Every dog has its day. Derby had his last year, and since, so have Bubbles and TurboRoo. All three dogs were born, unable to walk or move, either with deformities to their front legs or without front legs at all. All three were given 3D printed devices that made them mobile and independent. These devices were either highly customized prostheses or wheelchairs that were designed to fit each dog.
Now, it’s Luisa’s turn to benefit from 3D printing. Born without forelegs, the handicapped puppy was discovered at an animal protection agency in Germany. (Luisa is on the right in the image).
A 3D printed wheelchair was designed for her by ‘aimzz’, the author of the Instructable ‘Adaptable Wheelchair for Handicapped Dogs’, who also went on to adopt Luisa. The wheelchair essentially consists of a 3D printed cradle (in PLA material), aluminum tubing, connectors, axle, wheels, fasteners, and belts. The cradle is designed with her natural posture in mind and has a soft inlay so the dog can comfortably rest on the wheelchair.
The wheelchair project is open-source, so anybody who has a similar issue with their dog can make use of the Instructable and the 3D models associated with it. The entire device costs roughly $150 to build and can be resized and adjusted to suit your dog’s needs. For Luisa, aimzzz printed all of the parts of her wheelchair at his company Multec using a large format 3D printer, the Multirap M420.
Although it might take a while for Luisa to fully adapt herself to the device, from the looks it she seems quite settled in with her new set of wheels!
