What do you do when your dog needs to go to the vet, or, worse, the emergency room, and he/she is unable to get into the car, and is too big/heavy to lift/carry? I've only had experience with dogs I could pick up and carry by myself. I have a friend with a Great Pyrenees that is getting old and frail. I dread the day when he needs help and can't get himself into the car, or when it's time for that final trip to the hospital. My friend sometimes wears blinders about such things, and I don't know if she has thought it through. The few times I've tiptoed around the subject, it's clear she doesn't want to talk about it. I'd like to have a plan.

She will call you...That's her plan.

quote:

Originally posted by PR64:
She will call you...That's her plan.

That's exactly what I'm concerned about, and I want to know what to do. I can't lift him (recent hernia surgery), and neither can she.

There are a couple of options for this situation.

A ramp
A lifting harness that makes it easier.

With a ramp it's a good idea to get one and get the pup to use it before he needs it.

We have mobile vets in our area that come to your house. I'd check in your area for the service. I'm sure they are prepared for dealing with large dogs.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Yarchin:
There are a couple of options for this situation.

A ramp
A lifting harness that makes it easier.

With a ramp it's a good idea to get one and get the pup to use it before he needs it.

Thanks, Jeff. I thought you might have some ideas. But I am speaking about a situation in which he can't or won't walk up a ramp on his own. I thought about a rigid stretcher or something that we could lift/slide him onto, but that would still require us to lift about 125 lbs.

Besides a ramp which some dogs don't like there are folding steps, kinda clunky but my Italian Mastiff was able to use it.

my vet does home visits when it was time to put my buddy down it was only $45.00 more for a home visit money well spent she went on her favorite pillow with her family by her side in her own house

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
We have mobile vets in our area that come to your house. I'd check in your area for the service. I'm sure they are prepared for dealing with large dogs.

Jim

This was another thing I thought of. I figured there must be some of those around. Perhaps her own; she's gone to them for many years through four dogs.

Another vote for mobile vet. They are a god send.

I have a neighbor who had a VERY large dog that couldn't walk due to injury. We got him on one of those dollys that convert to a cart with some plywood attached and rolled him up some 2x12 ramps into the back of his truck.

As my lab got older I had to carry him in and out of the car and then into the vet near the end. He was 105lbs. I was able to carry him myself but I know most people couldn't.

My vet's office is very close to me and I have been going there with dogs for years. Near the end, my vet stopped by my house a few times.

We build a ramp for the front steps but my lab would never use them. That may work if the dog will use them.

You can take a towel and use it as a sling under the dog's chest. This only works if the dog can partially stand walk on their own. I did this after a leg surgery and it worked but near the end, it carry him or nothing.

quote:

Originally posted by amals:

quote:

Originally posted by Jeff Yarchin:
There are a couple of options for this situation.

A ramp
A lifting harness that makes it easier.

With a ramp it's a good idea to get one and get the pup to use it before he needs it.

Thanks, Jeff. I thought you might have some ideas. But I am speaking about a situation in which he can't or won't walk up a ramp on his own. I thought about a rigid stretcher or something that we could lift/slide him onto, but that would still require us to lift about 125 lbs.

A Mobile Vet would be a great option.

quote:

Originally posted by amals:

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
We have mobile vets in our area that come to your house. I'd check in your area for the service. I'm sure they are prepared for dealing with large dogs.

Jim

This was another thing I thought of. I figured there must be some of those around. Perhaps her own; she's gone to them for many years through four dogs.

Our practice now does house calls for routine things (vaccines, etc) but we have always made it a policy to do house calls on immobile pets we've been caring for. These are the times they (and their owners) need us the most, and it'd be a shame to let them down. I'd betcha a coke that her vet will come through for her.

 
We have a couple of 140# dogs. Luckily, our vet lives right across the street, but his office is about 7 miles distant. Either way, in an emergency, he will take care of us. My wife can still lift one of the big guys into her SUV. I cannot anymore. We are safe. Our next dogs, as we age, we have already decided, will be much smaller.
 

Ok. I think I'm getting the picture. She's actually very good with dogs and probably has thought it through but just didn't want to talk about it (her dogs mean the world to her). I wanted some ideas of my own. Thanks for the replies.

We've always just gotten a few folks to help lift ours (110+ pounds) into the back of our SUV. At the vet, they usually have a gurney or something and enough hands to make unloading possible. Especially when time is of the essence, as it has been for us a few time unfortunately.

I picked Zoe up and put her into the truck for the last two months of her life. She was a 75 lb. Rottweiler, and she would help me. We had a ramp but t was not stable enough for her. When she died and I had to take her to the vet for cremation, she felt like she weighed a hundred pounds.

Two strong people can slide a dog onto a tarp or blanket and then lift and pull the sheet+dog into a four door or van.

Single handed I don't think there is a real answer. If a large dog is unwilling, comatose, or otherwise unable to help, it is as though you were attempting to do a dead lift of say 140#. 140#s of limp fur without handles and with legs and head in the way.

The chance of injuring the animal or yourself are evident. Furthermore unless you have car or truck with a lot of space, picking the animal up is just the beginning of your problem.

This is exactly why my wife and I no longer have a dog, we kept Borzois for years, the last one weighed 127# and was a struggle to even help into the back of our van.

A heavy blanket instead of a tarp would also work.