Wagon wheels

 

 As Charly’s mobility decreases, my concern increases.  I worry that she is not physically able to experience enough smells.  I worry that she wants to go further and know what has recently happened through odors deposited by other canines, but she cannot.  My worries led me to purchase a dog wagon.  For a dog her size, particularly because she lays more as a rectangular shape than an oval these days, the dog wagon had to be spacious.  The wagon also had to have wheels to go over bumpy surfaces with sufficient shock absorbers. So, it turned out to be larger than expected.

Also unexpectedly, was Charly’s reaction.  I had pictured her eagerly entering the wagon to eat the favourite-cookie-bait inside.  I pictured her laying regally on one of her favourite blankets, sniffing through the mesh front window or even with the mesh rolled up – the air wafting her face.  I pictured her not wanting to leave the wagon.  None of this happened.

 

The inaugural journey in the wagon required me to lift her inside.  The mesh stayed down.  She vocalized.  She moved around.  Eventually she howled.  I was sweating profusely from pushing my 55-plus pound dog up inclines and hills…out of breath, calves burning.  We went home.  The second journey was similar, but with no howling.  There have been very few subsequent journeys.  The dog wagon is on the blocks…at least for now.