Here is the answer to my email...things are looking up! Coincidentally, I was born in Munich' with a German mother who went out of her way to Americanize including not wanting us to speak German.
(I will post the pictures in a separate reply.)
Hello Christine,
thank you for your email.
Isn't it amazing how the internet is able to bring people together! How
on earth you found Henry's story on my little German website is a
miracle to me, but how fortunate!
>
I am a member of a discussion board of owners of handicapped pets.
We
> have recently been trying to obtain information for one of our
members
> regarding a stair life for her 16-year old dog who is unable to
> navigate stairs. I happened upon the story of the Henry Mobile and
> was wondering if the gentlemen who built it would share their
> construction details or advice?
I will ask him, it didn't seem very complicated, of course the heart of it all is the motor which pulls the cart upwards. It has to be strong enough to transport a 30kg male bulldog. IIRC he bought it on ebay, and it was the dearest part of the construction. Basically, it is a wooden box on wheels, running on metal rails on a board, pulled upwards with a belt. Henry is trained to get inside the box, wait until his owner has reached the switch upstairs, and keep sitting while the lift slowly moves upstairs. As he has learned this from puppyhood, I could
imagine it might be difficult to make a 16-y-old dog keep calm in such a thing!
There is another model, by the way, for his younger nephew Louis, that has just been built at Louis' new home, presumably even better. I don't know yet how that one works or what it looks like, but I'll also ask these owners if they can help with a description and, perhaps, a picture. It might take a few days until I can come back to you.
In the meantime, I will send you a picture of Henry showing that he is not short-legged and could easily climb the stairs!
(I found this hilarious! Christine)
Only I asked his owners to try and keep him from doing so until he was 18 months old, for the sake of his hips and elbows. The lift will surely come in handy if Henry should ever get an injury (my Rosa ran though broken glass the other day...) or when he gets old. Conny also loves it because she no longer needs to haul her shopping bags up the steep staircase! Its name
"Henrymobil" is a pun, refering to the car built especially for the
Pope, the "Papamobil"
The stories in my diary, btw, are always written from the point of view of the dogs. Henry has no idea why the film team are coming and what it's all about, he assumes it is because he's such a handsome lad and he finds their interest in his lift rather silly - as they keep asking him to go up and down, dozens of times, he concludes that they are probably a little dumb and need to be treated with patience...
Having it translated wouldn't really help you with your forum problem,
I don't think.
Thanks again, take care
Nüle Mersch
Berrywood Bulldogs
English Bulldogs Olde Type
www.berrywood.de
Conny! What a smart machine you all built!! It will help so many people!