Difficulty adjusting to new walkin wheels

[jenmwoodard]

We helped my mom purchase a cart for her Corgi. He is 12 years old, and healthy except for a possible disc problem that is causing loss of control of his rear legs. Sometimes he can stay on his feet if you help him up (this is better after using the wheels), but most often he will sit on his hip and drag himself with his front legs. We got the wheelchair a week ago, and I've gone over almost every week to work with him in the wheels. We have been trying to keep it to 15 minutes at a time, and do it shortly after giving him meds. Mom lives in a large apartment building on the fourth floor and we have been working with his wheels on the way out of the apartment building to go potty.

Some of the problems we've had:
He will only go forward if we use treats as an incentive, and only if they are only a couple feet away.
After we go 20-30 feet in 15 minutes we have to take off the wheels and get him the several hundred feet outside. Lately he has been snapping at us when we pick up his rear end out of the wheels, and he won't let us set his feet under him to walk.

So, are we working him too hard, to long? Could the sling/loops for the rear end be causing some soreness in the groin? What is the recommended frequency and duration for getting adjusted to the walkin wheels?

We hope to find some answers here, and we will take him to the vet for a follow-up as well.

Thanks!

[Bobbie]

Corgis can take awhile to adjust. First, you might try just walking him out with the rear saddle used as a sling. Let him get used to being supported that way. Let him wear the harness around the house, too, and pull the cart part around behind you (not him) while you walk once he's used to the sling. Once he gets a bit more used to the parts of the cart, putting it alltogther should work better.

The other thing is that he's likely to do a lot better at that point if you go somewhere else for fun. Go to a park or pet store where he'll be excited and forget to worry about the cart. The last place most dogs want to use their carts is at home.

[CarolC]

We helped my mom purchase a cart for her Corgi. He is 12 years old, and healthy except for a possible disc problem that is causing loss of control of his rear legs. [snip] Lately he has been snapping at us when we pick up his rear end out of the wheels, and he won't let us set his feet under him to walk.

Probably nobody in the world knows more about helping a Corgi adjust to a cart than Bobbie (you can see her signature). My thought would have been:

possible disk problem + doesn't want to be lifted = back pain.

He's snapping because it hurts. It''s not the wheelchair, it's just moving at all. I get snappy when my back hurts. Maybe your vet can prescribe some pain meds.

I think the cart is a good idea and I know it takes time for them to adjust, but for the sake of your mother I would suggest she may be able to save some trips outside by letting him wear male wraps (aka male doggy diapers or belly bands). You stick a Poise pad in, they go around the waist with velcro, and you're good.



They also make little drag sacks to protect the dog when dragging and protect your floors as well.

http://www.handicappedpets.com/index.ph ... g-bag.html

[FYI]

http://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Clicker-training_for_cart_use

[Bobbie]

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention possible pain. If he has pain meds it would be a good idea to try the cart after giving a good dose- about an hour later when they peak he might be more willing to try. But really doing it piece by piece will likely work better. And Carol is right- minimizing trips if it hurts him is a good idea.

On the other hand, if not going in the cart means ends up meaning she has to euthanize him sooner- its worth a lot of effort to try to get him to adjust to the cart.

[jyahaloms]

You are pushing it too hard, let him adjust gradually. My friend had similar issues, and from his experience i suggest you
try the wheelchair three times a week, an hours each time. That's for the 1-2 weeks. In the 3-4 week increase the frequency
to 2 hours, and so on. Hope this helps.