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Mobility aids for older dogs

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Riley is now roughly 16 years old and is getting quite wobbly on his legs. We're taking him on holiday up north in the summer and I wondered about getting a dog buggy but I know OH would scoff at the idea and in any case none of them look like they would work that well.

 

Anyway, I came across something called a Help 'Em Up harness and wondered if anybody had used one (or any other similar harness). It does look ideal as you can buy a walking handle so you can take some of the dog's weight the whole time it's walking.

 

There is another one called the Ruffwear Web Master which also looks good but this review seems to favour the Help 'Em Up.

 

We would probably end up using this for daily walks at home too, so I think it would be worth the price.

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We had a version of this when my dog Ben had his hip replacement surgery. They are good but be careful about your back as you end up leaning awkwardly to one side to take your dogs weight.

I used to walk Ben on his for a couple of hundred yards up and down the road during his recovery and it used to really hurt my back. :)

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It looks good ANH. What I would consider however is how this fits in with your dog's reason for weakness. If it is as a result of arthritic pain just consider whether harness pressure and 'lifting' with the sling around these areas may cause pain.If you do use the harness, remember it is for 'support' in an older dog, not rehabilitation. Excercise should not be increased beyond what Riley could do unsupported (hope that makes sense).

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Thanks, CM. He doesn't appear to be in any pain (he's on Rimadyl daily plus a supplement) but he stumbles sometimes on walks and occasionally falls when he's going down a few steps (he manages the stairs in the house fine, probably because they're carpeted).

 

At the moment, I'm really thinking it would be useful on holiday, where we'll all be in unfamiliar surroundings. We could let him walk by himself but stop him falling if he stumbled. It would also be good to help him in and out of the car.

 

Good point about the amount of exercise staying the same, thanks.

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Wow, this is very interesting. Willow is now 13 and has had a couple of minor stumbles lately - I immediately leap to the conclusion that something is wrong, but I tend to overlook the fact that she is 13, had a long racing career before her retirement and has four very long legs to keep co-ordinated. I've very much reduced exercise now, we just have a few short pootles each day, rather than the route marches we used to do.

I can't offer any advice at all about the harness, but will be interested to hear how you get on with young Riley!!

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Well, I've ordered one (failing to tell OH how much it cost :wink: ). We're going camping this w/e so hopefully it'll arrive in time for that.

 

I also found this video on Youtube on making a

for helping your dog up and down stairs (can't help feeling if she had carpet on her stairs, her dog wouldn't need it!). I tried it last night and it does work. Riley is fine going up and down stairs just now but best to be prepared. This is so easy to put on, no straps or clips, and costs nothing 8) .
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Hopefully Riley has a long happy life still to come. In old Sparkx later years he had to be carried up and down stairs, onto the settee and even back to the house or car if he had walked too far :lol: Have to say we all loved carrying him even if it did get us a few odd looks from time to time. Will try to dig out a photo of Simon carrying him when he was over 17yrs old!

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