I've mentioned this before, but from the top....
Our steadily ageing BC, was beginning to struggle to get up the stairs, to the first floor. I already had a stairlift installed, as a result of my late partner needing one, it seemed silly to take it out, as it had cost so much, and came in handy sometimes. As designed, there was no way to get the dog onto the stairlift, so I looked at ways to solve that, so she could sit or lie down on it...
My first iteration, simply added a board, using a metal bracket on the underside, which hooked onto the stairlift footrest, with a lath at the opposite end, to prevent it becoming unhooked when any weight was on the board. It was quick to fit, quick to remove, simply hooking into place, on the footrest. That sort of worked, with a blanket on the board, as cushion, but I managed to break the unsupported end of the board.
The next iteration, I made with a stronger base board, adding a vertical support, at the unsupported end - so that with the lift at ground level, the board end was well-supported. To the top of the board, I spray glued some sponge foam, and to the foam I glued some spare carpet. The dog, by now was reluctantly, with a lot of encouragement, climbing on the lift, usually lying down, with her front legs over-hanging the front, and risking them getting trapped as the lift went up the stairs, so time for another mod...
I added a second vertical board at the leading edge, one which dropped into place on pegs, so it dropped into place, just when she needed to use the lift, at other times it could be removed so we didn't trip over it, going up and down. The board itself, just left in place, so we could step on it, on the way up, or down.
Whilst this slow development of her stairlift has been going on, the dog has gone from needing lots of persuading and encouragement to get on, and remain laid on the lift, with somebody following the lift up, to make sure she stayed put - to being confident enough to just stand on the lift, as it progresses up the stairs.
This morning, Avril was first up, and the dog followed her down, to go out. Avril made me a coffee and brought it up to me, me still asleep in bed, with dog left downstairs. Whilst Avril was upstairs, the dog had stepped on the lift, and could be heard whining for it to move. The lift has wireless remotes located top and bottom of stair, so Avril just pressed the up button to bring her up. You only have to hint at going upstairs now, and she steps on the lift, waiting for her ride up
Our steadily ageing BC, was beginning to struggle to get up the stairs, to the first floor. I already had a stairlift installed, as a result of my late partner needing one, it seemed silly to take it out, as it had cost so much, and came in handy sometimes. As designed, there was no way to get the dog onto the stairlift, so I looked at ways to solve that, so she could sit or lie down on it...
My first iteration, simply added a board, using a metal bracket on the underside, which hooked onto the stairlift footrest, with a lath at the opposite end, to prevent it becoming unhooked when any weight was on the board. It was quick to fit, quick to remove, simply hooking into place, on the footrest. That sort of worked, with a blanket on the board, as cushion, but I managed to break the unsupported end of the board.
The next iteration, I made with a stronger base board, adding a vertical support, at the unsupported end - so that with the lift at ground level, the board end was well-supported. To the top of the board, I spray glued some sponge foam, and to the foam I glued some spare carpet. The dog, by now was reluctantly, with a lot of encouragement, climbing on the lift, usually lying down, with her front legs over-hanging the front, and risking them getting trapped as the lift went up the stairs, so time for another mod...
I added a second vertical board at the leading edge, one which dropped into place on pegs, so it dropped into place, just when she needed to use the lift, at other times it could be removed so we didn't trip over it, going up and down. The board itself, just left in place, so we could step on it, on the way up, or down.
Whilst this slow development of her stairlift has been going on, the dog has gone from needing lots of persuading and encouragement to get on, and remain laid on the lift, with somebody following the lift up, to make sure she stayed put - to being confident enough to just stand on the lift, as it progresses up the stairs.
This morning, Avril was first up, and the dog followed her down, to go out. Avril made me a coffee and brought it up to me, me still asleep in bed, with dog left downstairs. Whilst Avril was upstairs, the dog had stepped on the lift, and could be heard whining for it to move. The lift has wireless remotes located top and bottom of stair, so Avril just pressed the up button to bring her up. You only have to hint at going upstairs now, and she steps on the lift, waiting for her ride up
