Housing modifications for dogs

[juniorsenior]

Hi everyone I am getting a puppy soon and I’m wondering what modifications you have made to make your lives easier.

For example instead of a traditional watering bowl, I am going to use a angel food cake pan and insert a dowel in the center so I do not have to bend over in order to pick it up off the ground.

[ToastGuard]

Depending on where you are keeping the food and water, there are a couple things I have done that may help you. Our dogs' bowls are in the laundry room. Trying to lift their water bowl, fill it, and then put it back on the ground without spilling half the water was not happening, so what I found was that a plastic juice pitcher we have was the perfect size to fill their bowl (they share a single water bowl), but still has enough space to the top that I don't spill when switching hands or carrying over from the laundry sink. Pouring from the pitcher made refilling their water much easier.
For the dog food, we bought a big plastic tub that we put their food in. Since each dog gets a specific amount we just have a measuring cup in there with markings so I know how much I'm getting for each dog. The tub is pretty sturdy so even when the level is low, I can brace on the container to scoop out of the bottom without worrying about falling out of my chair.
I'm not sure about your living situation or how you plan on taking them outside, but I've found a couple things that have made my life easier. I've got a hook on the wall for their leashes both so I don't have to try and pick them up off the ground and so they stay untangled. In addition, one of the leashes was specially made for me to loop around and connect to itself. You could do that yourself by just pulling the end through the loop, but that could end up choking you if not careful. I'm not sure of your level of injury or what you use to get around, but in my manual chair, I found trying to push and hold a leash at the same time to be very inefficient. With the leash with the big loop, I'm able to sort of wear it like a sash by going across my neck/shoulder on one side, then under my arm on the other side. My two dogs are 38 and 48lbs, but I'm still able to control them with the leash looped around me because the side that goes under my arm is far enough under my back so that I'm not pulled off balance, or worse yet, out of the chair.
Enjoy your puppy! I love dogs and have found lots of ways to manage even my unruly pups, so feel free to ask any questions if they come up. My wife wants to get a service dog for our next one so it comes trained, but I love my crazy wild dogs. They keep life interesting.

[juniorsenior]

Thank you for your response! T3 complete.

I like the idea of a pitcher to pour the water, that's awesome! I live in an apartment but I do have a back door that goes to my patio and lawn area. I was thinking of putting up a small fence area for the fall/winter so I won't have to get a leash on everytime he/she wants to go outside.

I also like your leash over your shoulder idea. I have a few baby stroller hooks that I was planning on using but your way seems more practical for moving around the dog.

Do you wash them yourself? Do I need a metal can for poop?

I'm having a trainer help me train them as a service dog actually!

[ToastGuard]

I do wash them myself. I transfer onto my shower chair wearing some shorts and just use my hand-held shower head to wash them down. I toss their towels on my wheelchair and try to dry them off before transferring back into the chair. I suggest spreading the towels out on your chair for the likely case where your dog tries to shake off the water, throwing water/suds all over the place. That way your chair won't smell like wet dog. The only issue I've had so far is the roll-in shower in my new house (as of May 2020) doesn't have a door. It is big enough that when we shower my chair still doesn't get wet, but it did not contain the dogs the way I had hoped... I tried to block the doorway with my chair, but one was small enough to squeeze under it and then proceeded to shake off the water ALL OVER the bathroom. Depending on your shower situation, I suggest either keeping a leash on them or figuring out a way to keep them in the tub/shower.

I lived in an apartment when we first got the dogs. I just used a plastic baggie to pick up poo when necessary. I'm T9/10 complete, so I still have full arm strength and decent stability if I can brace on my chair, so I was able to reach into the grass and clean the poo. Thankfully we bought a house and our first investment was a fenced in back yard. Then when we needed to clean up, we just used the plastic grabber type dog poo tool. That was the same first investment we made in our new house this past May.

[RollinPositive]

Hi everyone I am getting a puppy soon and I’m wondering what modifications you have made to make your lives easier.

For example instead of a traditional watering bowl, I am going to use a angel food cake pan and insert a dowel in the center so I do not have to bend over in order to pick it up off the ground.

How about just a small platform with steps at wheelchair, power chair height, even a box or chest with a few steps your puppy will learn to jump up and eat and drink and makes it easy for you to feed and water.

If you need light weight use plastic bowls and fill with a bottle water.

My dog lives on my chair when I am not in it and rides the footplate when we roll!