One of the hardest issues we’ve had with Sampson’s ACL injury and subsequent surgery has been getting him in and out of the car.  Before he fully tore his ACL we did purchase a set of steps to assist him in getting on the bed, but since he can’t be on the bed, I’ve tried using the stairs for the car.

For some reason Sampson does not care for the steps at all.  He uses them but he usually tries to skip one of the two steps, which has resulted with him falling a couple of times, and that really freaks me out.  I certainly don’t want him damaging the mechanism in his leg.

So I was super excited when I was contacted by the wonderful folks at Solvit.  My contact thought after reading my blog, that I might like to try a ramp for Sampson.  I talked it over with Hubby, and went back and forth with the rep and we finally decided on the Deluxe Telescoping Pet Ramp. She was even kind enough to send me a video on how to train Sampson to use the ramp.

At first when I looked at the ramp I got a little nervous, while the ramp extends from 39″ up to 72″, I couldn’t see how to lock the ramp in place, but that’s the beauty of the telescoping feature.  When you set the ramp up and extend it to your preferred length, the telescoping feature along with gravity, keeps the ramp from retracting.  There are two little feet on one end that sit on the ground/floor.  The ramp portion the pet walks on feels similar to sandpaper, so it provides traction and prevents slipping.  When not in use, there is a snap to keep the ramp from opening up, and it has a handle on one side to make for easy carrying.

We set the ramp on the floor and left it there for a couple of days.  Occasionally asking the dogs to walk across it.

Then the grandkids came over and I had to pick it up, because they kept trying to walk on it and it is not for people or children, only pets!

Sampson walked across it just fine when it was flat on the floor, but the first time I tried to use it, I had the ramp pitched too steeply and he wouldn’t even attempt it.  I discovered that you can adjust the pitch of the ramp by extending it a little bit longer.

My dogs have both taken agility classes and I was pretty sure we wouldn’t have much of a problem, but we wanted to make sure we did it correctly so we started out small.

We set the ramp up in the room Sampson and I are sleeping in.  Our mattress is no more than 6 inches off the floor.  The first couple of times Sampson walked OVER the ramp or off to the side, but with a few treats, he quickly learned to go up and down the ramp.

So we moved it into the living room to try it on the couch, which is considerably higher than the mattress.  He tried once again going over the ramp, but a little patience, coaxing and cookies and he was off.

I think he was super happy just to be up on his couch again.

After going on and off the couch a couple of times, we moved the ramp out to the car.

And then brought Sampson out.

Let’s see how he did with the ramp.  (The volume may be a tiny bit loud, fair warning.)

If the video does not play, click here.

As you can see, after an initial hesitation Sampson walked the ramp like it was his job.  It was so easy to train Sampson on the Solvit Telescoping Pet Ramp.  All told it took us no more than 20 minutes from the time we started using the slight incline of the mattress until he was walking in and out of the car.

I think a good part of that is the quality and sturdiness of the ramp as well as the non-slip surface.

When it’s just Sampson and I in the car, I slide the ramp on the floor of the front passenger seat, I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m fairly certain if I’m driving the ramp will fit between the front and back seats.  If Hubby’s driving, he likes to put the seat all the way back to give himself plenty of leg room, so the ramp won’t fit back there.  I think we will more than likely have to strap it onto the roof rack, but I think that would be the case with any ramp we used.

All told, I’m so very pleased with the Solvit Telescoping Pet Ramp, I no longer have to worry about Sampson slipping or trying to jump when getting in and out of the car.

Disclaimer:  I was given a Solvit Telescoping Pet Ramp in exchange for an honest review of a product.  I have received no other compensation for this review.  Heart Like a Dog only shares products and information we feel are relevant to our readers and would never share or endorse a product we wouldn’t use ourselves.