Baby Drag Onesie

This one sounds almost too simple to be worth mentioning, but it’s genuinely useful and I’ve recommended it more times than almost anything else. If your dog has partial rear paralysis and drags themselves across the floor — or even just scoots around between cart sessions — the skin on their belly, inner thighs, and perineum takes a beating. A cotton baby onesie covers exactly that area and takes the abrasion instead of the skin.

Any cotton baby onesie from a grocery store or Amazon will do the job. Cotton matters — it breathes, it washes easily, and it doesn’t irritate. Synthetic fabrics hold moisture and create friction of their own.

Sizing depends on your dog. Heidi is about 10 pounds, and an extra small fits her well. Use a baby sizing chart as a starting point and think about your dog’s chest circumference and length rather than weight, since dog bodies are shaped differently than human infants. You may need to try a couple of sizes.

The critical technique: you need to tie the back of the onesie up at the back of the shoulders. If you leave it loose, it will slip down and bunch up under the dog, which creates a new pressure point and defeats the purpose. A simple knot at the shoulder seams keeps it in place. Once you figure out the right tie-off, it takes about 30 seconds to put on.

For dogs with wheel carts, the onesie can be worn under the cart as an additional skin layer. For dogs doing crate rest who still scoot to reposition, it provides protection during the rest period. It’s not a substitute for keeping the dog clean and dry and repositioning regularly — but it’s a cheap, practical layer of protection on top of those basics.