Mobility equipment changes the geography of a home in ways a dog has to relearn. A wheelchair turns in a tight circle where she used to sprawl, a scooter reverses out of a hallway with limited visibility for its driver, and a walking frame moves at exactly the height of her head, with legs that can catch a paw that wanders too close.
Introduce the Equipment as Furniture First
Let her meet each piece of equipment standing still, unplugged or braked, in a room where she has space to approach or retreat. Reward calm curiosity — sniffing the wheels, then looking back at you — and pair the equipment's presence with treats on her mat so it predicts good things at a distance. Only once she is relaxed around it stationary should it move, and then slowly, in straight lines, in the largest space you have, with treats landing on her mat for staying put.
Give Her a Station Out of the Turning Circles
Watch where the equipment actually travels and turns — kitchen doorway, bathroom door, the space beside the bed — and make sure her bed is not in any of those arcs. Give her a mat or bed in each main room, positioned against a wall where she can watch the household without lying in a route, and train a solid settle on it until she takes herself there when things get busy. Doorways and the bottom of stairs need a house rule of their own: she does not sleep there, and a gentle, consistent routine of calling her to her mat whenever she tries teaches it without drama.
Rules for Moving, Parking and Charging
Agree how equipment moves through the house and keep it boring: slow in shared spaces, a spoken warning before reversing or turning where she might be behind, and no sudden starts when she is nearby. Park scooters and spare chairs in one fixed spot so she learns the map, and take care with charging cables, which trail at exactly paw and chewing height — route them along walls, cover them, and unplug and coil them once charging is done. If district nurses, carers or family visit regularly, they need the same briefing as the household: where the dog's stations are, that she must not be fed titbits from a chair, and that doors to the street stay shut during transfers.
Rethink Greetings, Leads and Play
Excitement is when paws meet wheels, so calm the flashpoints. She should greet the person, not chase the chair: keep greetings seated and settled, scatter a few treats on her mat when someone comes in on equipment, and save boisterous play for the garden or a room where no equipment is moving. Never attach her lead to a scooter or wheelchair unless the setup, the dog and the driver have been properly assessed together — a lunge after a squirrel can pull a lead across wheels or tip a light chair — and never let her walk between a frame's legs while it is in use.
Write the System Down for Everyone
Homes with mobility equipment usually have more helpers moving through them than most — partners, family, carers, cleaners — and the dog's safety depends on all of them doing the same things. A short note covering her stations, the parking spot, the cable rule and what to do if she gets underfoot prevents each kind helper inventing a different system. Keep that note on her KinsLe profile so Family Sharing puts the same instructions in front of everyone who helps in the house, and update it whenever the equipment or her favourite sleeping spot changes.