Hi,

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I did a search & couldn't find any information.

I have a 4 year old Leonberger who is two weeks post-op & doing great.  She had her right front leg amputated due to osteosarcoma and the stitches & staples were removed today.  Her activity level is getting stronger every day (her walks are up to 4 blocks – 2 out & back).  Our concern is stress on the remaining foreleg getting in and out of the car.  She's ready to go back to her social life at the dogpark and beach, plus we have lots of upcoming vet visits for chemo & general check-ups.  Her weight is down to 107 pounds, but that's still a lot to land on.  We have a volvo wagon & our sitter/walker has a small suv, so we'd like to get some recommendations for a ramp that can be used in either car as we transport her (and our other leo, but she's  a bit smaller & has all her limbs).  I'd love to hear about anyone's experience, good and bad with any brands of ramps out there.

Thanks!

Jodi & Nala; and I'm sure Anouk will appreciate it too

Hi Jodi

I have to jump in here because that was a problem for me too.  I have a ramp for the old Lab and I tried to get Cemil to use it, but it must have felt like it was going to move and he refused to have anything to do with it.  Instead, I had a friend build a "step" for me, for him to use getting in and out of my little Toyota pickup truck.  It's like a box 32" x 36" x 10" high.  He can jump onto it and then into the truck, and the reverse going out.  So he's only stepping down 10 or 12", and then another 10".  That worked great for him.  And he's level at the in-between point, instead of headed downhill, like on a ramp.  Cemil is an Anatolian Shepherd, about 150#.  I would recommend the "step" rather than a ramp for a big dog.  Much more solid.  I thought of putting some of that anti-fatigue matting on it to cushion the step even more, but I haven't done that.  It's really fine the way it is. And I can just throw it in the truck and take it along, so it's always available.

To make it work for a different-size dog, just measure the distance from front foot to back foot when she's standing on level ground and make it about that long.  The width would need to be just enough so she doesn't feel like she's going to fall off the side.  I guess the height should be about half the distance from the ground to the vehicle door.

Have fun!

Mary

We have the Solvit aluminum ramp, and it has worked well.  We first introduced it in the house flat on the floor and used treats as Tazzie described.  We worked with it that way until they would be happy to just stand on it without any concern.  Then we put it from the floor to the sofa, and worked on going up and down.  Codie Rae now has no problem using it.  We used it with Wyatt while he was here and he would go down it easily out of the truck, but was hesitant to go up.

The latest we are hearing around GSRNC is that you should not let your dog jump up into or down out of a vehicle becasue of the possibility of injury.  Apparently that recommendation has come from vets at UC Davis and applies to all dogs, no matter how many legs.  You might consider using both the ramp and a Ruff Wear harness to help everyone feel secure. 

Thought I'd update.  We got the ramp about 10 days ago.  It is a very sturdy ramp and reaches our Yukon/Suburban style SUVs back just fine.  Mickey, my 4 legged, agile pup, does absolutely great with it.  I'm glad he'll use it as he has a tendency to jump higher than he should.  McGwire is a little different.  Because of his 3 legged gait (he's a front leg amputee), he isn't as stable.  He tends to place his back legs pretty far apart, sometimes almost falling off the sides of the ramp.  It's not that skinny of a thing, but Mac has always been extremely un-graceful!  I need to use the ruff-wear harness with the ramp to make both of us feel more secure, but it's way easier than using just the harness-rather than doing all the lifting, I'm just guiding.  Just thought I'd let anyone know how it's working.  Let me know if you have any questions!