Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Hey! WALK the dog!

Over the recent posts, Ive been mentioning a few pretty abhorring products made in Japan (cockroach porn anyone?) but there is one horrible product that I have been seeing with increasing frequency that I find annoying, offensive and counter-productive, quite frankly, the worst of what Japan has to offer; the "Dog-Carriage"...

The dog-carriage is, as the name implies, a carriage for dogs, similar in form and function to the baby carriage. But where the baby carriage is made to transport infants and small children who are way too small and young to be fully mobile on their own, the dog carriage is designed to transport fully grown dogs of the smaller sizes. However, not only are these dogs completely mobile on their own, they also benefit from the exercise that running and walking around gives them and does not particularly want to be rolled around in a carriage when they can walk on their own little legs.

It has happened that I have met one of these dog carriages on smaller streets and mistaking it for a baby carriage; I get in a benevolent state of mind and try to make it convenient for the carriage to pass... Then I notice that there's no baby inside, usually there are a few happy dogs there who are basically climbing the sides, eager to get out and walk but being pushed around instead for some odd reason.

It’s a completely unnecessary product without any practical need whatsoever and if anything, it is counter-productive against the little pests... I have not seen this in any other country than Japan but feel a bit confused; is this type of products ever used outside Japan?!

11 comments:

Horses said...

Yeah, I noticed a lot of those when I was in Tokyo in November. We even saw one guy at the dog exercising area in Yoyogi Park who had a dog trailer on the back of his bike.

I've seen a few people in Australia with them, but no where near as many.

Mr. Bavaria said...

at least keeps the dog-shit away from the streets

Candy said...

This is commonly used in Hong Kong.

aimlesswanderer said...

Just as weird are the dog slings, which allows you to carry around the dog like a handbag. These types of things seem to be particularly prevalent in Asia.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, in my experience, while I haven't seen the 'dog-strollers' there, the 'dog-handbags' are relatively common in NYC. And just as stupidly useless.

Raygun said...

I saw one of these the other day, then walked around the corner and saw a child on a leash...hmmm...

Martin said...

Think again Raygun.

Having children on a leash is a good way stoping them from mischief. Preventing invasions of Poland and other bad behaviour.

Keeping dogs and expecially doggie doo from the streets seems like a prefectly good reason for theese dog strollers. I wish everyone used them over here in Sweden. Or perhaps dogslays during the winter.

Mr. Salaryman said...

Hmmmm... well,maybe these strollers really aren't a Japanese invention if they're seen in Asia... horrible horrible things in any case

Anonymous said...

This would be a laughing stock in my country (Israel). But if this is only popular in Asian countries... and they used to treat dogs as food in some of the Asian countries... maybe this began as a way to save your dog from being abducted from the street and eaten? And now turned to this?

Rydangel said...

oh yeah we have these in the states and i just laugh at thehilarity of it all. this is worse than dog purse carrier.. it amazes me how some people try and make babies out of their dogs. there out to be a law against this. let them dogs walk.

Foggia said...

Just my two cents, but I think this is to further enhance the experience of the dog as a replacement for a child.

(for people that can't have children, teenagers, single people, or people that just do not understand basic human urges like reproduction)

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