Pet Wheelchairs!

As you know, I'm quite into the whole dog industry. Thinking that someday I might open something related to dogs (other than the training, which Angela is already doing). So I'm always looking for ideas how to rip the hardearned money off pet-loving suckers.

Here's one! Eddie's Wheels for Pets!

With some dogs, it's always a toss-up as who is "master" of whom, and whether the dog is man's best friend or vice versa.

Our blue Doberman, Buddha, was on of those incredibly self-possessed beings who always took the attitude that eventually she would get her humans fully trained. She was a working dog, a companion and guard dog while Eddie was a field service engineer, and covered a territory that included Southern New England and New York. She had her favorite pit-stops and nudged him at mealtimes when they'd pass the golden arches.

So when she lost the use of her rear legs at the age of 10 due to spondylosis and disc disease, we felt we owed her the time to heal. She had always treated me like a servant, but now I was carrying her around in a sling, scrambling eggs for her breakfast, and doing massage therapy every night. In the meantime, Eddie, dissatisfied with what was available commercially at that time, decided to build her a wheelchair that would restore her to decent quality of life.

That was in 1989; the cart was clunky by today's standards, but it allowed her to walk in the woods and fields again, harass the woodland critters, and go wading in the swamp. A new symbiosis evolved, as she trained me to lift her and the cart over obstacles. We served her needs, and were rewarded several months later, when she began to walk on her own again. She taught us about the value of convalescent care, and awed us with her ability to rehabilitate in her cart. After only a couple of months, her paralyzed legs started moving again, and shortly afterwards, she was able to stand and walk on her own without the cart.
Our vet was impressed with her recovery, and over the years referred people to us who needed wheelchairs for their disabled dogs. With each cart, Eddie refined the original design to make it lighter and easier to use. Finally, his own disabilities forced him to leave corporate life and he decided to devote himself to helping disabled animals. A feature article in the local newspaper produced a spate of orders and Eddie's Wheels was born.