Greetings from California!  I'm new here.  My dog Boomie is a 12 year old lab who was diagnosed with cancer and had his right rear leg amputated in May of 08.  He has done amazingly well, far exceeding the vet's original prognosis of 6 months post amp.  But over time, his remaining back leg has been slowly wearing out.  Age, hip dysplasia, arthritis…you know the drill.  He's at the point now where I would like to be able to give him a little support in the rear.  So I looked around online and settled on the Help em up Harness.  They said it would work for an amputee.  My vet agreed that it looked like a good mobility aid for Boomie.

It came in the mail today, and the front half fits fine, but I'm having trouble adjusting the straps to get the back to fit.  It's literally falling off.  I've got an email in to the harness people but no reply yet, so I'm searching for actual customers who have purchased and successfully used the Help em up Harness on a rear-leg amputee dog and can share their wisdom, fitting tips, etc.

Thanks,

Cindy

Wow, this is an active board.  I didn't think I'd get so many replies so fast!   So much to say…

Yes Boomie was basically amputated to the hip, but he has a tiny stub of femur left.  Maybe not as much as what Wyatt has in the video, but it was that video that sold me on the harness, and the idea that Boomie can wear it all the time (not that he needs it 24/7 at this point).

Looks like I can't embed a link, but you can copy and paste this to see my Flickr page of Boomie after his surgery, to get an idea of what his amp. looks like:    http://www.flic…..130619364/ 

Brett, I think my harness looks different than Fortis' prototype.  It doesn't have that metal under-thing, for one thing. Do you have pictures of how the harness strap fits around his stump? My biggest problem is trying to cinch the straps tight enough.  There's a neoprene sleeve over the straps, for doggie comfort, but it makes adjusting the strap almost impossible.  So I haven't even been able to get it on him properly.   Boomie has a very deep and narrow chest, and a small rear end.  I sometimes think he was a puppy-mill baby (I adopted him at age 3 (approx.) from the pound).

Will be checking back in a bit.  Gotta go make dinner.  Thanks again

Cindy, I had to remove the neoprene sleeves to get the harness to fit tight enough. Fortis has a very deep chest which tappers to the rear as well. Fortis has the xlg harness which has a clip on each side just in front of the rear legs and two more clips in the rear for the return straps. I will take a few photos and get them posted for you.

Love the Avatar. I have sold and purchased many many many bugs on http://petbugs.com.  

Thanks for the heads up Shanna.

Fortis'Dad,

Brett

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Things are looking better today.

I scrunched the neoprene sleeves way down, and that allowed me to tighten the straps enough.  This morning, I was able to get the back part of the harness to stay on, although it didn't quite look like it was fitting the way it's supposed to.  Boomie's tiny stump slipped out of the strap, but it was still secured in the belly band.  I tucked all the excess cinched up strap-flaps out of the way, and we went outside to see if it would actually work for what I wanted to do, namely to help support him as he squatted to poop.  And…success!  Then moments later, further success, he can pee without getting the belly band wet, and without my having to undo anything!

I am leaving the bottom harness off for the day.  He doesn't really need to wear it continuously at this point.  But we will continue to "practice" with it at pooping time (thank goodness he's regular!)  I will try to get pictures of him wearing it later, so you can see the fit.