BY BEN YAKAS from Gothamist
As a dog owner who routinely brings his pup on the subway, I am a huge advocate for letting well-trained dogs share space with humans on our dysfunctional mass transit apparatus. But that's only because I know that dogs (excluding service animals, they get to do what they want) belong in one of three spaces on the train: in a bag, standing on the ground like a polite little person who is very good yes you are, or perched on their owner's lap (if the owner happens to be sitting). It is with a heavy heart that I must bring your attention to the dog in the photo above, who was spotted this morning breaking barking the social contract.
Gothamist's Jake Dobkin saw this well-dressed doggie on the C train around 9:50 a.m. on Monday. "I boarded at Hoyt-Schermerhorn and the dog was already seated," he said. "It spent the first few stops looking around, pointedly ignoring the standing humans who were doing that exasperated sigh thing that New Yorkers do when they're annoyed but feel like it's not worth dealing with the confrontation. At Canal Street the dog put its head down on the owner's lap, probably to avoid eye-contact with those they were inconveniencing."
And to think, if this dog's owner had just respected their fellow straphangers' space, we could all be sitting here oohing and ahhing over his pet's adorable little pants! Clearly, this pup is an important business person commuting to the big meeting! Sure, maybe the dog just wanted to make it easier for everyone to pet him, but dogs should never take up seats, especially during the rush hour commute—and even if it's a pretty empty car in the middle of the day, just think about how much gross NYC sidewalk detritus your dog has accumulated on its little paws that are so cute, yes they are, yes they are!
So in the future, when in doubt about whether your dog is subway-ready, just try using this subway hack:
