Dog Slings – A Good Tool to Have

A sling supports the rear end for handicapped or arthritic dogs.  If you’ve ever tried to use a towel as a sling, you know it’s very awkward.

You just never know when your dog:

• gives you a pleading look at the bottom of the stairs.
• he gets arthritic or develops hip dysplasia.
• suddenly has difficulty walking. A veterinarian should treat lameness lasting for more than a few minutes.

Combination of harness and sling

If your dog develops weakness in his front end as well as his rear, the combination of a chest harness, a short leash, and a sling can control both the front and back end, like handling a puppet.

Why “walk” a dog with a sling and harness?  So they can relieve themselves on the grass.  I’ve had two dogs use this system, and both would hold it until they were “walked” on the grass.

Problems with some dog slings

1. The sling displayed above has two handles and several straps, making it awkward to hold the handles in one hand.
2. The dog sling doesn’t hook to the collar or harness. So a leash needs to direct the dog to walk forward.
3. The sling often bunched up under the belly, making it uncomfortable.

Better slings are available, one of which is the GingerLead.

Benefits of the GingerLead

• This dog sling consists of a padded, durable nylon with a corduroy lining. So it has more support and doesn’t bunch up.
• The handles fold together into a padded Velcro closure – so no struggling to hold multiple handles and the padding makes it comfortable in your hand while supporting your dog’s weight.
• It’s fully adjustable.
• The GingerLead comes with a retractable leash to hook onto the dog’s collar or harness. Everything fits into one hand!

Chipper displays the GingerLead, which fits him very well.  Currently he doesn’t need this, but it will be in my dog toolkit just in case.

The GingerLead was provided as a product review shown on my Enviro-Dog blog.