Why We Love the Help-em-up Harness
14. Feb, 2012 
3 Comments
Tika's owners can manually assist her using this harness when she's not in her cart.
Just about any dog who might need a wheelchair also needs help moving around the house, getting in and out a car, navigating stairs – and for these short trips, a manual assist is necessary. It’s not unusual for us to see dogs here being carried in with a towel wrapped around their bellies with the owner struggling to keep up a dog hell-bent on sniffing every spot on the lawn before choosing just the right spot to add his own scent. Twenty-one years ago, when our first dog Buddha, an 80 lb. Doberman became paralyzed, I carried her back end around with the help of an LL Bean firewood carrier. An inexpensive variation of this concept would be to cut open the sides of a cloth shopping bag, and sling the dog’s mid-section – a homemade sling that works just fine as long as your dog is female.
Males, will of course, urinate on a sling that covers the belly. Manual assists that make an accommodation for males by slinging each leg separately have the drawback of chafing in the delicate tissue of the groin.
The Help-em-up Harness solves this problem by supporting the dog on a pelvic pad, with accommodation for male dogs. It also puts a handle over the shoulders and another over the rump, allowing the owner to evenly lift the entire dog, if necessary, in a balanced position. The harness is easy to use and logical. There is lots of adjustability, allowing the owner to make it so that the handles do not interfere with the cart.
What’s great about this harness is that it can stay on your dog all day long, eliminating looking for that sling you were using before your dog decided to drag itself to another room in the house. The harness makes it a snap to lift the dog’s rear legs into our cart.
Like Eddie’s Wheels, the Help-em-up Harness was the brainchild of a professional designer who made something for himself and his own dog, and then decided that other people would benefit from his invention. Like Eddie Grinnell, Carey Zimmerman constantly strives to improve his product and provides excellent customer service. That’s why the Help-em-up Harness is the only manual assist we actually sell – and sell them we do -to most of our clients who have medium to giant size dogs who need a little help from their best friends – YOU!
I have a little baby-her name is Mollie Maye. Her back end is paralized. The vet wanted $2000-$3000 for surgery,a dit wasn”t guaranteed. I could not put her through that, plus all the physical therepy. She is will be 6 March 31. I watched the vidieo wirh the dashund and cried. Would give anything in the world for my baby to be able to run around like that. I had a cart made, but I don:t think it is fitted right, It was made out of state, and I don’t think I measured her right. I need to have one made where I can bring her and have hr measured the right way. I would like to contact you and come to Shelburne to get her the right kind of cart, She is a small dog. She is half shu zu and half pekenese I call her a shu-piggy.She is also in diapers 24/7,but I could never ever but her down. Would someone put away a person if they suddenly couldn”t walk anymore.I need your help. You can contact me by e-mail or my phone# is 508-838-7036 Thank you so much>
CAll us at 1-888-211-2700 to make an appointment for a measurement consultation.
I just wanted to let you know how rewarding it is to care for a handicapped pet. I have been caring for my 11 1/2 year old beagle Sophie who has been paralyzed for 9 years now. She also is in a diaper 24/7 and must be expressed manually and changed at least 4-5 times a day. There wasn’t even a thought of putting her down at the time of her diagnosis. The vet informed my husband and myself in all probability she would never walk or feel from the waist down again. We’ve dedicated all ourselves to making sure Sophie had a good quality of life thanks to EddiesWheels she has. She immediately took to the cart and is even excited when it’s cart time because she knows she will be running and enjoying herself as she did previous to her injury. I don’t know where Sophie would be without her wheelchair. Its saved her life. She’s up and running in her chair and is all over the property with it. Actually, I do believe its extended her life and kept her the same lively spirited dog we had pre-injury. The all terrain tires make it easy for her to cover all types of weather. When people see her in her wheelchair they are amazed. EddiesWheels personnel are so helpful and are a pleasure to deal with. I wish you luck and love with your baby MollyMae. She will love her chair as you will.