View Full Version : Darby Drama
lotsadox
02-04-2015, 08:37 PM
I've spent every night since Sunday sitting on a hard kitchen chair in the study on my computer so that Darby isn't just left alone. I ordered this cool stroller from Amazon on Monday, got 2 day shipping, I was so looking forward to having it so that I could move Darby around with me.
Set the stroller up, put Darby in it, he tries to jump out. Yikes! So I put Darby back in it, close the top so he can't jump out and he hates it. Freaking out, barking, whining, trying to claw his way out. General pandemonium. So he's back in his crate and I'm on the hard chair in the study.
I'm going to feed him in it and try having him sit in it with the top down and me sitting there holding him and hope that in a few days I can have him used to it enough that he will calm down and we can use it to move him around and so I can actually go upstairs and watch tv. *sigh*
There is a restraining strap but if I make it tight enough that he can't jump out, he can't move. Maybe I'll just have Jim set up the extra crate up in the den for Darby to use. Darby is the sweetest dog and the biggest pain all at the same time.
Yolanda
02-04-2015, 08:45 PM
Admittedly my house is a ramble and this idea will probably not work for you.
However, I have a wire crate that sits on dolly with wheels so I can move it from room to room. My Elsa was too big for a stroller so I used it with her.
Good luck and I am sure one of us here or hubby can coem up with a good idea.
oceangirls
02-04-2015, 09:41 PM
Return the stroller and buy yourself a comfortable chair and TV for the study:thumbup:??
Just kidding, hopefully he will get used to it. :crossfin::crossfin::crossfin:
lotsadox
02-04-2015, 09:56 PM
I decided to try to get him used to it like you do a crate by feeding him in there and giving him treats in there. We have a spare crate from when we had more dogs so I set that one up in the den so I can take him up there in the evenings and sit on the couch. He was whining and making his usual unhappy Darby noises at first but he's settled down to an occasional whine now. I have it between the couch I sit on and the one Jim sits on so he can see up both.
M&M's Mom
02-05-2015, 05:12 AM
Much better!! I need to invest in one of those I think.
lotsadox
02-05-2015, 09:31 AM
Much better!! I need to invest in one of those I think.
If you get one, look for one where the lower part is stiff and stands alone. This one really can't be used safely with the top open because he can push the bottom part down. It doesn't seem safe to me with the top open. The small one I had for Bogart had a bar that ran around at chest height and I could put him in it with the top open and it held him safely. I liked that one better. I hate buying things like this online but couldn't find one in a store anywhere.
LexieLuvr
02-05-2015, 11:30 AM
Admittedly my house is a ramble and this idea will probably not work for you.
However, I have a wire crate that sits on dolly with wheels so I can move it from room to room. My Elsa was too big for a stroller so I used it with her.
Good luck and I am sure one of us here or hubby can coem up with a good idea.
That's what I did when Jack went down and it worked very well for me, too. Someone should invent a crate with retractable wheels!
Darby, shush. Don't you be jumping. Stay calm & get healthy first.
We used an open-top cage that just sat on Yolanda's handy stroller frame. We had a cover but didn't use it, cuz Buddy never tried to escape. https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=5190159792228B82&id=5190159792228B82!357
lotsadox
02-05-2015, 03:53 PM
I don't want to use a regular crate because of having to lift him out of it. I've lifted dogs out of regular crates and after a couple days, my back is killing me. A stroller is much easier to lift them out of.
We put the extra crate upstairs last night and I took him up there after dinner and he was fine. He just slept. If I can get the da*n back wheels off the stroller I ordered from Amazon, I'm sending it back. I used Bogart's old one this morning and to take him outside it worked fine so I may just use it for that and put him in the extra crate upstairs. I can always put the extra crate on a plastic so I can slide it down the hall to the sewing room and get some work done.
Alex's Mom
02-05-2015, 04:33 PM
This is the one that Tracy suggested to me (I've decided to hold off on getting one since it's only for 2 weeks): https://www.kittywalk.com/ Would it work?
I remember that Amy put her crate on a little wheeled table (like you'd find in a classroom or lab) and just wheeled her around. I'll see if I can find that thread with the pic. (It might have been on FB).
Here it is! (gosh, I got all teary seeing Laika :sosad: ) http://doxielovers.com/dlc/showthread.php?21850-Laika-pics
The Kittywalk is exactly the one we borrowed from Yolanda.
Problem is, its top is closed. So you gotta reach in from 1 LONG end to remove the dog, which was TOO difficult.
Thankfully the Kittywalk cage part lifts off its frame, so we removed it, and instead used only its wheeled frame half
as a stroller, and we replaced the (soft knotted) cage part with our own home-made open-top wire cage.
That was perfect for us. That's what is pictured in the photos at ( https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=5190159792228B82&id=5190159792228B82!357 ).
We had a hinged lid too, but didn't need it.
But you already said you didn't want a cage.
Alex's Mom
02-05-2015, 04:51 PM
My medium sized crate (which I got for Wen) opens on the top and it's a godsend!!! I simply can't get down low enough to take a dog out of a big crate from the front any more. Absolutely the way to go!!!
lotsadox
02-05-2015, 05:12 PM
The thing I don't like about that one is that just like the one I have, it has to be closed and he freaks out when it's closed. I'm just returning the one I got if I can get the da*n wheels off and get it back in the box and using Bogart's for now. I don't want to do the big lab cart because I want something that I can take upstairs and also my house has some levels and doggie gates downstairs and one of those carts is hard to get around. There would be no way I could get it thru the garage and outside to take him to potty.
I like to use a stroller to take him out to potty because that way I don't have to joggle him while I'm trying to get the door open. I just roll him up to it, open the door and roll him out. There's a lot less handling him that way and less chance of hurting him.
LexieLuvr
02-05-2015, 07:11 PM
I used a dolly that you could convert to a low dolly with a long bed of sorts, and used zip ties to secure the crate to the dolly bed so it didn't slide around as I moved him from room to room. It worked great! The disadvantage was it was low and hard on my back to get him out. I see there are crates with wheels available but the wheels don't retract. I like the "lab table" idea a lot! No bending!
lotsadox
02-05-2015, 10:30 PM
The DH helped me take the wheels off and I packaged it up to return the stroller I have. Since Darby is doing well in the crate upstairs, I'm just using Bogart's old stroller to get him in and out to potty. It's so much easier to do that than to have to juggle holding a dog steady and twist the key to open the door.
Darby update: He seems to be doing really well. He stretched today like he was doing a play bow and shook himself a couple times pretty hard. I take that and the tail wagging as really good signs so I'm very hopeful of a good outcome. :crossfin::crossfin::crossfin:
LexieLuvr
02-06-2015, 11:03 AM
Sounds like he's doing very well, hooray! More :bigrayz::bigrayz::bigrayz:, for good measure!
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