So you can see that it’s
a joy to have these dogs
because it’s really hard
to feel sorry for them.
(They’re full of life.
They’re just full of life.)
I know
they’re just full of life.
Hallo,
warm-hearted viewers,
and welcome to
Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
On today's program
we’ll travel to the quiet
hills of Shelburne Falls,
Massachusetts, USA
to visit a company
that greatly enriches
and improves
the lives of disabled
animal companions.
For the past decade
Eddie’s Wheels
has been manufacturing
wheelchairs for animals
with disabilities, thus
transforming their lives.
They sell over 2,000 carts
per year with customers
in the US, Greenland,
Australia, Namibia,
South Africa, Indonesia,
Iraq, United Arab Emirates,
Armenia, and a number
of European nations.
Founded by Eddie
and Leslie Grinnell,
the company builds
a wide array of carts
custom- designed to meet
the animal’s specific needs,
abilities and anatomy.
While most of
the company’s clients
are dogs, Eddie's Wheels
has also supplied
wheelchairs for cats,
goats, sheep and
even a pot-bellied pig.
Ms. Grinnell now explains
how the business
was inspired by
their beloved Doberman.
Twenty years ago,
we had a dog.
She was a Blue Doberman
and one morning
she woke up paralyzed.
I high-tailed it to the vet
with my paralyzed dog
and was told
that I had two choices:
A US$10,000 back surgery
with a 50% success rate
or to euthanize her.
Neither of those options
worked for me,
so I brought her home,
and I was on the phone
with my husband telling him
what our options were.
And the dog was listening
and she started barking
at me from her bed
by the wood stove,
and she definitely seemed
to have an opinion
about euthanasia
that we should take
that option off the table.
So he came home
a few days later and
consulted with our vets
about how to make her
some kind of a mobility
cart or a wheelchair,
because she weighed
80 pounds, and
carrying the back end of
an 80-pound dog around
was hard work for me
and wasn’t giving her
much of a life.
So he looked at
the skeleton of the dog
and said, "We’re going to
support her
in a bio-mechanically
sound way”
and design and built
the first “Eddie’s Wheels”
wheelchair,
never thinking that
this would be a business.
This was something
he was making (Yes)
for his own, individual,
wonderful dog.
So she used it
and just as the carts now
it supported her
under her pelvic floor
and had a yoke
over her shoulder blades.
And she went for walks
every day
through the woods.
She took six months to heal,
but after six months,
she started walking again
on her own
and that was our story.
So we thought
a miracle had happened.
But our vet said,
“Well, what you did
was you kept her alive
long enough
for her spinal injury
to heal on its own.”
So this gave us
a huge insight into
an animal’s ability
to heal and
that the important thing
was to give them
a good quality of life
while healing took place.
One thing we did know
from our experience
was that there were
many people
who had been faced
with the same sort of
critical decisions that
we had been faced with.
People would stop us
on the street and say,
“Where did you get
that dog wheelchair?”
and proceed to tell me
about the heart-rending
story of the dog
that they put down
only because of a disability,
not because of an illness.
Ten years passed
before Eddie decided
to leave his job
as a mechanical engineer
and start a cart business.
The Grinnells soon realized
that their decision
to start the enterprise
was right for them.
Everything seemed
to fall into place.
And then there were
so many synchronicities
that told us
that we were on a path
that we needed to follow.
We would be
sourcing materials.
We would tell people
what we were doing.
People would
extend credit to us.
Our metal supplier had
a policy at his business
of allowing dogs
to come to work.
When he found out
what we were doing,
he made sure that
we always had metal
and he would deliver
two sticks at a time, (Wow.)
no minimum order, (Yes.)
and drop it off at our house.
So we were given all of
these very encouraging
signs from the universe
that this was something
that we were supposed
to do.
Through the years
the Grinnells have heard
many wonderful,
heartfelt success stories
about dogs who could
become active again
through use of
their wheelchairs.
It fills them
with great delight
to know they are helping
so many disabled dogs
to lead happy lives.
This cart was built
for a dog named KD.
KD was actually
a neighbor’s dog.
It was the first cart
we ever got paid for.
And KD became disabled
when she was about six,
had an unsuccessful
back surgery,
and as she aged
her spine curved
more and more and more.
So this was her last cart
and we made a cart
that conformed to
the curvature of her spine.
So this is
our scoliosis cart.
So her hips were here,
(Oh, dear.)
her body was here (Yes.)
and she used this cart for
the last year of her life
and she died at 16.
