NOW THAT’S A DOGGY BAG!
Meet the pampered pooches whose paws barely touch the ground!
OUT running errands with her new sausage dog puppy this week, Sadie Frost certainly got a chance to stretch her legs. But the same couldn’t be said of pooch Cherry. For the tiny dog was instead carried around in a special grey sling worn across Sadie’s body — meaning Cherry never had to set a paw on the ground. And she’s not alone. For the trend for carting your pampered pooch around has soared, with a whole new market of dog carriers that take the walk out of walkies. Originally inspired by the likes of socialite Paris Hilton toting their over-indulged dogs around in their designer handbags, these days it’s as easy to buy a papoose or a pram specially engineered for your fur baby as it is your child — not to mention almost as costly. Here, four dog lovers tell
JILL FOSTER why their walks are a real carry on...
PEOPLE STARE AS IF TO SAY: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?
Product manager Alicia Barber, 29, lives in Harrogate with fiance, Alex, 28, a sales manager, and their dogs Millie, a two-yearold springer spaniel, and ted, a cocker spaniel, who is 11 weeks old. Alicia says:
When Millie was a puppy she was very poorly and couldn’t have her injections until she was 16 weeks old. But the vet said we needed to get her outdoors and socialise her so she could get used to people and traffic noise. They suggested we bought a safe and comfortable dog carrier for her. She absolutely loved the attention. The reaction you get from other people is mixed though. Some people look at you as if to say: ‘What are you doing?’ But other people — mostly other dog owners — think it’s really cute.
Ours are both quite big dogs — not handbag sized — so when Millie was old enough, we stopped using it. But we’ve bought the same carrier for Ted (left), who is yet to have all his vaccinations, so needs to be kept away from anything he might catch diseases from.
he’s really loved being carried around, too. he certainly seems happy to be exploring the big wide world around him and it’s better than sitting at home waiting for us!
But he’s starting to get a little bit big for it and I think he’s quite jealous of Millie being on the ground so I’m not sure how much longer we’ll use it for.
not to mention that carrying an extra 3kg of puppy round gets a little bit heavy!
OUR SPOILT PUPS HAVE MORE CLOTHES THAN ME!
ELLIE WHITE, 42, works in recruitment. She lives with husband dean, 40, and their four cavalier King charles Spaniels tilly, Marnie, Maddie, all seven, and five-month-old Margot in Streatham, South london. Ellie says:
Our spoilt dogs have a wardrobe with more clothes than I own! There are jumpers, accessories, fancy dress and, of course, bags. We joke that they’re the ‘Cavdashians’ because they get to show off all their purchases on Instagram.
We bought our first Teddy Maximus James carrier, which cost £135 and is carried over the shoulder like a handbag, two years ago for Maddie because she is an ex-puppy farm dog and was quite nervous. She hadn’t had a great start in life, and has a heart condition, too, so we wanted her to feel safe and secure when she’s out. At first she wasn’t too sure but now if I even say the word ‘bag’ she leaps in and is ready to go. It’s so much easier to carry a dog around London in a bag. You can jump on and off the bus, Tube and escalators, and it’s far less stressful for you both.
Last year, we got an even fancier Queen Bee Pink bag for £279, which Maddie absolutely adores.
We’re members of a group called The Cavaliers Of London. unsurprisingly, our pooches won an award at one party for being the most pampered dogs!
When we got Margot, we invested in the £169 black Adventurer shoulder bag, because it’s more practical, although Marnie is the one who usually jumps into that first, leaving Margot to get in whichever bag is left over!
MY FUR BABY CAN COME EVERYWHERE WITH ME
Kate taylor, 42, runs a dog directory, Dotty4Paws. She lives in Wiltshire with her husband rob, 36, an electrician, and their dogs Gertie, a 21-week-old Jack russell Cross, and Poppy, a 13-year-old Parson Jack russell Collie cross. Kate says:
I’VE lost count of the number of people who come up to me in the supermarket and say: ‘Is that a special rucksack just for dogs? I didn’t know you could get those!’
But it’s been absolutely brilliant for Gertie, our youngest dog (left), because it means she can come absolutely anywhere with us, whether it’s out for walks with our older dog Poppy or even nipping to the shops.
Rob and I can’t have children so I think of my dogs as our ‘fur babies’ — and like any child I want to be able to take them everywhere with me!
The bag has little mesh bits so she can snuggle down but peer outside to see what’s going on. I can even attach her lead to a hook inside so if she wants to poke her head out she can but she can’t jump out.
I bought it from Petfit on Amazon for about £40 when she was little and was waiting for her jabs.
We still wanted her to socialise and be with us, and besides, I couldn’t have left her in her crate when we were taking Poppy out for a walk or she would have cried!
The bag has a plywood bottom so it’s solid if she wants to snuggle down and sleep. And thankfully it’s washable too because, although I’m careful, there have been a couple of occasions where she’s had a wee in there!
She weighed just under 2kg when we first got it so you could hardly tell she was in there. But now she’s getting bigger and heavier, so I don’t think we will be using it for much longer.
But as Poppy is getting older, I may have to consider a stroller of some sort instead! I’m not worried at all about putting on weight due to lack of exercise — if anything, after lockdown we’re making up for lost time!
THEY’RE TEENY, SO CAN’T WALK FAR
Belle BoonroonG, 35, is a senior underwriting consultant. She lives in Central london with husband Chris, 36, who works in finance, and their three Pomeranian dogs Cedric, five, Kobe, four, and Bilbo, ten months. Belle says:
POMERANIANS are cute but so small — our new puppy weighed just 900g when we got him — so they can’t walk very far. Luckily they all love being carried and I love it, too, although they can be very heavy if I’m carrying more than one! They’re my little babies.
Kobe is a bit of a mama’s boy and always wants to be as close to me as possible. He has a special bag called a Snuggit Sac, which goes across my body like a baby sling, and cost £80. Every time he sees me pick it up, he barks as if to say: ‘Hey don’t forget me!’
He doesn’t like sitting on the floor, so when we would go into a restaurant or bar he snuggles into the sling.
Cedric is a total diva and loves sitting in his Teddy Max bags, which are luxurious because of their lovely fleecy lining and cost £200. He has joint issues so it’s difficult for him to walk long distances, and when we go hiking we carry him in a special harness so he doesn’t miss out.
It cost just £17 and the reaction from everyone who sees him go by with his little paws hanging out is great. He likes the attention and being able to see what’s going on around him.
I don’t worry that our dogs will end up fat or unfit because I exercise them enough for their size.
Once, when I flew with Kobe to the U.S., a customs official looked at him in his sling and said: ‘Is that a real dog? He looks like a teddy bear!’