Couple Builds Custom Stairlift for their Three Elderly Rescue Dogs Unable to Climb Stairs
By Mike-Ross
This heart touching story proves the extent to which pet owners will go to provide a wonderful life for their beloved furry friends. Sonya Karimi, hailing from New Orleans, Louisiana, adopted three senior rescue pugs - George, aged 13, Bodhi, aged 10, and a Boston Terrier named Sam, also aged 10. Sonya quickly noticed that her dogs had difficulty climbing the stairs due to their mobility issues.
Bodhi, in particular, had a tough time scaling the stairs due to his torn knee ligament. Determined to provide a solution for her pups, Sonya and her partner, Andrew Taylor, decided to construct a customized stairlift for their three furry companions.
The couple built the stairlift using a metal platform, mounted on a custom-made wooden frame. The lift was then fixed to the stairs and powered by an electric motor. The lift was designed to be comfortable for the dogs, with a soft surface and safety railing to keep them secure.
With the new stairlift, the pugs could easily and safely move up and down the stairs, without the fear of injury or exhaustion. Sonya shared a video of her pugs using the stairlift on social media, which quickly went viral, inspiring many others to come up with creative solutions for their own pets facing mobility challenges.
The couple's ingenious solution not only provided their senior dogs with ease of movement but also gave them independence and freedom to move around the house comfortably. Their dedication to their furry companions serves as a heartwarming example of the love and care that pet owners have for their animals.
Sonya, 31, wanted them to be able to get to the second floor on their own, so she decided to build a “doggie-vator” for them!
Made from wood, the doggie-vator is a stairlift that will get the dogs upstairs and vice-versa in no time. With the help of her boyfriend, Zach Grate, and his retired engineer parents, Sonya completed her DIY project within three months during the quarantine.
The structure uses a motor meant for a car so that it can carry more than one dog at a time. Its wiring is neatly tucked underneath the stairs. With the push of a button, the lift takes the dogs up to the second floor and back down.
The wooden cart moves slowly so that the dogs can stay relaxed during the ride.
Sonya and Zach found out that Bodhi had a torn ACL right after they adopted him. The surgery for it was going to cost around $3,000, and they weren’t sure if the dog would do well under anesthesia.
Sonya is an occupational therapist who frequently works with the elderly, and she has seen how helpful stairlifts have been to people with mobility issues.
“It only really bothered him when he was walking up and down the stairs – I’ve worked with geriatrics in the past and I have geriatric dogs so I thought there had to be some way to make it easier for them to get upstairs,” Sonya told Metro UK about how she came up with the idea.
With the different products available for pets nowadays—and the money pet owners are willing to spend on them—she was surprised there was nothing similar for dogs on the market.
“So I thought that we might be able to create something ourselves for our dogs to use,” she said.
Sonya and Zach thought they would have to train the dogs to use the stairlift, but as it turns out, they didn’t have to. The senior dogs get on it as if they’ve had the contraption for years!
“The two older pugs love it especially – they won’t use the stairs, they will sit there and wait until the ride is ready for them and it’s so cute,” Sonya said.
Even their 4-year-old pup, Emery, likes to ride the doggie-vator.
Sonya plans to spruce up the stairlift by painting it to resemble the famous streetcars in New Orleans.
Initially, she worried whether she was “going overboard” with the idea. But once they shared it on social media, they received amazing feedback from those who saw it.
That positive response cemented their belief that they did the right thing for their precious pets.
“If you’re not a pet person you might think it’s crazy but our dogs are like our children so we’re willing to do anything we can to make their lives easier,” Sonya said.
I think many people would agree that this doggie-vator invention is not “crazy” at all. Dogs are family to us, and they only deserve the best!
Here’s a video of the doggie-vator in action.
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