Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Dog Mom Level: 500?

You might recall that last year, I rigged up a stroller to be a wheeled dog carrier and trained my little pupster to enjoy riding around in it. That was a great solution for conveying him around a public transit system, but since I haven't ridden Metro since March and don't plan on doing so in the foreseeable future, the stroller hasn't really seen much use. Well, he still loves to jump up and sit in it for no reason, though, so I guess that's an accomplishment I'll never undo!


This year, I decided to up my dog transport game and find a way to bring him with me when I ride my bike. My first idea was a trailer, like some parents use to carry their human children. I actually salvaged an abandoned bike trailer from the curb, but it was missing so many parts that I never got around to converting it for use with a dog. And that's just as well, because my second idea was a better one—I'd carry my dog in a backpack!

There are companies that make special backpacks specifically designed for dog transport. For a few months, I had one of them on my Amazon wishlist. But I could just not see my way to spending 50+ on something that might not even work. So I decided to test out the concept with a backpack I already had.

In a months-long process involving lots of treats and tennis-ball-chasing sessions, I trained Bilbo to love sitting on top of the backpack, then tolerate being inside the backpack, then tolerate being carried in the backpack, then carried on a bike in the backpack. 
 
Wearing a dog in a backpack on front
Training in progress!

It was a big accomplishment this summer when I was able to bike with him all the way to campus where I work, because that meant I'd henceforth be able to bring my dog to the office whenever I wanted! You know, whenever the office reopened, that is.

Well, the office reopened, and today was my first day back. Naturally, I took my dog, which means we, together, have survived a full day at the office and a round-trip bike ride using a dog backpack! I have been so successful with my trial backpack, that I decided it's not necessary to invest in a special dog backpack from Amazon. The regular-old secondhand backpack (with a few slight modifications to make it easier to get a dog into it and harder for a dog to fall out of it!) is quite sufficient.


In spite of it being a success in almost every way, I can't help but feel that my dog backpack is a little anticlimactic after creating the dog stroller (which was a much more impressive feat of craftsmanship at very least), so I decided to construct a comparison chart to lay the matter to rest, and maybe help other DIYers out there decide where to invest their energies when they feel the need for more dog mobility!

 

Dog Stroller

Dog Backpack

Allows you to bike with your dog


 ✔️

Allows you to take your dog on DC Metro

✔️ 


Takes up very little space

 

✔️ 

Protects your shoulders from carrying a squirming 20-pound burden on your back

 ✔️


Elicits reactions like "Aww," and "Hahaha" and "I love your dog!" from random passersby


✔️ 

Unequivocally qualifies you as a "Dog Mom"

✔️ 


Costs nothing in supplies (assuming you already have a backpack and a stroller and some basic sewing notions)


 ✔️

Is an impressive feat of craftsmanship

✔️ 


Allows you to feel like a dog trainer extraordinaire

✔️ 

✔️ 

 

Well, folks, looks like it's a tossup! The relative merits of the different methods of canine conveyance are highly situational, but one thing is clear: You're more of a "dog mom" when you're pushing your dog around in a stroller than when you are carrying him in a backpack! So if having that status is important for you, then by all means go for Dog Mom Level 1000 and make yourself a stroller. But if you're like me, and your present lifestyle is more suited to biking everywhere you go, then you might be happier with a backpack.

Bilbo and I clearly leveled down, but we're upwardly mobile and ready to work like dogs at the office! That is, once I can get him to stop barking his head off at every person who comes down the hallway. Next training project: Social Skills!

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