Walkin' Wheels Dog Wheelchair - for Large Dogs 70-180 Pounds - Veterinarian Approved - Dog Wheelchair for Back Legs

I rarely write a review unless a product far exceeds my expectations, and this product deserves such a review.I stressed out about purchasing a wheelchair for our old lab at all because I didn't know if it would work, and then once I decided to risk it I stressed out about paying the high cost of this particular one. There are cheaper models out there. But then I saw a review where someone said they were glad they paid the "extra" dollars for this model because of the quality. I knew I was going to be paying a lot of money for even the cheaper models. Why throw that kind of money into a cheaper model I was more likely to be disappointed in? This model was a couple hundred dollars more than the one I was considering but the reviews were very different.I am SO GLAD I did. This is a sturdily built, very well engineered, highly adjustable, quality product.Our dog Java is not in pain, but has lost the ability to walk straight. His rear hips and legs give out on him.Java had no anxiety about the contraption I was building next to him, and was very patient with all the measuring and strap adjustments going on as we prepared the front harness. He was also patient and forgiving as we clumsily worked to get him in the rear wheeled part, and did all the necessary adjustments. Finally, we got him all strapped in, and he just started walking! Straight, supported, and like he had been doing it for years. His ears perked up, his eyes got bright and his tail began wagging. He loves his new wheelchair! He pooped and peed eight away with no issues, and got to actually enjoy a walk for the first time in months.My recommendation is that when you get this product, get some coffee, relax and take time to read through the entire manual prior to assembly, and go slow. Plan on a couple hours of assembly and adjustments, and an hour to work with your dog and dial in the adjustments. Take your time, relax, put it together right in front of your dog amd let him investigate, a lot. If he sees you in a good mood throughout the building process he is going to be far less anxious when you try to attach him to it.I will re-evaluate this product in a few months, but for today, I could not be more pleased.1 month edit....Our dog Java has gone from barely being able to go around the block to walking about a mile a day. He has gained a lot of strength and endurance. He still has difficulty walking unassisted, but that difficulty has lessened. More importantly is the incredible mental and emotional transformation. He gets so excited when I pick up his wheels now!I made 2 modifications. 1, I secured a couple layers of 3/4 inch padding where Java's back hip leaned into. This forced his posture to be more straight, and lessened the risk of his tipping the cart. This greatly improved his walks. 2. We live in a neighborhood where sidewalks are not great, and our walks take us across a lot of dark streets. Black lab moving slow is not a good plan, so I wired up his cart with an awesome rechargeable lighting system with white headlights, green running lights and red tail lights. This is an add-on idea the manufacturers should design and include as an upgrade option. Highly effective, and added to the cool factor of his wheels!I cannot recommend this product enough. This has added incredibly to not only Java's time with us, but his quality of life with us.

I took my time writing this since I wanted to see how this product holds up. And after close to a year, I can report that it does great with only a few minor flaws. Background: my 12-year old 80-lb. German Shepherd (born with dislocated hips but adapted early on but still able to hike with us when younger) slipped on our wood stairs coming down and was suddenly 95% paralyzed. We had to take her out with a support strap for bathroom breaks and at one point, we stayed downstairs during the night to make sure that she didn't have any accidents (she didn't). Two vets told us that such wheelchair "carts" don't work and suggested we place her through water therapy or actual physical therapy. We decided to ignore that advice and purchase this cart; our dog loved her daily walks and frankly, toting her around with a support strap, even around the block, was rather difficult. So why THIS cart? After reading many reviews, we found that trying to save money on less expensive carts proved a regret for many buyers, even if this was double the price of most. Besides, an initial water therapy session was $165 with many follow-ups so after about three visits we'd have paid for the cart. Assembly was quite easy and once the first day was over, our dog readily got used to the new "legs." The bar in back allowed her tail to drape over the top and bathroom breaks were readily accomplished with no fuss. The key thing to remember is to get the side bars level with your dog's shoulders but the many adjustment buttons make this a snap; and once accomplished you won't have to adjust any further. Before long, our dogs front haunches became stronger and stronger, and we began to see her ankles twitch, then her knees (over a period of a month or so), as if subconsciously walking...her mood brightened considerably.So, what were/are the flaws? First, the support harness is stitched a bit awkwardly and broke a bit sooner than expected, something I remedied by taking it to a shoe repair site and $10 later, emerged with heavy duty stitching throughout; do this and it will save you the hassle of having it break in the middle of a walk and leaving you stranded (after all, this harness gets about 90% of the tension). The belly support is optional (but included) and our dog got used to it rather quickly even though she is rather slim (made her feel a bit more supported). The reads on the foam wheels that come with it will wear out super fast but if you don't mind smooth wheels, they'll do just fine (it actually proved easier for our dog to move over bumps in lawn edges and such). Our "D" ring broke after about 6 months (the harness clips into these) but the company graciously sent out two replacements for free. And finally, place some reflective strips on the back edges; we found that walking at night made our dog almost invisible as cars are not expecting a dog in a wheelchair. The reflective strips made her cart stand out as we crossed streets and edged over sidewalks. All in all, just bite the bullet and pay the extra couple of hundred...it's your pup and this cart takes a lot of abuse; the tweaks we did were minor and will make your cart last even longer and ours has toppled, bounced around in our car, and as light as it is, still come through like a trooper. As an end note, our dog has regained about 75% of her ability to walk, crab-like but gets around the yard and does her business fine...even making it up the four steps of our deck on her own; likely her front chest muscles have become far stronger to compensate for her weakened back legs. Both vets who initially discouraged us are quite surprised but also taking a new look at recommending these carts for such injuries.

Was very easy to put together using the videos provided. Per the comments of other users, we put it together next to our dog so he could smell it and get used to it being around. The process of putting him in it and getting him going worked great. Very pleased with it overall. We have a 13.5 year old, 100 lb. Shepherd who's lost a lot of his muscle mass in his back end. This has enabled him to run in our yard again. He does great. Only downside is he thinks he's a kid again and tries to run thru my garden and gets stuck because he's not used to having a wide width! HA!