I have pictures of her
chasing a red kickball
down the street.
She lived a block away
from where we did then
and she would race
behind her red kickball
in her wheelchair.
Initially, Eddie’s Wheels
manufactured only
two-wheeled carts,
but over time they’ve
developed four-wheeled
carts for dogs
who are quadriplegic
or who have
only one working leg.
The first full-quad cart
that we ever built was
at the behest of a woman
who had a 90-pound
Basset Hound who had
had a devastating injury
to his cervical spine. (Right.)
She had gone and had
the US$10,000 surgery
and the dog came out
of surgery with
only one functional leg.
(Oh, dear.)
But she loved that dog,
Jake, and she said,
“He is not in pain and
he can hold his head up
and he can bark at me
and boss the whole house
around, and I need help;
I need something
better than a red wagon
to give this dog
a quality of life and
to give me quality of life.”
So she drove out and
brought him out to us.
We took measurements
and Eddie designed
a fully supportive,
quad cart for a dog that
would have a headrest
and a toe handle.
And this was one of
the first times
we saw that miracle
of what happens
when you posture a dog
(Right.) because we put
him in the quad cart
and all of a sudden
he started reaching with
one of those back legs
that we thought
was completely paralyzed.
And at the end
of a few months
he was actually able to
move that cart
with one rear leg
and one front leg.
They sent me postcards
of him on the beach
in the outer banks with
his big Basset Hound ears
flapping in the surf
and this big, doggy smile
on his face.
He lived another two years.
But it was a quality of life
issue for both of them
because she could
put Jake in that cart,
take him outside and
he could walk around
in the yard.
All that barking
had been going on
because he was anxious
and knew he was helpless
and he calmed down
and became a calmer,
happier dog because
she could tow him
around the house
and keep him in sight and
he could feel like he was
her companion dog again.
The first carts
built by Eddie’s Wheels
were for injured
or paralyzed canines.
But after several years,
the Grinnells learned of
dogs who were suffering
from degenerative diseases
that gradually affected
their mobility and decided
to help them as well.
Dogs get this disease
called Degenerative
Myelopathy, which is
the canine version of ALS
(Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis).
It’s a devastating,
autoimmune,
muscular disease.
And we started
collaborating
to build mobility carts
for these dogs.
Because
what would happen is
that they would slowly
lose their ability to walk.
And over a period of
usually six to nine months
they would go from
hearing the toenail
scraping on the sidewalk
to having a dog dragging
itself across the floor.
And it was incredibly
tragic news for me
to hear because
I was used to thinking
I was going to create
miracles for everyone;
all the dogs
would walk again.
But this is a disease that
dogs do not get better from.
So then our task became:
“Well, how do we give them
the best quality of life
for as long as
they are here
and design carts
that would serve
their progressive needs?”
So we have.
And by working with dogs
with DM
(Degenerative Myelopathy)
we have come up with
a line of carts that goes
from the early stages
of the disease to hospice.
We can engineer a cart now
that will take care of it.
The dog at the beginning,
when their front legs
are still strong,
that cart can be upgraded
as the disease progresses
forward and we can take
weight off the front end.
We can put
temporary front wheels
on a cart so when they
cannot stand anymore
they can still be stood up
to eat and drink normally.
(I see.) And at the very
last stage of their life
they can have
a full quadriplegic cart.
Leslie and Eddie are the
caregivers of four doggie
family members,
Sweet Pea, Daisy, Willa
and Webster, all of whom
have their own sets
of wheels to keep them
rolling through life.
Join us again tomorrow
on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants for
our concluding segment
on Eddie's Wheels,
where we’ll meet
these charming dogs,
whose vibrant, joyful lives
are a testimony
to how Eddie’s Wheels
has bettered the lives
of thousands of
companion animals.
For more details
on Eddie’s Wheels,
please visit:
Thank you for joining us
today on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
Coming up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News,
here on
Supreme Master Television.
May all lives be filled
with everlasting freedom,
peace and dignity.
We also made a cart
for a Pot-bellied pig
this year.
They contacted us
to make him wheels,
and he did have
the miracle of healing.
In fact, the day
that we delivered his cart,
he started using
his back legs
right in front of our eyes.
He went from
being completely down
to using the cart
like a walker.
