Moon Township dog gets custom wheelchair, car crane thanks to RMU

Ginger Stage and her 12-year-old German shepherd, Dakota, used to see their Moon Township canine and human neighbors regularly during their long daily strolls together.

When a few bulging disks caused Dakota’s back legs to begin giving out about a year ago, Stage started walking alone. It wasn’t the same.

Stage followed the same neighborhood route that she and Dakota usually traveled.

One day, a neighbor, Robert Morris University engineering professor Arif Sirinterlikci, entered his yard just as Stage was passing by. Though they had never spoken before, Sirinterlikci had seen her efforts to keep Dakota mobile despite the dog’s declining physical abilities.

He asked about the ailing pup.

That chance meeting came with an offer: Sirinterlikci would recruit Robert Morris University School of Engineering staff and students to design equipment to address Dakota’s challenges. On Friday, School of Engineering Department Head, Won Joo and lab engineer Gabe Cottrell installed a car-mounted crane and fitted Dakota with a custom wheelchair.

The crane lifted the dog in and out of Stage’s SUV. The wheelchair helped Dakota walk.

⁦@RMU⁩ students and engineers designed this car-mounted crane to support Dakota’s quality of life. ⁦@TribLIVE⁩ pic.twitter.com/QZ1CO9FWPm

— Abby Mackey (@AnthroAbbyRN) October 30, 2020

A group of students in Joo’s spring semester engineering design course first took on the challenge. Though covid-19 closures prevented that group from finishing the plans, Joo, Cottrell and a few students saw the project through starting in late summer.

The first idea was to support Dakota’s mobility with a canine wheelchair. Though similar products are available for purchase, the $400-500 price tag can be prohibitive. The group devised a model costing less than $100. A second thought was to help 74-year-old Stage lift Dakota in and out of her SUV with a crane.

There was only one problem with the crane: a similar model didn’t exist.

“Because there’s no previous product, we cannot use it as a reference. We made it from scratch,” said Joo. “Every car has a different size: trunk, height. We had to customize it to fit her car.”

Twelve-year-old German shepherd Dakota suffers from bulging disks. But, thanks to ⁦@RMU⁩ engineering students and staff, he has a new way to get around. ⁦@TribLIVE⁩ pic.twitter.com/pobscOv1Hh

— Abby Mackey (@AnthroAbbyRN) October 30, 2020

When Stage’s husband died in 2013, she didn’t want Dakota home alone during the day. She works as a psychologist. Dakota began making almost-daily car trips with Stage to her practice in Coraopolis. Though not a certified therapy dog, he fills the role for her clients.

“When he started, he just knew what to do,” said Stage. “He’d go into the reception room with me and take the people to their seats. Initially, if they were angry or their voices raised or they cried, he wasn’t happy about it. I got him to realize that’s what we do here.”

After a day of therapeutic duties, Dakota and Stage unwind by playing ball their own way. Though Dakota can’t fetch like he once did, he’ll return the ball to Stage with the nudge of his nose or a quick bat of a front paw.

Dakota may not take walks like he once did, but the neighborhood has found a way to include him nonetheless.

“Until it got cold, all summer, every night he wants to be in the front yard so he can see his people,” said Stage, who would saddle up next to him in a beach chair. “Now, they come see him. It’s the highlight of his day.”

Thanks to the chance meeting with Sirinterlikci and the efforts of the Robert Morris University School of Engineering, Dakota may get the chance to take a few shorter strolls through the neighborhood that has rallied around him.

It’s an outcome that thrills Jo0.

“When we saw the dog and the lady, we could clearly see the problem that they have and the chance for us to help.”