The dog, has had a few stumbles, then last week had a fall getting up the stairs, so I've been thinking up ideas to help her manage the stairs. There is a largely redundant stair lift, on the stairs, so I was focused on finding a way for her to perhaps use that - the main sticking point, I thought, would be getting her to use it. She can be quite nervous and reluctant of some things.
The process recently has been - she will not go up in front of me, I go up, followed by her, then Avril last, to catch her if she stumbles. Avril, is away for four days, so the problem has come to a head, and a solution had to be found. She is too big to be able to just sit on the stair lift foot plate/foot rest, or the seat, besides it would be a real struggle getting her on the seat, so footplate it had to be, somehow...
The underside of the footplate, has trap sensors, to prevent things on the stairs being run over, and folds up, out of the way. Yesterday, I found a piece of board, 35 x 14", which I managed to lash temporarily onto the foot plate, cantilevered out behind with rope, added a cushion. Then spent an hour trying to tempt her onto it. It wasn't easy, but I got her there in the end and got her to lay down. Holding her still at the shoulder, I ran the lift all the way to the top, then back down, with no sign of panic.
Come bedtime, she sleeps on the landing, I did the same, but told her to get off at the top. She got off, seeming to be quite happy with the idea of riding up the stairs, instead of struggling. Having proved the principle works, today I'll try to improve on the idea, make a board with steel brackets, so it hooks into place, and upholster it.