Halo amiable viewers,
and welcome to
Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
On today's program
we present
the concluding episode
in our two-part series
on Eddie's Wheels,
a company co-founded by
Eddie and Leslie Grinnell
that’s dedicated to
enhancing the lives
of disabled animals
and their caregivers.
By manufacturing
wheelchairs,
the Grinnells have
enabled thousands of
beloved animal companions
to live with greater joy,
dignity and freedom.
When their own
canine friend suddenly
became paralyzed
at the age of 10,
Eddie Grinnell,
a mechanical engineer,
designed and built
their first dog wheelchair,
and the results were
beyond the couple’s
wildest expectations.
I remember she dragged
her legs behind her,
and that cart
didn't have stirrups,
so she ended up
with wounds on her feet.
And I would be bandaging
her legs and feet trying to
deal with these wounds.
And after about
three months, she starting
picking her feet up again,
and using the cart
like a walker.
And I called my vet,
and I said, “She's
getting her feet down flat,
she's using her legs,
she's getting muscle mass
again,” because
all of her musculature
had withered away.
So, I asked the vet,
“What's going on here?”
And she said, "Well,
there is a phenomenon
we call ‘spinal walking.’
The body does have
the ability to compensate
for neurological injuries.”
And I suspect
that it's something
like the Chinese meridian
system in acupuncture,
where you can find
other neural pathways
to go around that
short circuit in the spine.
She never ran again,
but she walked.
Over the past 10 years,
Eddie's Wheels
has provided thousands
of wheelchairs to dogs
and other animals
suffering from paralysis,
injuries or
degenerative diseases,
and the Grinnells are
inspired by the attitude
of these animals.
What we learn
from animals
is that they have
no self-consciousness.
They’re not proud.
They’re not thinking about
what people are going to
think of them.
And when we set a dog
up in a cart,
they turn around,
they look at the wheels
and they say,
“Hmm, look at that,
that's standing me up.
Hmm, my back end is up
where it belongs. Okay.”
And sometimes
I have to give them a cue,
sometimes I have to
pull them forward
and then (they realize),
“Oh, those wheels
are following me.”
And then they take off.
We call it the “five-second
learning curve.”
And then they’re outside,
down the ramp
and ready to go.
And, I think
they’re so inspiring
because they don’t
feel sorry for themselves,
and they say, “Yes,
thanks for the cart,
thanks for the upgrade,
thanks for this.”
They just keep going.
Leslie and Eddie are
the caregivers of
four happy, vibrant dogs.
Let's first meet
Sweet Pea and Daisy.
Okay, so this is
my dog family,
this is Sweet Pea, and she
is a 10-year-old Pit Bull
that we rescued
through the ASPCA
(American Society
for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals)
in New York City.
We adopted her
when no one else
would come forward
to adopt an incontinent,
paralyzed Pit Bull.
Her volunteers
came to us and said, “We
really don’t want to see
Sweet Pea euthanized.”
And I knew her, and I said,
“No, that can’t happen.”
So she came here
and we adopted her and
she is just a great dog.
And we love her dearly.
This is Daisy.
She has been our mascot
since 2001.
And Daisy was
very challenging because
she always spoke Spanish
when I got her.
So I had to learn
how to speak Spanish.
This is Daisy’s cart.
Daisy started out
totally paralyzed
with four herniated disks.
And, and
she is now 16 years old,
and she’s been using
wheels for 10 years.
She’s getting very old now,
she is toothless, but she is
still in good health, and
she certainly gets around
just fine in her cart.
Willa and Webster
are recently adopted
family members, and
are also doing quite well
under the Grinnells’
loving care.
Willa and Webster,
who are Chihuahua-
Dachshund mixes,
are 18 months old now,
and I adopted them
almost a year ago.
They were born
with no front-legs.
And we are the only
company in the world
that makes a two-wheeled
cart for dogs
with front-leg disabilities,
and we decided
to adopt these two
in order to learn more
about the special
challenges of dogs
with front-leg disabilities.
We feel like we could give
better customer service
to our clientele because
the front-wheel cart
is more challenging
than a rear-wheel cart.
The great gift
that Willa and Webster
have given me is that
when they came to me
as puppies they were
seven months old,
they had absolutely
no self-consciousness
about their disabilities.
They bounced around
like little kangaroos
on their back legs.
Thanks to their experience
with Willa and Webster,
the Grinnells
have been able to perfect
their front-wheel carts,
which are especially
beneficial for dogs
who have lost one of
their front-legs as well.
