Today three of our wobblers — Noodle and brothers Smokey and Charlie — got to try out their new wheelchairs for the first time. Although we’ve had their wheels for several months, we had to wait for the snow to melt (that took until the end of April) and then the mud to dry up (mid-May) before we had decent ground to use. Shirley L. and James C. from Portland, who brought blind Carmel out to us last week, have been volunteering at the ranch over the weekend and assembled the chairs yesterday.
All three wobblers have cerebellar hypoplasia, a neurological condition which affects their motor skills and balance. Animals are born with this condition but it is not progressive. Often the animals can walk just fine but are wobbly; that’s the case with Noodle’s sister Soba and our other wobbler Allie. But Noodle can’t really walk properly — she can use all four legs, but her back is hunched, her front legs splay out to the side, and she rockets forward in short bursts. Charlie is more challenged than Smokey and often falls over.
Typically in our experience, animals born with cerebellar hypoplasia get better as they get older, and their brains and bodies learn to compensate for the disability. They figure out how to walk with a wider stance, for example, and they use their tails to help maintain their balance. But Noodle and Charlie not only did not improve as they got older, they actually became less stable … we think simply because of their added weight as they grew. Smokey stayed about the same.
We thought all three would benefit from quad wheelchairs, so we ordered custom-fitted units from Doggon’ Wheels for them.
In the photo at the top of the post are Alayne and Shirley with Noodle on the left, Smokey in the middle and Charlie on the right. I took the photo after they had been in their chairs for about 10 minutes, so they were pretty tired from all the racing around! Shirley, James and Alayne served as the pit crew for our racing team.
Smokey and Charlie initially did not like being in the wheelchairs because they felt confined. Their first instinct was to bite at the straps holding them in place. But once we got them moving, they suddenly realized they could move like never before … and off they went! Noodle was fine being in the chair but she took some more time figuring out how to put her front legs straight down and how to walk with them; she’s so used to them going out sideways that this was entirely new to her. But once she got the hang of it, she enjoyed the new mobility, too!
I also shot some video of the three dogs using their chairs this morning. As you’ll see in this brief 1:15 minute clip, although they may have difficulty with the motor skills they were born with, they’re enjoying an entirely new set of motor skills!
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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