Little Dog in a Big World

Posts Tagged ‘Walking Wheels Wheelchair’

Today “we” jumped a minor hurdle.  I put the harnesses on Sierra.  As I wheeled her chair over, she sat up–without a treat!  I had to hurry up and hook the front then lift her back end before she layed down again.  I’m often amazed at how she figures out new routines and adapts to them.

We went out the front door today, just so I could get a little practice.  Once again, things were easier.  She is adjusting to the size of her new butt.  I’m figuring out when I need to assist her.

Here is Sierra just getting out the front door and checking out the scene:

After fighting the back harness for days, I decided to do things differently.  Instead of putting the front harness on first, I put on the back harness first.

Man, this made things so much easier!  Because her inclination is to lay down once I get the front harness on, I was able to do the back and then adjust it while she was laying down.  Then I slipped over the front harness.

A little treat got the cart hooked up to the dog.  This took less than five minutes.  Less frustrating for me and less stressful for her.

While we were out today, the neighbor came outside with his puppy.  I was a little uncertain as to how Sierra would react.  She likes other dogs, but can get huffy around strange dogs.  She has never met this puppy before.

The puppy got antsy, but his owner was able to keep him in check.  My dog, on the other hand, wanted to roll over and check this dog out.  I wouldn’t let her because I’m not sure if the puppy is fully vaccinated.

I had a nice conversation with the neighbor.  Sierra kept a watchful and was on tiptoes, prancing around.  The puppy went inside and then we continued on our way.

I’m sure we will have other encounters like this.  I’m not all that comfortable about it, but it’s really unavoidable.  I just hope the other people have control of their dogs.

Honestly, I wonder why other people with dogs are not concerned about strangers with dogs!  Today, I had to rush Sierra back into the yard.  A couple came up with two big dogs on leash.  I’ve never seen these dogs or these people before.  I don’t know how friendly they were, but they were roaming at the end of the leash and I didn’t want to take any chances.  Sierra really couldn’t defend herself if the dogs chose to attack.  I can’t always depend on dog owners being able to control their dogs.

It’s not so easy rushing a dog in a wheelchair.  I tried to do it as gently as possible.  We made it to the yard before the other dogs got to our property.

Sierra was getting a little too worked up over it.  I wish the people had crossed the street.  If I had seen another dog getting this huffing, I would have changed sides of the street out of courtesy.

While we were out this morning, the neighbor’s daughter and son-in-law pulled up.  They waved and then had to come over to see the Three Legged Wonder Dog on Wheels.

Sierra was over by the gate.  When she saw she had company, she wheeled herself over.  She enjoyed being able to stand up and get attention since so much of her days have been spent laying down.  She ate up the attention.  New people to give her a head scratch.

It was great to see her interracting.  Her back leg was tired from standing in place, but I think it did her good to be social.  She loves people and loves the attention they give her.

Sierra is adjusting to her chair very well.  Today she started to exhibit a little more confidence and some dog like behavior.

She sniffed the grass in the front of the house picking up the scent of the puppy who was on the lawn the night before.  She spotted a cat across the street and refused to leave until she got a really good view of it.

She is doing 10-15 minutes and seems to be enjoying the experience.

So that’s what’s been happening since I’ve been laid up.  Cats have been taking over my front yard.  Oh, they think they are so smart.  Well, they’ve got another thing coming.

Here I have spotted the yellow cat in the neighbor’s drive way:

Aha!  I’m running after you sucker…

Ha! Ha!  You ran across the street…Phooey on you!

Every other time we went outside, we went out back down the ramp and then out the back gate.  I figured it was time to see if I could get her out the front door since it might be necessary at times.

Getting Sierra out of the front room took some effort.  It was like obstacle course 101.  There are new scuff marks on the coffee table as well as tire treads on the hallway wall.

Getting her to the door was the easy part.  Getting her out was another thing.  The problem was getting her over the little hump to the porch and then being ready to assist her before plowed off the porch.  I had the sling with the handles on her so, I was able to control her somewhat.  We didn’t do too badly going out the door.

Coming back in was another story.  I had to grab the door and open it before nervous Gertie decided to climb the porch.  Our first attempt was a failure.  She came up to soon and wiped out the solar Tiki lamp.

The second attempt went much better.  I was able to hold the door and grab the sling handles to help her up.  Then I hurried to be even with her so I could get her over the door jamb.

This was a little more tiring for both of us.  I am sure as we practice we’ll get better at it.

There really isn’t enough room in the backyard for a dog and her wheelchair unless we seriously move everything.  It seemed logical to take her out front when she could roam the front lawn and sidewalk.

Crash!  Um…that was Sierra crashing into the fence.  Rule #1, dog in wheelchair does not know how wide her butt is when going through the gate.

Once we got out front, Sierra seemed to be a bit shaky.  I think she was wondering why she was out front off leash for one thing.  LOL  Here she is taking her first look around…

Then she started sniffing the air and catching smells.  She was pretty tentative at first, moving a couple of steps and stopping.  She got a burst of energy and ran about 20 steps.

She walked from one patch of grass to the other.  Then I got her on the sidewalk.  She was so funny.  Someone was playing at the schoolyard.  She craned her neck to look around me.  I was blocking the view!

Since this was pretty intense, I only kept her out front about 5 minutes.  It’s too easy to over do things when everything looks like it’s going great.

That was her first time out front without a trip to the Vets since March.  I think she enjoyed it, though she was exhausted afterward.

My “owner” got me all hooked up.  But, did she ask me if I wanted any water first?  No!!!!  So when she left the room, I had to roll all the way over to my water bowl.  Like I know what I am doing!

But I showed her!