Dressed Up Dogs

There is an internet forum for people with service dogs on which I post sometimes.  Recently, I read a post on there by someone who said she dresses her service dog in a dress, diaper, and shoes and pushes her around in a stroller.  At first I thought she was joking.  I mean, how ridiculous is that image?

But no, apparently she was not joking.  People started asking her why she dressed up her dog, why her dog wore a diaper, and how her dog could perform tasks that mitigate her disability while in a stroller.  She declined to answer most questions, but did say that her dog needed to wear shoes because sometimes the ground is hot and she didn’t want the dog to burn her feet.  Which might make sense, except if the dog is in a stroller, her feet aren’t on the hot ground.  There are actually boots designed for dogs, which protect their feet from hot pavement or from ice and snow, but I got the impression she was talking about baby shoes, not dog shoes.

The Department of Justice says that service dogs must be housebroken, so a service dog has no need of a diaper.  Therefore, if her dog needs a diaper, she is by definition not a service dog.  If she doesn’t need a diaper, why on earth put one on her?  I really wanted to know but she wouldn’t answer that question.

I also really wanted to know what tasks the dog could do from a stroller.  It seems like there would not be very many.  A number of people objected to putting a service dog in a dress and pushing her in a stroller because it looks “unprofessional,” and I agree it does look that way, but I’m more concerned with the ability of the dog to perform the tasks she’s been trained to perform.  If she’s been trained to perform any.  It seems that perhaps her owner doesn’t need her to perform any tasks, if she has her in a stroller from which she cannot perform tasks, in which case she has no legal right to take the dog into public places where pets are not permitted.

Even if we weren’t talking about a service dog, why would someone want to put a dress and a diaper on a dog and push it in a stroller?  If your dog wears diapers and dresses, please, enlighten me!