What about laying him on one side and then you & son lifting him into the car. 100 lbs is a lot. Can you get a 3rd person to help? Best wishes for good outcome

or Laying him on a big blanket and using blanket, not dog, to lift and insert in car

Oh, I should have clarified, it is 3 of us, all adults. Husband, myself, and son. Our guy is too stubborn to lie on his side unless he wants to, plus I am not sure how we'd be able to get a good grip. He was a rescue (wandered onto our property 12 years ago and we had never had a huge dog before) and the pitfalls of a very large dog never occurred to me until now. The vet would do a house call, but she does not have mobile x-ray equipment. And we don't have a fully equipped mobile vet here in the boondocks.

What if 1 person gently holds him down while other two lift? He's smart and will know something is up but maybe with a treat and some petting he may calm down enough to be transported

I've seen people with big, older dogs encourage the dog to put it's front legs up into the car, then lift the rear-end and in he goes. (You've probably tried that.)

If you have a higher place like a curb, you could back the SUV up to that and the ramp would not be so steep. Or put the end of the ramp up on something secure, then a small step up, and a ramp which isn't so steep. He's a lab, right? Lure him with a treat, a much loved treat.

Maybe if the ramp wasn't so steep and you and your son stood on each side of it, he would feel more secure.

Could you devise a couple of steps? Is your son coming with a car? Would your dog feel safer getting into a car?

Wish I could come help you. Don't worry, you'll get him in there somehow. Just don't hurt yourself lifting. Maybe you could loop a towel or something under his belly to lift, but still half that weight to lift is a lot.

Bossy, that's what we tried last time, did not work.

Socks, putting his front legs in the car first won't work because he can't hardly put any weight on his right rear leg. He also has arthritis so his left leg would not be able to hold him up. We do have a smaller car, but it's too small to transport him. He is 13 and really shows his age because he is such a big guy. Because of the rear leg problem, he is refusing the ramp and any car or any climbing, he even has a hard time with the slightly elevated area from the garage into the house. It's already a nightmare to get him into our walk-in shower for a bath. But no way around it, his leg has to be x-rayed. I guess there is no magical solution, we'll just have to lift him as carefully as we can.

Which leg is injured, and can he put any weight on it? As socks mentioned, try placing his front legs in the door opening and then lift the hindquarters. If he fights this I would make a harness that goes around his girth (behind front legs) and have one person inside the car keeping tension on the line leading from the harness. You may even have to run the line thru his collar if he tends to throw his head around. 2 people lift the front end while the 3rd person in the car gently keeps tension on the harness/collar. Once the front is in the car, then lift the hind quarters.

Another way is shown in this video. You could have one person on each side or both on the same side as shown in the video. The third person could control the dog's head. Tip: do this quietly and with confidence.....no talking to or consoling the dog which often makes a dog more nervous.

Edit: Just read your response above. I think you've definitely got to just pick him up. Be sure to ask the vet for some meds that can help with his arthritis.

Use a long towel, make it into a sling, put this under his belly and while one person guides him (o the. Front end) into the car, the other two, lift and swing him into the vehicle. Getting out, put the sling under his chest and reverse the process.

Annz, he is on meds, daily previcox. It's helping somewhat, but not 100%. So we need to add something else if his leg turns out to be something treatable. But as he had cancer a couple years ago and his leg is somewhat swollen, the vet thinks it might be something sinister, like lymphoma or bone cancer.

Thank you for the video, I am going to make everyone involved watch it. :) Maybe that is what the vet meant by "everyone needs to be on the same side".

Meyer, he can walk on 3 legs, so no sling needed to get him to the car. It's just the lifting him that is going to be difficult.

Per socks and then annztoo: "I've seen people with big, older dogs encourage the dog to put it's
front legs up into the car, then lift the rear-end and in he goes.
(You've probably tried that.)"

From a sit, put front legs in car... two people lift rear end and lift/push him into car. No need at any point for the dog to support himself on bad leg.

When we had a 125 lb German shepard,he injured his back leg. He had a very annoying habit of going completly limp when I tried to get him in the car. The only thing that worked was putting one of those stadium seat cushions(with the smooth,leather like fabric) on the backseat,lifting his front end,putting as much of him as i could heft on the cushion, then lifting his back end and sliding him in. I noticed he put all his weight on his good back leg,but at the time of the injury,he was still fairly young,so this might not help at all.The cushions made for easy sliding,since I have fabric seats in my corolla. Then, after the vet visit, a very nice vet tech picked him up and put him back in the car no problem. Do you have anything that would help him slide in and out easily?

