Furbaby Flyer

Well...first things first. Last night I wrote up and posted a brand new topic (very inane, which fits in quite well here at the Asylum!) with a bunch of pictures...and then this morning (at work) I was briefly on my page and just about to edit a few typo's I had found (seems 1 or 2 always slip in there somehow)...and magically the entire post was suddenly deleted, with no way that I've yet found to bring it back (stupid blogger)...so here it is again (to the best of my pathetic memory).

Surely you've all heard of the "RADIO FLYER" wagons we used to have as kids...in fact, you probably HAD one, or at least knew somebody who did. I believe it was a Federal law back in the 60's that all kids have access to a wagon. We used them to haul stuff around, and even to ride down hills in them like a go-cart (with their incredibly precise steering...NOT! It's amazing we're not all DEAD!) Anyway, they were useful for so many things as kids. And you know what? They're still useful now.

As you all know, our four-legged child Sydney isn't doing so well. When we left for Hawaii 3 weeks ago she had been on steroids for a few weeks, and had made some nice improvements...she wasn't falling down on every blade of grass or dust particle, and her head tremors were pretty much gone. Then we went to Hawaii for a week (well, Jeannie stayed 2 days longer with another couple, but I had to get home due to limited vacation time). When I got home late one night I found that Sydney could barely stand, let-alone walk, I was devastated. I had to carry her pretty much everywhere for the first 12 hours or so that I was back....I didn't tell Jeannie as I was afraid I might have to put her down before she got home and didn't want to worry her. But I also did not want her to see HER baby Sydney like that.

But then she started getting better...maybe just having her 'family' home. All I can think is that when we left she just laid around for 23.9 hours a day (instead of the 22.9 hours she lays around when we aren't on vacation). But just having us home again, making her get up every now and then and try to walk did her wonders. By the time Jeannie got home she was much improved (though still nowhere near where she was when we left for Hawaii). I think the secret is to keep her moving around as much as we can. So with this thought in mind, I figure I need to get her over to our little park a few times a week. All the babies LOVE the park...tons of new smells...they fan out and just smell and smell (and tinkle and poo)...but the park is about a block away and Sydney can't possibly walk that far...she'd take all day (and fall over a bunch of times in the process).

So I decided that I need a wagon for her...that way I can haul her to the park and then let her walk around.....and PG and Sweet Pea can walk on their leashes like normal (while I pull the wagon). I looked in Walmart and you know how much a RADIO FLYER wagon goes for these days? The plastic version (can you say chinsey!) was $80 at Walmart...and online the steel version like we had as kids was $100 plus shipping.

In case you don't remember what they look like, THIS should refresh your memory:

 I considered it, but realized that it's too high off the ground....I recall tipping over in ours many times....but I can't have Syd being dumped out of her wagon....she's got enough problems as it is. So I decided to build her a custom Flyer. I have a bunch of misc lumber...I picked up 4 wheels and the big bolts for axles at Home Depot, and the rest I mostly have lying around. A piece of 1/2" conduit for the handle, some 2x4"s for the wheels to mount to, and a hinge or something to attach the handle to the steerable front wheel assy. And various bolts and screws. Also a piece of wood for the bottom, and a long piece of paneling for the sides.

It took me over a week of my spare time on weekdays and at least one full weekend day, but I made my wagon! Then I had to name it..."RADIO FLYER" Is taken, besides, this should be something to do with the babies. So I named it the "FURBABY FLYER". Also I needed a logo...so I played around with fonts until I had one I liked, and made an 11x17 print of that...then I had to search the internet for a suitable icon for in-between the words (the real version has a kid in a wagon swooshing along...look close, you can see it). I finally found a cute little flying dog that I figured I could adapt for white and red, printed that out about 6 times (trying to get the right size to go between my words). THEN I had to cut out the letters making a spray-paint template, and also cut out the flying dog and insert that in the middle, all held together by scotch tape. After giving the wagon body the nifty red paint job inside and out, I sprayed the logo on both sides. I had to do a 2nd white-spray to add the swoosh-things from under the F and R (first and last letters)...then a clear-coat job and the body was done. Then I sprayed the wheel axles and the bolt heads (axles are black, bolt heads are red)...the wheels were already white with black tires thankfully. Put it all together finally, and then added a memory foam pad covered by a little blanket, to finish it off. THEN It was time to grab Syd and do a Fit-check.

 Here's Syd during the fit-check. I made the entire thing as low to the ground as I could (including the smaller wheels....the larger ones would look cooler, but put her up higher). It's also significantly wider than the original, also on purpose to make it more stable. I bent the side wall paneling with my steamer, and the top of the walls I used a long piece of refrigerator water tubing cut all the way down the middle, and then hot-melt glued it to the sides, along with throwing a bead of hot glue on every seam and joint. I think it turned out pretty good!

