https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/paralyzed-dog-detailed-drag-bag-instructions • Posted by Recycled Miracles
Meet Slinky, he is 9 years old, he jumped off a bed almost 4 years ago and has been paralyzed in his back end since. He has no idea he can't use his back legs, and is just as much as a handful as he was with his back legs. DO NOT feel sorry for Slinky, he as ramps all over the house, inside and out, he plays fetch until you are tired and loves to play tug of war. When he first got paralyzed we had no idea how to deal with it, so I did lots of research and found that there was very little out there for him. So after many trials and LOTS of errors I have come up with a FREE way to make our little guy happy and safe. Anyone who can sew a straight line and has some extra clothes that they can separate with, or ask friends for clothes, we had so many offers I finally had to turn away clothes meant for Slinky bags. If you are anything like us you do not have lots of extra money for your little guy/ gal to buy bags for them. So finally here it is FREE for the world to make and keep their little friends happy, I call them Slinky Bags :-) He wears Huggies size 4 diapers, We found they held his wiener up and stayed on the best, for an ACTIVE dog One more thing, you can use the same pattern to make Slinky PJ bags, just omit steps 6 and 7. Or just use the sleeves from sweat shirts for the tube part, if you are only making PJ' s it is the easiest way to go. If you have any questions, or comments PLEASE share. If you make your own Slinky Bags share your pictures so others can be inspired to make their own. To wash the bags I just throw them in the washer, with a little bleach, and detergent. I have washed, suede, leather, denim, etc and they might wrinkle, but so what they work for your friend and the bleach helps sterilize the bags.
Meet Slinky, he is 9 years old, he jumped off a bed almost 4 years ago and has been paralyzed in his back end since. He has no idea he can't use his back legs, and is just as much as a handful as he was with his back legs. DO NOT feel sorry for Slinky, he as ramps all over the house, inside and out, he plays fetch until you are tired and loves to play tug of war. When he first got paralyzed we had no idea how to deal with it, so I did lots of research and found that there was very little out there for him. So after many trials and LOTS of errors I have come up with a FREE way to make our little guy happy and safe. Anyone who can sew a straight line and has some extra clothes that they can separate with, or ask friends for clothes, we had so many offers I finally had to turn away clothes meant for Slinky bags. If you are anything like us you do not have lots of extra money for your little guy/ gal to buy bags for them. So finally here it is FREE for the world to make and keep their little friends happy, I call them Slinky Bags :-) He wears Huggies size 4 diapers, We found they held his wiener up and stayed on the best, for an ACTIVE dog One more thing, you can use the same pattern to make Slinky PJ bags, just omit steps 6 and 7. Or just use the sleeves from sweat shirts for the tube part, if you are only making PJ' s it is the easiest way to go. If you have any questions, or comments PLEASE share. If you make your own Slinky Bags share your pictures so others can be inspired to make their own. To wash the bags I just throw them in the washer, with a little bleach, and detergent. I have washed, suede, leather, denim, etc and they might wrinkle, but so what they work for your friend and the bleach helps sterilize the bags.
Here is what I decided to use for this tutorial. It was a donation from my son, it use to be his gym shorts. I liked the idea of this material because it breaths and is stretchy. Stretchy fabric is a MUST, otherwise, unless you measurement are EXACT your Slinky bag will never fit. A big plus also with stretchy fabric is it will hold up the rear legs. I found that if his hind legs can flop around he gets them stuck on the thresholds.
I am a HUGE recycler and decided to use a cereal box for my diagram. Plus with this on the back of my diagram how can I frown :-)
Ok this is the hardest part of the entire project, getting your dog to stand still long enough to take measurments. However I did my best to show each measurement on Slinky.
Here is me trying to get Slinky to hold still while I took the measurements. You only need to get close, you can always make it smaller if needed. The most important measurements are,1- from the upper part of the neck to right behind the front legs and 2- total around the body with legs up against the body. If 1 is to short the bag will not stay on and it will be awkward for the dog, trust me. 2 is important because you do not want the rear legs hanging free and to tight and the bag will not fit at all.
Now onto cutting your recycled material. I will be able to get 2 bags out of this pair of shorts. You are only working on the tube that will be going over the body right now. The rest of the pattern will come further along.
Lay your fabric out. This is the the part you can skip if your bag is meant to be Slinky PJ bag. I had some heavy upholstery fabric and cut it to about 1/2 the size of the total measurement around the body with the legs.
Here is what the lower 1/2 of the back looks like, after the upholstery has been sewn on.
Now onto the upper part of the pattern. I like to use the bottom of a t-shirt. Any kind of SOFT fabric will work here. Remember that this piece will be going around your dogs neck so make it comfy for him. The lower part of a t-shirt holds its shape well and is easy to tie.
Hold your piece of t-shirt in 1/2 and find the middle. Make sure you cut it so the bottom part of your t-shirt is one long strip, when you get to within 2" from the center cut into the t-shirt, you will use the measurement from the upper part of the neck to behind front legs, then continue to cut the bottom edge off. Your final piece should look like this when you unfold it.
Lay the body piece face down and sew the upper piece to the lower piece.
I like to add button holes to each side, before I sew the tube together. It holds up better, this is where you will be pulling the long strips to to hold the whole piece on.
Now fold the tube in half, right sides together and sew the long edge together. I like to cut as much of extra fabric away from this seam, since it will be laying on your dogs back you don't want a thick seam.
Turn the bag right side out and you are DONE!!!!!!!!!!!! Your Slinky bag is complete and ready to put on your little friend.
Here it is on Slinky himself, I cannot even tell you how hard it was to keep Slinky still long enough to take this picture. To put the bag on put the tail inside the tube then slide the tube, with the heavy material towards the ground, up to right behind the front legs.
Now pull the long strips between the front legs.
Pull the strips around the neck and through the button holes and tie. Make sure the piece on the chest is centered or the tube will slide around to one side. Your first attempt may need some adjusting that you can make on your next one. We have dozens of bags for Slinky since we change him twice a day. In the morning he gets a bag with the heavy material on it, then at night he wears one without the heavy material since he is inside. I have been asked many times about what happens when he poos. Well it kind of just rolls out the back of the bag, since it is open. It might sound yucky to some, but if you are already changing your dogs diapers the little poos are not an issue.
I have tried putting a little padding in the back end for more cushion, but Slinky made it known that he did not like that. He would chew on the back of the bag to get the padding out, so no padding for him. Neither my husband or I like carpet so we installed laminate flooring sooner then expected. It is much easier for Slinky to run round on and play.