So what’s really great
about the front-wheel carts
is we do a lot of tripods
and amputees
in front-wheel carts;
dogs that have been
compensating for
an amputation
will end up with
shoulder, neck, elbow
and carpal problems.
They’ll end up
with arthritis in the spine
and then the back legs from
being three-legged dogs.
It’s a common myth that
“Oh, dogs don’t need
four legs, they
get along fine on three.”
No, they don’t really;
as they get older
they develop arthritis,
they have ligament
and tendon problems.
So if we can put
a three-legged dog
in a cart, we can preserve
their overall health
and the health
of their joints and spines.
We can give them
more freedom, they can
go for longer walks,
they can stay in good shape.
Because canines differ in
their disabilities, weight,
size and proportions,
the wheelchairs
are custom designed
and hand crafted
for individual clients.
Leslie Grinnell now
explains the process of
how the carts are ordered,
designed and assembled
at Eddie’s Wheels.
So what usually happens is,
people find us
on the Internet,
when they are faced with
the prospect of caring for
their disabled animal.
And there’s a
measurement form there,
that they can fill out.
And then
when we are satisfied
that everything’s accurate,
we talk about
what the disabilities are
and how best to
address those disabilities.
So then we have
a piece of paper that is
the work order and
we bring it down to Ed,
and he is the person
who designs the frame, and
specifications of the cart.
So let’s now meet Eddie,
the founder of
Eddie’s Wheels!
Hi!
Okay, so this is Eddie,
He’s the engineer.
And, this is his office
where he draws everything
and designs all the carts.
And what are you
working on now, Eddie?
A forty-three pound,
Pit Bull needs
a front-wheel cart,
he has got
one front-leg missing.
So, Eddie will
make a drawing, and then
someone on our crew,
we have two people
who specialize
in front-wheel carts,
will, make the cart
based on the drawings
that he makes today.
I make a
full-scale model drawing.
And it’s a lot of work
to do this drawing.
It takes about an hour to
draw a front-wheel cart.
In addition to
carts for dogs,
Eddie’s Wheels
has made wheelchairs
for cats, goats, pigs,
rabbits and even raccoons,
and recently
they’ve expanded
their area of expertise
by making a cart
for Spin, a young lamb.
We are working with a
growing sheep right now.
Spin the lamb has been
in five carts so far.
She started out
at 12 days old
in her first cart.
And we have been able to
have her come in
as she outgrows her carts
and my wonderful
customers donate some
of their carts back to us
so we have a deck
with different size carts
that were built
for different dogs.
She belongs to
a wonderful veterinarian.
And so we have been
working very closely
with him and his wife to get
Spin’s congenital injuries
under control
so that she can be a sheep.
And she is out there
in the pasture grazing
six to 12 hours a day and
having the life of a sheep.
Animal rehabilitation is
a fast-growing field
that seeks to help animals
recover from
orthopedic conditions
and other ailments
through physical therapy.
Eddie’s Wheels
has designed
one intelligent device
to help professionals
speed up their
animal clients’ recovery.
A great deal
in animal rehabilitation
has been
underwater treadmills.
But there are some dogs
that just don’t like water.
So we thought since
we have had Dobermans
who don’t like water,
why not work on land?
So you combine
a therapy stand and
this stand that goes over
the treadmill is adjustable
and for different size dogs
and this allows you
to put the dog and create
that miracle of posture of
a healthy, normal stance.
And then
the physical therapist
has access to all four legs
to do gait training,
massage, acupuncture,
chiropractic, and
work them on a treadmill
and it’s about 10%
of the price of
an underwater treadmill.
Leslie and Eddie
feel truly blessed
by having the chance to
pursue this line of work.
I get thanked every day
for coming to work here.
We get emails
from people who find us
who do not even need us
just thanking us for
being there, knowing us,
knowing that we exist.
And that
if anything happened to
their beloved animals
this would be an option
for them.
Our sincere appreciation
Leslie and Eddie Grinnell
and staff of Eddie’s Wheels
for enriching the lives of
our animal companions
through your
wonderful carts and
rehabilitation devices.
Your dedication and love
provides light
and inspiration for us all.
We wish you
every success in your
future, noble endeavors.
For more details
on Eddie’s Wheels,
please visit:
Thank you
for your gentle company
today on Animal World:
Our Co-Inhabitants.
Up next is
Enlightening Entertainment,
after Noteworthy News,
here on
Supreme Master Television.
May all beings on Earth
be healthy, happy and
filled with inner peace.