Little Dog in a Big World

I found out the first day that a dog in a wheelchair in a room with furniture is not a good deal. Sierra was crashing into the couch and scraping the walls. If she kept it up, we’d be in need of a new house.

So, day two, we made our first attempt to get outdoors. One of the problems was getting her out the sliding door. I put my sling on her so I would have handles to life her. We navigated to the door and she was able to stay balanced down the little ramp.

With effort we made it out to the grass. There Sierra stood.

I imagine she was trying to figure out why she was able to stand and what the heck this thing with wheels was doing following her around.   She seemed pretty happy to stand it place, but I made her take those first important steps.

She went a couple of steps then stopped.  Turning was impossible.  She knocked over a couple of chairs in the process.

I took her down to the side of the house where there is a straight stretch.  There she was able to get a few steps in a row together.

It was enough to go down to the end of the house and come back.  She was exhausted with the effort.

Getting her back in the house took some work.  Much to my chagrin she rolled right up the side of the ramp with her chair.  I had to grab her quick and get the door open.

We made it inside without breaking the sliding door   Sierra immediately made her way to her bed, a little confused that she couldn’t lay down.

I unhooked her from the chair.  She collapsed to the ground with a big smile on her face.  I removed the harnesses which made her happy.

She only went outside for about 5 minutes.  I could see from the panting that that was long enough.  She is 13 and hadn’t been on her feet for longer than a potty run in over two months.  It would take time to get her up to a reasonable about of time in her chair.

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