u/NappingForever

Anyone have any experience or suggestions on how to get a puppy to walk nicely alongside a wheelchair?

My almost 6 month chihuahua walks beautifully on his lead when I am on foot. However I have very limited mobility and need to use a wheelchair in order to walk him both both far/long enough and frequently enough to meet his needs.

At the moment he will walk nicely if I am in my chair but have someone walking with me on foot and they hold the lead. However when I am alone in my chair, he either climbs up my legs to sit on my lap, runs around the chair getting tangled, or gets dangerously close to the wheels.

The chair is electric so I only need one hand to operate it and can hold his lead in the other. I have also tried attaching the lead round my waist and directly on the chair. He acts the same with every method.

Any tips or tricks would be appreciated.

My 5 month old male chihuahua, Fig, has awful separation anxiety with me specifically. I live in a house with two other adults, and all of us work from home / are housebound due to disabilities. This means Fig will almost never be alone as someone is always at home. I am at home the most, but do leave for medical appointments on occasion.

The problem we are facing is that Fig can't cope when I leave the house. In fact he struggles even when I leave the room, despite being left with my brother and/or mother who he otherwise loves to spend time with. He will even sleep on them usually as long as I am in the room, so he definitely feels safe and comfortable with them day to day.

However, if I am out of the room, he will cry endlessly until I return. This happens whether I am gone 2 minutes to the toilet, or an hour to an appointment.

We've tried giving him high value treats/chews as a distraction, tried foraging toys and food puzzles, tried him in his crate. He just won't settle. My mum and brother just end up holding him and walking around to soothe him, which I've said probably reinforces his behaviour but without an alternative they are going to be hard to persuade otherwise.

Fig sleeps in my bed usually overnight and settles on the sofa for naps in the day. I've been working on crate training him for a month now and he will happily be inside there with the door closed but only if I am in the room. We are mainly using the crate as a safe space that he chooses to sit, rest and play in rather than sleep in. He goes in it voluntarily and always takes his treats there to stash or eat.

I don't know if the same separation anxiety training applies if it isn't because a dog is actually being left alone, but rather because they are away from “their person” specifically. I know chihuahuas are companion dogs and often can be “velcro dogs”.

It is becoming quite tiresome because I am struggling to do simple household errands without it becoming a big show of emotions. I would love to be able to work on this as I am barely able to have baths/showers at the moment, and I am due two rounds of 6 hour infusions in the coming months which I dread to think how Fig will cope for (mum and brother will be with him).

Thanks in advance.