Open Letter

categories, My Life

Dear people conveying their dogs in strollers,

Stop it.

At first we thought you had a baby in there, as is often the case when people are pushing strollers through parks. But then, we noticed your baby was an extraordinarily active little thing. In fact, your baby seemed to be kicking and punching at the weird stroller enclosure, perhaps even throwing its tiny body against the mesh. My god! Do you need help?! What is wrong with your baby?

Oh. We see now. Your baby is, in fact, a Labrador Retriever. That’s rather disquieting. Perhaps it’s one of those dogs with some sort of unfortunate injury? The kind of sweet little dog that needs wheels on its hindquarters to walk? Well, that’s understandable then, I mean…

But wait. Your dog just jumped out of the stroller and began bounding around the park. He’s rather fat, but otherwise perfectly able bodied. So what the hell, nutter?

Are you unable to control your dog on the city streets with a mere leash, though you’re now allowing that same dog to gad about amongst small children? You’re aware that the phrase “he’s my baby,” when applied to animals, is meant as a joke? Or do you also plan to breast-feed?

In conclusion, let your dog run. That’s what dogs do. If you want to put something in a stroller, get an iguana.

Sincerely,
Margaret Mason

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64 thoughts on “Open Letter”

  1. I know a few people that use these strollers for their dogs that have difficulties walking. Two of the dogs are senior in age, and the other dog is paralyzed in the back two legs. Since these dogs experience pain and difficulties when trying to walk, these strollers help the owners to give their canine friends a breath of fresh air every now and then. 🙂

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  2. This is crazy. I live in Australia and normally such things are never seen. We have animal lovers here but we’re mostly based in reality. Anyone seen pushing a dog in a stroller would be quietly (so the offender could not be heard) ridiculed. But lo and behold, just two days ago I saw a woman seated at an outdoor cafe with two dogs in the same stroller you’ve linked to. I was on my own, driving past in the car so I had a great conversation with myself about how much the other diners at that cafe were thinking the same thing as me – Crazy woman! In Australia we mostly despise people like Paris Hilton but I’m betting the woman with the stroller was not a natural Australian. She would never go out in public like that if she was.

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  3. Pingback: Modern Dog Blog » So glad!!

  4. I appreciate the blog and the discussion, but you have missed part of the point regarding strollers/carriers and dogs. I have a 50 lb sheepdog who has also worked as a therapy dog in hospitals for years. She now has arthritis and hip dysplasia and can no longer comfortably make the 7 mile weekend jaunt that she loves along Richardson Bay in SF area. So now she does the first mile, I load her in the “stroller” (which looks like those carriers people tow their kids in behind their bikes) and we do the next 3 that way, and then she walks for another mile, etc. Seems like a good solution to me. We both get the fresh air and exercise. So when you see a stroller scenario, it isn’t necessarily about people dressing up their dogs.

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  5. Bwah! Okay, I admit, my cats are my fur children. They are spoiled brats. But dog strollers? I think we pretty much all agree that for *able bodied* dogs and cats, these are silly silly things. (Yes, I understand the exceptions for older or infirm pets who still want to go out. My mom’s golden retriever was one of these.) So I’m not really seeing the judgmental here, except where judgmental is defined as “not agreeing 100% with me”.
    I have to admit to using our more docile cat to test out the baby carrier I just got (for the actual human baby I am having). But I promise not to take him out in public that way!

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  6. This is why it’s rare for me to travel north of where I live (I’m on the peninsula)–it’s hard for me to handle seeing stuff like this. Now, I’m sure those strollers were invented for a proper reason, and that’s fine, but when you have people who use them frivolously, well, then I just don’t get it.

    I should probably point out that I realize I may be repeating someone else’s sentiments–sorry about that! I don’t actually read the commentary on this blog. I made that mistake some time ago, and it just made me angry at those quick to snap.

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  8. Unless the dog has three legs, bad arthritis, or some other health reason, the dog should be walking. And though my Irish Wolfhound has 3 legs due to cancer, I don’t push him in a stroller because damn, pushing 175 pounds would suck, I would feel like a weirdo, and he gets around just fine. I guess I’m a bad “dog mother.”

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  9. seriously hilarious…and yet sad. but, i proudly call my dog my baby and forever will. i don’t have a baby of my own. so there. 😛

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