Wheelchairs and dogs, oh my!
Jun. 3rd, 2010 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dezait's no secret that I'm using a wheelchair now. Yay, assistive devices that mean I'm not adding to the pain! Woohoo! And I think most everyone reading this knows I've been training Guinness the Wonder Dog to help me out when I'm in my chair.
Guinness loves to run. He will randomly grab his harness and bring it to me to tell me we need to go out for a run together. One of Andrew's big worries is that Guinness generally has two speeds - GO and OFF. He'll slow down if we're in a crowded space or in a building, but once we're on the street we're zooming along at roughly 30mph. Andrew has suggested I may need a helmet.
Sadly, my chair isn't designed to go at speed for any period of time, and it's showing some strain from the runs Guinness and I do. The rear wheel axle is beginning to warp a bit from the strain of the constant pull on the left side. The front wheels have started protesting a bit, and frequently get knocked out of true at speed so I have to kick them back into place. I've even had tires pop off my rims while going too fast. None of these are good situations.
I'd really like to find a reasonably-priced wheelchair designed with a service dog in mind. Something that combines the high-speed endurance and manuverability of a sports wheelchair with the comfort and stability of a good everyday use chair and the portability of a folding wheelchair. It also needs to have a built-in method of attaching the dog to the chair, so the chair user has both hands free instead of one hand constantly occupied holding on to the harness. Either a set of traces, or a foreshortened seated dog cart with the maneuverability needed for indoor work. Maybe it would be best to hitch the dog to the side like a bike leash, only rigid for pulling power. In essence, I want to take the principles of bikejoring and apply them to wheelchair use.
Any of you engineering types want to get on that for me? *grin*
ETA: This might work! Now I just have to figure out how to justify paying $250 for the system and another $100 or so for a backup wheelchair in case the modification ruins one. Geep.
Guinness loves to run. He will randomly grab his harness and bring it to me to tell me we need to go out for a run together. One of Andrew's big worries is that Guinness generally has two speeds - GO and OFF. He'll slow down if we're in a crowded space or in a building, but once we're on the street we're zooming along at roughly 30mph. Andrew has suggested I may need a helmet.
Sadly, my chair isn't designed to go at speed for any period of time, and it's showing some strain from the runs Guinness and I do. The rear wheel axle is beginning to warp a bit from the strain of the constant pull on the left side. The front wheels have started protesting a bit, and frequently get knocked out of true at speed so I have to kick them back into place. I've even had tires pop off my rims while going too fast. None of these are good situations.
I'd really like to find a reasonably-priced wheelchair designed with a service dog in mind. Something that combines the high-speed endurance and manuverability of a sports wheelchair with the comfort and stability of a good everyday use chair and the portability of a folding wheelchair. It also needs to have a built-in method of attaching the dog to the chair, so the chair user has both hands free instead of one hand constantly occupied holding on to the harness. Either a set of traces, or a foreshortened seated dog cart with the maneuverability needed for indoor work. Maybe it would be best to hitch the dog to the side like a bike leash, only rigid for pulling power. In essence, I want to take the principles of bikejoring and apply them to wheelchair use.
Any of you engineering types want to get on that for me? *grin*
ETA: This might work! Now I just have to figure out how to justify paying $250 for the system and another $100 or so for a backup wheelchair in case the modification ruins one. Geep.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-03 08:55 pm (UTC)My ex-h was an athlete, loved racing and sledge hockey. He was also handy with a soldering gun. ;) He used a quickie chair for every day use, didn't modify that one since that was paid for by his good insurance, but one of his friends was way into home-shop mods they loved to geek out together. I would email contact a group like that, try to find out if they know of anyone who likes to tinker.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-04 02:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-04 12:00 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-04 04:45 am (UTC)This is a BAD IDEA.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-04 05:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-05 05:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-05 05:14 pm (UTC)(And forever makes me wonder how they manage to stay together for one race consistently, much less a season)
I also should have known you would get there first :)
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-04 05:35 pm (UTC)I hope you get fixed up with something more suitable soon. If you have video, please post it. I could do with a laugh, and this sounds like it. Please don't hate me for finding this funny. I'm finding screwy things funny this week.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-06-05 05:01 am (UTC)I'll have to see if I can get one of the kids to tape us. I need to get pics of Guinness in his new harness anyway. ;)