The dog is not a horse, nor is he a camel or a donkey!
The dog is not built to be ridden.
The dog is not built to carry weight.
The dogs’ spine and bones are not designed to be used as a mean of transport!
The dog is not a horse… did I mention that?
There, there you have it!
Owning a large breed usually means a ton of questions, every day on every walk… Owning a Newfoundland will mean even more questions…
“No, he is not a black St. Bernard”
“No, he doesn’t eat kids, or cats or any other animals”
“No, he is not a bear”
and so on and so on… but the most common question by far is “Can you ride him?” At the beginning we were answering “Sure, but you need a special saddle”; it didn’t even cross my mind that someone might take it seriously until one day…
This one man wanted to know all about the special saddle, he thought it would be perfect for his fat and over grown Labrador. This was the moment when I realised that he is not joking and he really does want his 3 year old to be able to ride a dog! This started a whole new lecture as I wanted to make sure he understands that YOU CAN’T RIDE A DOG! NEVER, EVER!
It is very important to understand that dogs are not built in the same way as horses. Even giant breeds are NOT to be ridden. Their bones simply can’t take it.
It makes me cross when I see pictures of kids riding dogs floating on Facebook and most people thinks it is funny and cute. It really is not! Not only can your child can get hurt but most of all you can seriously hurt your dog – from broken spine, to joint and knee problems… dogs are not to be ridden!
* Big thank you to Jokers Masquerade for providing me with a Dog Rider costume.
Bark Time = everything and nothing 
me too! that’s NOT cute or a reason to scream AWWW! I always feel sorry for the dogs and I can’t believe that people say “thats funny”. The best about a Newfoundland I read at Mica’s blog: can they really run? asked them a girl at a store :o)
Very much so! And cats are not to be clowned around with. They are sensitive when it comes to dignity.
Couldn’t agree more. Very well said!
oh he looks cute, when i was small my mums friends came to visit us and she bought Newfoundland puppy for her son, he was so cute but i was extremely scared of him)
lol – this made me laugh! We had friends as children who had two ENORMOUS dogs and their mum was forever reiterating this!
Mummy and daddy joke about it all the time, how I could be like Ambrosius in Labyrinth, but luckily they aren’t serious.
Agree with you in every aspect! I don’t know why people think riding dogs is funny, no it’s NOT!
Do people really put their children on dogs!? He looks awesome x
I would never think to put a child on the back of a dog. Yours is very handsome
Your dog is gorgeous and I can’t believe that anyone seriously thinks they can ride a dog! Well done for making it clear why that’s not a good idea.
Your dog is lovely, how can people be so stupid *shakes head*?
This post made me giggle, although it highlights just how stupid some people can be… Very well said x
what? I’ve never heard of that, people are bizarre! x
Great post and yes dog’s can’t be ridden.
I wish common sense was more common! Great post 🙂
What a fabulous dog, he looks awesome – beautiful too! I grew up with labs and never once would we have considered riding one. Seems common sense but for some obviously it isn’t!
I couldn’t imagine thinking about riding a dog -although sadly the dog doesn’t have the same thoughts about me
Maybe the fact that his poor lab was over weight says it all really. I find the pics they put in the media, especially the newspapers totally wrong, even if they have been Photoshop-ed, it’s still wrong and they should be banded.