DIY IVDD Dog Accessories

So after spending everything I had and borrowing a lot of money to have Toto's surgery, I didn't have any left for all the extras like harness, dog shoes, stroller, wheelchair, etc, so I have been making them myself.  Well, the shoes I bought but they were crap and didn't last a day, so I also made those myself.

Stroller:  hey, its embarrassing whether its a dog stroller or baby stroller.  You get used to the strange looks and stupid comments.
I found an old toddler stroller that someone had thrown out.  It was a mess but with a bit of washing, was usable.  Toto's dog bag fit right in.  If you don't have a dog bag, use a sports bag with a piece of wooden board for the bottom and a few blankets piled up over it. 

Dog Back Leg Harness:  I looked around and the new ones cost about 50 dollars.  At first I used a scarf, but I worried that it put too much pressure on his bits.  One day after using it, we had to have a catheter set again because he wasn't peeing.  So I decided to make one.  I hand stitched it (with my pretty much non existent sewing skills) and it has held up perfectly for about a month now.  Toto is about 22 pounds (10.5 kilo).  So this definitely works for a dog his size or smaller. 

Start with a sleeve cut out of a soft sweater:

 

Roll it up, starting at the wider end. 

Put a few stitches in to hold it in place. Then attach a loop. (I cut this harness material out of the stroller).  Do this again with the other sleeve:

Use scrap material to sew the two pieces together in the center:

Add a carabiner to each loop:

Then some rings (I added three and attached the leash to the middle one) and off you go!:



Toto's shoes are made of leather and shaped to his feet, then hand stitched: drew his foot on some paper, increased the size by about half an inch, doubled it on leather, stitched it.  To keep them on I use Velcro.  The toe stitches were opening up a bit so I wrapped duct tape around the toes to prevent them from coming undone.  They've also held up over a week now.  Before I was using socks and they lasted a day or two at most.  The store bought ones didn't stay on at all.