01 Intro

Kayla demonstrating her wheelchair

Do you have a dog who has suffered some kind of disabling event, whether disease, accident or abuse? Does your dog have limited mobility? You may have searched online for dog wheelchairs or carts. There are some excellent models out there, some custom made, some fully adjustable. Unfortunately, all are expensive.

If you're like me, you'll go to the ends of the earth to find a way to make life rewarding and as stimulating as possible for your canine family member. Our three-legged dog, Kayla, had a tough start to life, losing a rear leg in very traumatic circumstances. Since then, she has developed Spondylitis in her lower spine due to the constant hopping impact when walking. She also has some ligament issues in her remaining back leg.

I did a lot of research, and after reviewing all the different cart designs out there, I thought I could come up with something that would work, and so decided to attempt to build one myself. My goal was to make a functional rear-end support, using basic materials and at minimum cost. I have little formal training in this kind of fabrication, though I can turn my hand to most things. I do however work for a software company that produces industry-leading CAD (Computer Aided Design) and 3D modeling software, so I was able to experiment with a couple of ideas along the way.

All the materials for this project were purchased at local hardware stores. I'd like to plug Ace Hardware and their excellent range of fixings and fasteners, but I also made good use of Home Depot.

I can accept no responsibility for the results if you choose to use the information presented here. It's offered simply in the hope that it encourages someone to build a cart that helps their own canine best friend.