Why you should not use a cloth to support your dog at the back
I see it a lot, dogs that are paralyzed at the back, that have problems at the back to walk well are supported several times with a cloth, towel, scarf... to be able to walk (back).
There are three main reasons why you shouldn't do this:
1. The back is incorrectly supported
Because the scarf is held under the belly, the back will be supported in a false bend. This causes the back (and spinal cord) to be loaded incorrectly.
2. You push the guts in the abdomen
The soft belly does not give any counter pressure and because of this you push the soft parts in the belly together. The intestines such as intestines, bladder, stomach... are thus compressed. This not only causes pain but also excess pressure on the intestinal contents, bladder contents and sometimes stomach contents. This can cause digestive problems.
3. The front legs are overloaded
Because you only support the hind legs, you will put too much weight on the front legs. This ensures that the normal weight distribution of 60% on the front legs will increase. Due to this excessive load, problems can arise at the joints of the front legs.
In this photo you can see the disadvantages of the support with a cloth at Toetsie.
And here you see the big difference with the STA-op help:
The back stays nice and straight here. The support takes place under the hard bone structures, leaving the viscera free of pressure. The front legs are also supported, so that the front legs are not extra burdened.