Instructions for a Dog Wheelchair

Make a wheelchair for your dog

Dog wheelchairs can be expensive, ranging anywhere from $250 for a small dog up to $1,000 for a large dog. Fortunately, building your own dog wheelchair is an option and can cost you as little as $50 to do. With the following design, your dog can become comfortably mobilized so that you can share a happier existence together.

Things You'll Need

• 2 8-inch wheels
• Metal right-angle frame base
• Drill
• Cutting fluid
• 4 nuts
• 4 bolts
• Hacksaw
• 3 aluminum poles, ½ inch diameter, 4 to 8 feet long
• U-shaped bar
• Dog harness

Instructions

1. Measure the width of your dog to determine the width of the dog wheelchair.

2. Attach two 8-inch wheels with nuts and bolts to a metal right angle frame. If the right angle frame does not have predrilled holes, use a standard drill and drill bit to drill your own holes. Make sure the drill bit you choose is the same size as the bolt you will be placing through the hole. Use a small drop of cutting fluid to the work area to keep the aluminum from grabbing your drill bit.

3. Cut an aluminum pole with a hacksaw according to your dog's width. Add four inches to the width of your dog. For example, if your dog's width is 9 inches, the pole should be 13 inches long. When cutting the pole, make sure the hacksaw teeth are facing forward. Hacksaws only cut on the forward stroke.

4. Place the pole you have just cut into the bottom hole of the right-angle frame brace and secure with a nut and bolt.

5. Measure your dog's length from his back end to his shoulders. This measurement determines the length of the next two poles. Take your dog's length, subtract two inches, and then cut two more poles to this length.

6. Measure your dog's shoulder width and purchase a U-shaped bar that fits this width. You can use padding, such as the padding that is used on a tennis racket handle, to wrap around the bar for your dog's comfort.

7. Attach a traditional dog harness to the U-shaped bar. Slip the bar into the middle of the dog harness, where it adjusts for tightness. Slip the metal rings of the harness onto the bar on each end to ensure the dog harness does not separate from the rest of the dog wheelchair.

8. Attach the U-shaped bar to the side poles. The poles should come up the bar about 1 inch on each side. Drill a hole all the way through each side of the bar, as well as a hole in each of the poles so that you can take a nut and bolt and secure the bar to the pipes on each side. Your dog wheelchair is now complete.

Tips & Warnings

• Allowing a little bit of excess length for the bars and pipes will enable you to adjust the wheelchair's size if your dog is still growing.

References

• Dogasaur
• Wheels for Dogs
• Mini Lathe Operation: Drilling
• Second Chance Garage: How to Hacksaw