TOPIC: hmmm...just thinkin..

about gibby and his problem with gettin his wolf in and out of the house, when a light went on in my head. build a dumbwaiter. his basement entrance is level with his driveway. he could get wolf in the dumbwaiter fairly easy , then lower him down to the basement and out the door. wolf wouldn't need to climb anymore steps nor would john have to do any lifting. this is the kind of solution houston would think of. the dumbwaiter could be hidden by the new electric fireplace or Lorraine could give up one of her kitchen cabinets..hehe

I had two elderly large dogs and I built a ramp for them. When winter came I built a air lock around it. We had a doggie door and we installed a new one in the house and the old one on the end of the airlock at the bottom of the ramp. This worked so well. It was about a 4 foot drop and the ramp was about 8-9 feet long. The tunnel was just high enough for them to walk through.

i would estimate john's drop to be 8', which would calculate to be about an 18'ramp. then the steps are another 3' added height so you end up with a 24' ramp blocking Lorraines soon to be rock foundation facing. i'm sure she would just love that. my moneys on the kitchen cabinet being canned. : :

he he guys,i have a ramp out there that comes up onto the new porch,i put industrial carpet on it,he used to go right up and down it ,even with using just 3 legs,he goes down it just fine,but is now afraid to go up it,especially with snow,so yesterday i added pipe heat tape under the thick rubber based carpet,i will only plug it in when its snowing.
the ramp is about 6 foot long and about 2 feet off of the ground,i might have to put sides on it so hes not scared to go up.
and ron as far as the dumbwaiter i am going to build one someday in our bedroom closet ,when we go to finish the basement,but thats tears down the road,lol,thanks for thinking of us,you too bob,john

That's how mine started. It had rails along the side. Winter came and my one dog had a habit of sitting with his front half outside and his butt in the warm air. That would never do as it was a big dog door. That is when I decided to make it an airlock.

Well if a stick won't work....

well my first suggestion would of been a stick...but if you want to build him an elevator...

for the 1st time in months i feel petty good today,so i am going to put sides on his ramp,the poor dog fell off a couple of days ago,i tried to catch him but couldn't,i feel he dosent have much longer to be with us,he is like a kid to us,and i just cant put him down,i had it done to one of our other dogs and it about killed me,i promised myself i would never do it again,so all i can do now is keep him as comfortable as possible.
mark its a good idea,but he would never stand still for it,i know him well.john

I had a friend who used to own a bar and he got the beer from the basement cooler with an elevator he made for beer using a screw type garage door opener mounted straight up and down. That thing worked wonderful and was fairly quiet.

well i let him outside today,and out of my sight for just a few minutes,and he got himself down in the woods,it took 45 minutes to get him back up the hill,he would not go up the ramp,so i took the day and built some temporary sides on his ramp,it took some coaxing but he finally went up and into the house,hes resting quietly now,boy hes my buddy,john

I know about how you feel, we went out to eat the other night because I got "lucky" and stepped on a 20 dollar bill, came home and George was gimping and not able to walk, which I put him on some K-9 pain pills with a ice pack bag on his right rear hip to ease any swelling he might have it took a bit to get him to go to sleep but...

took him to the vet's in the AM, which they refilled my bottle of pain meds for the dogs, looked at George took him into the back and he came back almost like sir George, that was Saturday, now being Monday night going on 3 nights now with out sleep or just catching a few here and there between having him needing to go out which involves carrying him out and shadowing him for when he needs to do...a leg lift, well I let him lean on my ankle which is bum leg just hangs out of the way, made him a eating left where his hind quarters sit basically on a throw pillow at an elevated food dish, which I am about to just blend down his food and tube feeding him like a cow if you understand what I am saying auuuuuug!

he's 15, he rode with me his whole life, I know what is coming and it just feels like being on ice heading for a brick wall.

just joking about the stick btw, that contraption I posted is how the grocery's and supply's get taking up to the cottage up in grand island.