Need Something To Help With Hind End Weakness

[calif_chaz]

Our boy Sam is turning 11 now and is having difficulty getting down the 4 steps to the back yard. He has never been great at this and now that his hind quarters are weak it is getting to be a tough thing and he has now started to fall on the hind quarters as he gets to the bottom. I am worried he is going to get hurt and need to buy something to assist him in the descent. Anyone have experience or can recommend a sling type product? I would like to assist him down and then let him on his own until he needs to come up so I don't want a regular rear harness that would stay hooked on while he is out. Any suggestions much appreciated.

[OwnedBySummer]

Sorry to hear that your baby is needing assistance. But I'm not sure what you're looking for. Not sure what a hooked-on regular rear harness is????

This is what many people I know use for helping their unsteady puppers. Ruffwear Webmaster harness.

[KF_in_Georgia]

People will chime in with advice, I think, but consider a do-it-yourself:

 

Take a canvas tote bag with longish handles.

Cut down both sides to open it out.

Pad it with a towel or bit of blanket on the part that you'll need to put under your dog.

 

You can help support his weight with your hands in the handles. To protect your hands, pad the handles--or just wear a kitchen oven mitt.

 

You can refine this to get the size you want, can stitch the towel or blanket into position so you don't have to fiddle with it. It might seem to be too wide (from front to back on your dog), but I think I'd leave that for a while: your Sam might be more comfortable being supported by something that covers a wider area.

 

Note that you don't need to put this under Sam's back end. You can put it under his chest and down toward his belly, as long as you'll be able to support his weight there when his back legs miss a step.

 

But your Sam could wear a buckled-on harness: you help him on the steps, but he wears the harness while he's outside. If he ever loses his footing away from where you're waiting, you'll have the harness to help get him back on his feet.

 

(My Sam will be 13 in less than a month, and we may need to go this route ourselves. Sam just mis-steps with his back feet, even on level ground.)

[hikinghounds]

I've have and have used the Help Em Up Harness http://helpemup.com/ It's nice because it supports and has handles on the chest and hip/back legs. I was able to get my 85 lbs. boy, who couldn't step up at all at the time, up and down 8 stairs by myself with this. I know people have had success with putting a ramp over the stairs too.

[Burpdog]

Is he getting supplements? Fresh Factors, a chiropractor/acupuncture vet and a ramp will do wonders

[Houndtime]

Hi Joy:

 

Paul, 11-1/2 still jumps the stairs, but many times is short. He would bang the back of his legs and bruise or cut them at times. We wrap him every time he goes out the back, or in bad weather when the steps are wet, I walk him around the front to the gate. We call the wraps his shin guards. If you think this would help your Sam, I could make you a pair, too. It is a black foam used to protect casts (I think). I bought it from a company that makes medical supplies.

[RedHead]

If you can, a ramp might be an easier option

[MaryJane]

Get a pile of dirt and use it to create a ramp or buy a 10 or 12 foot ramp on-line.

[Charlies_Dad]

I agree a ramp of some kind will do wonders. Also second the supplements if he is not getting any. Our senior Shelby is almost 14 and very weak in the backend. There is no way she could do stairs and we have a 'Charlie berm' (8'w x 12 l) that our pups use and she has trouble with that in winter. She's okay on it now the snow is gone but still can slip at times. Yeah we did this especially for our Greys, and Charlie in particular due to being a tripod.

[Remolacha]

Fletcher's hind end weakness has been helped a great deal by supplements, acupuncture, and Chinese medicine. I have recently had a ramp built into the backyard, but am still working on getting the dogs to use it

[Guest greytbookert]

RAMP...We just built one for our new girlie Aly. She's like a new hound!

 

See Cindy Maxwell on FB

[krissn333]

I'd recommend the ramp too.

 

Miss Carrie doesn't do stairs after she had a stroke a few years ago but she does fine otherwise.

 

She is on Springtime, Inc's joint health tabs and goes for acupuncture once a month, and chiropractic for her hips every couple of months. She will be 14 in a few weeks and still runs in the yard every day!

 

I got her when she was 11 and she was a mess, could hardly walk. She'd been kept in a small kennel day and night after her stroke, she lost a lot of muscle. She's eaten TOTW Pacific Stream since she's been here, and we walk, and do our "Jane Fonda" (have you seen Steel Magnolias? When Julia Roberts is in the coma and Sally Field is moving her legs and says to the nurse "we're doing our Jane Fonda.")...I do that with Carrie's rear legs while she lays on her side. We concentrate on the right since that's the weaker one, but we do both legs every day

[calif_chaz]

As always, GTers have given me a lot of good advice and I want to thank everyone. I think we will have to go with a rear end harness. Had originally thought of a ramp but the layout of the yard and deck don't allow that to work unfortunately. Sam is such a patient good boy that I know it will work for him.

thanks again.

Hi Joy:

 

Paul, 11-1/2 still jumps the stairs, but many times is short. He would bang the back of his legs and bruise or cut them at times. We wrap him every time he goes out the back, or in bad weather when the steps are wet, I walk him around the front to the gate. We call the wraps his shin guards. If you think this would help your Sam, I could make you a pair, too. It is a black foam used to protect casts (I think). I bought it from a company that makes medical supplies.

Irene, thanks so much for your offer but because of the nature of Sam's problem I think we will have to go with the rear harness. Once he is on flat ground he is fine but doing stairs and especially coming down is hard for him. As I said, not easy getting old.

[Wonder]

Use a towel until you get the harness.

[LBass]

I can second the "use a towel until you get a harness" idea.

 

I had the Ruffwear harness for Piper and, while it is very nice and well made, the "handle" was not in the right place to give good hind end support--at least not what my poor boy needed. I love the look of the HelpEmUp harness someone else posted. The double handles with one in the rear would have been perfect for Piper.

 

One other idea--the neurologist Piper saw gave me the handiest sling for Piper. His staff made them by taking a surgical scrub coat, stretching out the sleeves on either side, twisting/rolling the body of the scrub between the sleeves, and then wrapping the whole thing in vet wrap. It looked something like a U with the bottom of the "U" being reasonably wide because it contained the body of the scrub rolled onto itself. The scrub sleeves were easy to get a good grip on (unlike a towel) and Piper could comfortable have this under his tuck as I helped him down the steps. If I took a photo and can find it, I'll post later. This thing was really wonderful!

[Finnsliz]

This is what we do for Wink. We just cut a snood in half length wise and slipped it up over her behind. It is very comfy and stays in place. We can grab it and help her off the couch or help guide her down the stairs to the outside. I don't know if it would work on a male dog, but it is the perfect solution here as she just wears it all the time. She will be 14 in July and thank goodness it is her only issue.

Edited April 19, 2013 by Finnsliz

[GreyPoopon]

When Cora came home after her broken femur was repaired, I bought from the clinic a sling: a wide longish band of tough fabric (plastic coated canvas, probably) with a handle (web, like a web leash or gym bag handle) at each end. Very inexpensive and perfect for rear-end support. As she got stronger, I was able to switch to the Webmaster, but as at least one other poster has said, it's not the greatest for rear-end support and wasn't sufficient for the first few days.

[Walliered]

I ordered a sling for DaVid from www.handicappedpets.com and it is great! I also have a ramp a dear friend and her husband built.

[robinw]

I've have and have used the Help Em Up Harness http://helpemup.com/ It's nice because it supports and has handles on the chest and hip/back legs. I was able to get my 85 lbs. boy, who couldn't step up at all at the time, up and down 8 stairs by myself with this. I know people have had success with putting a ramp over the stairs too.

Did you get a size large?