TITLE: A Selection Framework for Canine Mobility Devices: Matching Mechanical Support to Functional Deficit, Patient Tolerance, and Client Capacity
LAB RATING: Introductory
DATE/TIME: Thurs. Apr. 15th, 8:30am - 12:45pm (1/2 day lab)
CONTACT HOURS: 4.0 CE hours; RACE approval pending
MAX PARTICIPANTS: 20
 
DESCRIPTION: How many times have you heard these comments from your clients: "I can't get him into the car anymore." "She won't come upstairs at night." "He’s having accidents in his bed." "I can't lift him by myself." “She won’t walk across the kitchen to her water anymore.”
 
Each of these complaints points to a specific mechanical deficit and each one has an equipment answer, if you know how to match the device to the problem.
 
This hands-on lab builds a selection framework that begins where every case actually starts: with what the client sees the dog struggling to do. From that complaint, you learn to identify the functional deficit, classify it by the type of mechanical support it requires, and select equipment that addresses it, while accounting for the two variables that determine whether any device actually works once it leaves your clinic: whether the dog will tolerate it, and whether the human can manage it.
 
The lab is built around equipment. You will handle, fit, and troubleshoot devices across all seven categories of mechanical function, working through patient-selection and client-selection decisions on each one. In this lab you will:
select and fit traction support options
measure and fit harnesses across body types
fit and check braces and protective gear
measure, assemble and adjust a cart
select and apply incontinence equipment
 
You can apply these principles on Monday morning to the caseload already coming through your door. You will leave with a ready-to-use equipment selection decision guide, a fitting and skin-check protocol, and a client-facing home management handout you can put into use immediately.
 
Learning Objectives:
Translate a client's presenting complaint into a specific functional deficit in the patient.
Classify canine mobility equipment across seven mechanical functions and match each to the activity of daily living it restores.
Apply four selection criteria and recognize when a mechanically correct choice should be rejected on one of the other three.
Measure, fit, and safety-check devices within each functional category, perform a skin check, and identify a device that is causing harm.