A dog cart is a small cart that is pulled by a dog or a team of dogs. From images it is known that the dog ^{in the Netherlands already in the 17th century a certain type of carts fortttt.} In the^19th and early 20th centuries, dogs are often used as draft animals. In the street scene you saw the fully loaded dog cart pass by. The baker transported flour, the greengrocer, butcher, fishmonger and egg trader transported their merchandise to the market in this way. The dog was a draught animal for poor merchants and craftsmen. A horse was of course many times stronger, but priceless.

Dogs were also used to pull plows and even barge. The animal was cheap and did not make high demands on food, shelter or care. After all, the dog eats what the pot buys, food scraps, bread, vegetables and offal. To put the dog in front of the cart, one needed a harness (or “witness”). The harness material consisted mainly of belts, which were fastened together in a certain way. It is known that certain dogs wore a so-called dog hat for the dog cart. This is a kind of yoke around the neck of the animal. It can be compared to the hams that are used with horses and are so strenuous in front of the beautifully decorated carriages and wagons.

Several dog breeds were favorites as draft animals, Bouviers, Great Danes, German Shepherds and Groenendalers. Those who had no money took a mongrel dog.

In the Netherlands, the use of a dog as a pulling force has been prohibited since 1963. There is an exemption option for the sled dog sport. In Denmark, working with the dog cart was not allowed. Also in Paris and England it was ^{already forbidden in the 19th century to use the dog as a draft dog.}

Museum piece: ca 1925 – painted green with brown.

Theo Smits, Marian Claassen