Colorado natives Barbi and Dan have what they refer to as a “dog problem.” The problem? They really, really love dogs.
There’s no better example of their compassion for canines than this amazing wheelchair they created for one of their dogs, a corgi named Bentley. He was recently diagnosed with Degenerative Myelopathy (or DM for short).
The disease includes symptoms similar to Multiple Sclerosis in humans and Bentley’s adorable little legs had lost a lot of strength. He couldn’t even stand on his own, so Barbi and her family set out to help him get back to getting around — in style.
While Barbi and Dan went to lunch, her dad couldn’t help himself from getting started on the project.
“We started big and worked our way back.”
They of course gave it a snazzy paint job. Dogs must travel in style, always.
The RuffWear harness Bentley wears on a regular basis helped with designing his new set of wheels.
Before the project, this was all the poor guy had the strength to do. He couldn’t even sit, which was really depressing him.
Comfy, fluffy fabric is used for the side touching Bentley while an easier to clean ripstop fabric is used for the underside.
Barbi explains the jouring strap as something she “mostly made up” based on sled dogs. It helps Bentley to pull from the back of the cart instead of having all the drag come from the sling.
The bottom bar is mostly structural at the moment, but when he eventually loses all use of his hind legs it will be able to function as a nice foot rest.
The middle bar acts as a kickstand and keeps Bentley from rolling away when resting.
He was unsure about what the contraption was at first, but got into the swing of thing in no time.
That’s a happy pup! Barbi reports that he is now more confident to use the strength he has rather than giving up like he used to.
Here’s a video of Bentley taking his first steps with the wheelchair:
You can find out more about Bentley, his ongoing battle with DM and more over at Barbi’s blog, Anything For a Cookie.
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