I don't think it's a good idea to try to force him to do something he's not a willing participant of. With his size and girth you could actually end up injuring him in the process. I've never see a lab that wasn't food driven and they can usually be bribed to do whatever you want them to do with the right treat or reward. For our Lab, it's cooked chicken breast or meeting someone new. She refuses to walk on bare floors even at the vets until one of the staff can redirect her attention from the floors to playing with them. She hurt her foot jumping into the SUV and refused to jump in after that, regular treats didn't phase her, but cooked chicken breast got her attention.

If it were me, I'd put the ramp out that he's familiar with, put pieces of whatever you feel will redirect his attention on the ramp and bribe him up. It took a long time the first couple of times with our girl, but then it became a game, how much chicken could she get before she had to jump. And this way, he's also going to get a new comfort zone with the ramp too.

I hope you're successful getting him in and that he's going to be ok.

Saltidawg, he does not want to sit because his leg hurts, he sticks his leg way out to the side and then lies down. If we were to force him to sit somehow, it would be difficult to lift his rear without putting pressure on whatever is going on with his leg. We need to lift from a standing position and avoid the leg.

Amy, that would be a great idea if we had anything slippery and if the car was lower. I am really unhappy about having to do this because he is so achy and I don't want the lifting to hurt him. I really wish we had a mobile vet in this area!!

Lukiirish, he is still somewhat food driven, but has had a very decreased appetite over the past couple days, which is another reason he has to be seen. The ramp is fairly narrow and he already refused to use it when he was in much better shape than now, plus I don't feel it's safe. He could really hurt himself if he slipped and we would not be able to securely catch him. Thanks for your good wishes, I don't hold out much hope that he is coming back home with us tomorrow, but it sure would be wonderful if he did.

Will he lay down on something? Same German shepard...much sadder story. When I discovered my beloved Sebastian deceased on valentine's day, SO moved him by sliding him onto the seat liner that I had in my backseat. It had handles, and he and a friend each picked up a side and moved him quite easily. If he will lay down on a blanket,maybe one of you grab the two ends at his head, and the other two grab one end at each side at the bottom so that the blanket won't cause too much pressure on the hurt leg. Between the 3 of you it should work.

i feel your pain. i have had great danes in the past that were almost impossible to load up in my van when they got older. the solution i found that worked best is to use a wide piece of heavy duty (marine-grade) plywood. make the angle as low as you can so he doesn't have to walk up a steep ramp and cover the complete door opening width with the end of the plywood. i hope this makes sense, wish i had a picture i could post. the wider the ramp, the more likely the dog is to walk up it. a narrow ramp is scary for a big dog.

wishing you luck and hope you get better news that you are thinking.

eta: make sure somebody is standing at the head of the ramp so as to hold it from slipping.

Get a blanket and have dog lie down, then lift.

Thank you so very much for all the suggestions. We got him in the car by lifting his rear and sort of carefully sliding him up the ramp, and out of the car by lifting his bed and setting it on the ground at the vet clinic. It took four people each time though, good thing daughter in law came as well and they had plenty of helpful ladies once we got to the vet clinic. It turned out to be bone cancer and at his age and with arthritis, amputation was not really an option.

Petra, I'm very sorry. Just what you didn't want.

I came back to see how you were able to get him to the Vet and am sad to read your news. I'm so sorry. (((hugs)))

Thank you, Meyer and Socks. Meyer, I am so sorry about your loss. The house is so empty, even with 4 kitties. I keep expecting to see him in all the old familiar places, but I know he'll never be with us again and it's so darn hard.

Thank you Lukki, much appreciated.

oh, i'm so very sorry. :( i lost my dane boy to bone cancer, it'll be a year in july. such a horrible disease. big hugs to you!

Thank you, Nina. I am so sorry you had to go through this too, big hugs back to you. It was the right thing to do because it freed him from suffering, but it sure hurts a lot.

petra, I'm so sorry about your fur baby's diagnosis. It's so incredibly hard and leaves a hole in our hearts and homes everytime we lose them. Our most recent loss was our beardie last August and I still am shattered at times.

(((hugs)))

Mimi, thank you, and I am sorry about your beardie. Yes, they leave a huge hole. I woke up worrying we had overslept and I was going to get up to take him outside, and then it hit me again. This is just so hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u09OxTtRe1c