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

[nelie126]

My Duchshund was completely paralized in his back. The Vet. said they had to operate. Unfortunately I couldn't afford the operation of R7000,00 plus. Myhusband build him a car from this instructions. We also got a prescription for ""Rimadyl" chewable tablets.

We gave him the medication twice a day, and after a month and a half my dog is completely recovered. This is true and the Vet's will kill me for this, but this is not the first duchshund that we treated on this medication and all 3 recovered.

While recovering my dog loved his car and was mobile. Thanks to this site who gave us the instructions on how to build the car.

Nelie

[joelsprayberry]

thanks for sharing the story! that is the exact reason that i posted it on here! awesome~

[dianag1968]

It's people like you that make this world go round with kindness, to help these people and their pets. Pay in forward kind of way, way to go. Keep up the great work.

[bmccoy-schultz]

I just found out 2 weeks ago that our dachshund was unable to move her hind leags. My dad was watching her and he's not sure what happened but she was given an x-ray, steroid shot and a pain killer. She is able to wag sometimes and can control her bowls a little better as well. But her legs are not able to support her. Thank you for your help so we can afford to build her a wheel chair. We rescued her 4 yrs ago, my 14yr daughter named her Missie Mae and she is now 8yrs. I know she can't wait to run again. Will post a picture when I can.

[joelsprayberry]

Let us know how things go!

[Kiteman]

Even piglets are getting in on the act now:

[Trino1]

Thank you for sharing and for the pics, very nice, very simple, very easy, I think this is a real Instructable masterpiece.

[Dany2345]

Very good.
I should really start to build one for my dachshund.
He is so active that he could easily hurt his back at any time.
Hopefully he will not get hurt before i finish it.
Thanks for sharing.

P.S. You know you could make a online store for it, in case someone needs it for his or her dog, but can't make the wheelchair.

[joelsprayberry]

i have considered it in the past but chose to make no money on it to honor my dog "jubal-lee' and his legacy.

[Dany2345]

Now that you make me think about it, it seems like you chose the best decision.
Hopefully more people will see this before their dog gets hurt.

[funsize07]

I think that this is a great idea, but i think i will just keep my dachshund in his kennel for a while. (while taking out for a while every hour, not to be cruel to leave him alone)

[themostwonderfulplaceonearth]

It is a very good idea but its probably putting alot of pressure on his front legs, I would suggest some sort of weight on the back to take the load off. I hope he gets better.

[Tony Rimmer]

Fantastic.

[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.