on her way home now with her. She when she was paying that Cami went after the treat dish the place had on the counter, typical of Cami to do. In the car, Cami is acting her curious self, looking out the window, excited etc. Only prob is she can't use her back legs. With her acting normal, I/We can't send her over the "rainbow bridge" just yet. She has bowel control, or at least did yesterday morning. The vet said she was also urinating on her own. Perhaps it's selfish of us, but after reading stories on Almost Home and some on this thread, I feel we are doing the right thing by not giving up the fight so early. I intend to make the cart, but if anyone else has a similar story or any other information that'd be helpful, we'd greatly appreciate it.

[kaleeny]

I want to thank you ever so much for telling your story. My 5 year old dachshund (Frankie) lost the use of his back legs about 3 days ago and I am going through emotional turmoil dealing with it. It's hard to go from a healthy, active dog chasing bees and cats one day to one that is kennel bound. I, too, was given the option of surgery for $6000 with a 90+% recovery rate. I was told not doing the surgery (which I can not afford) he will gain at most 20% mobility. I do not have the heart to give up yet as he does not seem to be in pain. He is definitely sad about what has happened to him but I'm hoping if we can both stick out the 4-6 week kennel rest the vet suggested I can get my happy little dog back. The last few days has been exceptionally hard on me because this has come on so sudden. Reading your story and the many stories that have followed has given me hope. Thank you so much.

[myfirstdogsassy]

Hi , I just signed up here and read all the stories about doggies in wheelchairs or with loss of hind legs. I have a Pembroke welsh corgi named Sassy. She is my first dog and 2 weeks and 2 days ago she started limping and in the morning she was paralyzed. I took her to 2 different vets, the first one took x'rays and it looked really good, nothing broken, hips ok and no calcification either, she said she thought it was a slipped disk. I too was told about surgery, we called the university of columbia right away and they told me it would be around $ 6.000.- which I soooo did not have. The vet put her on Antiinflammatories and told me strict crate rest. My friend she is a vet also told me she needed more aggressive treatment, I went and sassy got a steroid shot and prednisone to take in pill form. I was heart broken, I could not look at sassy without crying. There was absolutely no sign, we did not see it coming at all. From one second to another. So now she is on Prednisone, I take her outside to pee and No.2 the first 2 days she peed in her crate, but now she knows when she has to go. Since on prednisone she has to go about 6-7 times a day, I give her lots of water. She had absolutely no feelings in half of her back down her legs and in her hind paws. I am writing this for everyone to read, do not give up on your doggie. As much as she wants to come out and whines, I take her out and watch TV with her on the carpet, because she is used to sitting on the couch, which is a total NO NO., she tried to jump off when she wanted to follow the cats. I also took her to a chiropractor, she does people, but also animals. I think it helped!! Sassy cannot stand on her hind legs, she flops to the side, either right or left. She just used to drag herself like a seal. BUT now after 2 weeks she stood kind of on her hind legs this morning when she greeted me and leaning her front paws on the pen panel. It was pretty scary, she was very excited and may be moved too much ??!! Too much for me anyway. She pulls her right hind leg under her belly now when she pees and she can wag her tail :-). I carry her, well lift her up with a 'Walk About' before I only had a towel and she does the motion with her hind legs as if she is running. I am taking her back to the chiropractor tomorrow. They suggest too: to be humane and put her to sleep. Oh nooooo she was not in pain, she is her old self now, spunky, just cannot stand up and walk. I am sure after all that crate rest she will be much better, always thinking positive, but believe me I have cried so much in the beginning. I give her a massage every day also. And if she cannot use her hind legs properly again, she will definately get a cart. I really appreciate the posting of the self made cart. Danke, danke, danke. May be I could give somebody hope with their doggie. Hang in there. I will keep you posted how we are progressing.
Thanks for all the stories, they sure helped me a lot too.

[sheriegary]

How is your doxie doing? Your story is just like ours. We have an 8 year old doxie "Frankie". This has been ongoing for about 3 weeks now. We too had the same options you were given. Well, our Frankie is still happy and doesn't seem to be in pain. We can't put him down without trying this cart.

[billysmom]

I know this was a while ago, but how is Cami doing? I lost my dachshund, Billy a little over a week ago. I wish I had known all of this stuff about the recovery process. It really would have helped me. Billy lost use of his back legs, had no deep tissue feeling in his back end, and over the course of 24-36 hours he was in increasingly worse pain. It all happened so fast, that I wasn't sure what to do. I wish I had been able to go through with surgery for him, but, I am unemployed right now and simply could not afford it. Our plan was to bring him home from the vet and give him lots of rest, but overnight he went from bad to worse. I simply couldn't stand to see him in that kind of pain. His pain was so bad that be began biting us when we touched him. The thought of him going through all of that breaks my heart. I miss Billy tremendously but, I do feel that we made the right decision in having him put down. I don't care what anyone else says, "don't put your dog down!", and "recovery is always an option", it simply wasn't in Billy's case. And, although it pained me to do so, I feel that putting him down was the best thing for him. I wish everyone the best of luck with their little Doxies! They are precious little creatures!