 To finish the fit-check I took her outside and wheeled her around our sidewalk and driveway. She tried to stand up more than a few times, so I quickly realized that I needed a restraint system. So I added 2 cords with little tiny carabiners that can clip to her harness and keep her from standing up. We are now park-ready I believe!

 With Jeannie as my official photographer, we worked our way to the park. This shot is just moments after I let Syd out of the wagon to start her wandering.

 After they'd run around for a while (or in Syd's case, mosey'd/stumbled), I was able to gather them for a group shot. This is one of the RARE shots of Sweet Pea....typically she's like a secret-agent, or a Federal Fugitive....or even a Witness Protection Agency customer...as soon as she even SMELLS the camera she's off like a shot. Can't tell you how many awesome shot's she's ruined in the last few nano-seconds before the shutter went off.

THIS is what a typical Sweet Pea shot looks like. See what I mean? This shot wasn't touched-up or altered in any way...she is just very good at NOT getting her picture taken! In this shot you can see the hair still growing back on her rear leg after her last bout with cancer...along with part of the large scar that went over 2/3rds of the way around her knee. So far so good...she's doing great, not a hit of the cancer coming back. We're keeping our fingers crossed on that one.

Here's a quality shot of HER ROYAL HIGHNESS, EMPRESS OF THE UNIVERSE, and QUEEN OF ALL SHE SURVEY'S: Miss PG. She has a pretty long toungue apparently. She's also the one who lost a leg to cancer 2 years back...but you'd never know it! She's a total MONSTER to her sisters...(she's still the Alpha btw). All losing the leg did is slow her down a bit from her VERY fast whippet-style run that she used to have. You'd never know she's coming up on 13 years old...(she's the only one we know for sure, as we got her as a puppy in Hawaii. Sweet Pea and Sydney came from the shelter).

And then it was time to head home (Syd can only do so much before she's just plain whipped). But it was  GREAT to get back to our park...they SO love it! You can see Princess PG out front saying "hey Daddy...what are you waiting for? Let's get going! note: going TO the park we walk them on the leash, as they have WAY too much energy and excitement...I have to restrain them until I can let them off at the park to run. But going home they are all pretty tired and stay fairly close, and they even mind pretty well when they're tired.

And AWAY we go....Syd is quite content to ride in the wagon at this point...with PG and Sweet Pea leading the way. On the way TO the park it makes her absolutely CRAZY to be behind PG, even in the wagon!

And here we are back in our driveway. Syd looks up at me and says (I swear I heard it):  

Thanks for the wagon Daddy, I LOVE it!

And one final shot I thought worthy of posting: This is Syd last weekend...she's stuck behind the feeding station (I custom made a three-baby feeder, and they each have their picture by their bowl...that's so when we have babysitters they don't feed them from the wrong bowl...that would be catastrophic! Anyway, I had to pick up the entire station so she could get out (it's filled with water-bottles btw to make it heavy enough so they don't move it around when they ATTACK their meals, and it also has a rubber bottom glued to it to help in that respect). Poor Syd...she no longer has a reverse gear, but that doesn't slow her down one bit from vacuuming the entire area for any stray food molecules. She is a QUITE the happy and loving furbaby! And we will certainly do all we can to make her feel loved, and we will hope and pray that she can stay with us for many more years.

Friday evening update: I tried a "solo" mission to the park...my first attempt to manage two on leashe's and Syd in the wagon. Jeannie took this shot just as I had harnessed up PG and Sweet Pea, and was ready to start pulling Syd.

  I think it worked out pretty good (gotta love that shot of Sweet Pea...you can see that she noticed the camera, but she has an evil 'grin' on her face...she can be quite fiesty when she wants to). Syd has already figured she's getting a free ride, and now mostly just sits there looking around...while Sweet Pea and PG think they are the bee's knees being out front (Syd seemed ok being behind the other two tonight...didn't expect that).

I did have to make some mods to the wagon after last unday's 1st attempt....I had to totally re-do the steering...the Mark I unit failed miserably (I used a gate-hinge to attach the handle to the front axle , turns out they aren't made for the lateral torque that was being applied by my handle)...but the Mark II upgrade seems quite robust. So after tonight's walk I declare the Furbaby Flyer is a success. I then took the entire 'front end' back off and made a few more mods that I've been thinking about...(I don't want the handle to be able to flop either into the front of the wagon or all the way to the ground, AND I needed a sturdier steering 'stop' to keep the wheels from hitting the side of the wagon when I'm turning, which is just like applying brakes to one side. Both mods are now complete, just waiting for the fresh black paint to dry to re-assemble, and it will be ready for another park-run on Sunday.