I confess that sometimes I judge people.
For example, when someone says they paid $3,000 for their purebred puppy, I imagine a well-to-do couple with an enormous house, 2.4 children enrolled in private school, and enough disposable income to hire a certain in-home dog trainer.
Or believing that the house with the washing machine on the front lawn might not be too orderly inside.
So I am guilty of similarly creative thinking when I see a person pushing a stroller with a dog – not a child – in it.
I immediately jump to the conclusion that this is evidence of an empty-nester, a parent missing her grown kids and so she (or he) anoints the hapless dog as the designated baby of the family.
Or possibly its an owner convinced that the ground is a hotbed of toxic germs that could seriously harm precious paws.
The reality is actually much more reasonable, understandable, compassionate, and humane.
In weather extremes (hot or cold or stormy), a dog can accompany its human companion in a stroller, even in places where dogs would be forbidden otherwise, like shopping malls.
Elderly dogs that can no longer walk, or can only walk for short distances, benefit from being outdoors, albeit in a stroller.
Dogs that are recovering from surgery and must be kept relatively inactive can get their outside time safely in a stroller.
Physically disabled dogs – unable to walk due to accident, injury, or disease – can enjoy the outdoors from the vantage point of a stroller. For example, intervertebral disk disease is common in Dachshunds and can cause rear limb paralysis. Degenerative myelopathy is often found in Kerry Blue Terriers and Pembroke Welsh Corgis. Great Danes and Dobermans are susceptible to spondololithesis, another disease affecting mobility.
So if you see someone walking a stroller with a dog in it, don’t judge. Consider what you would do if it was your elderly, recovering, or disabled dog.
And just in case you need it, here’s a web site comparing dog strollers:
