Virtue Magazine

This new model has a number of dog-friendly features. A special crate for dogs in the front glove compartment provides just enough room to very comfortably carry a small dog, while an adjustable air conditioning duct keeps the dog cool. This handy location allows owners to interact with their pets while driving. A bigger crate pops up from the floor in the back seat area and can be folded back into the floor when it is not needed. Even bigger dogs can simply be buckled up with a special seat belt to the floor. The W.O.W comes with removable, washable, rollout flooring, and if that is not enough, other features include four wide sliding doors and a twin rear gate for easy doggy entry.

Honda designer Katsuhito Nakamura stated that Honda created the vehicle from a dog’s point of view, the purpose of which was to meet the growing demand in Japan for cars that cater to dogs. Though Honda may have had Japanese households in mind when creating this new car design, the demand could possibly be even higher in America. While approximately one out of five Japanese households have a dog, this number is doubled in American households.

Cars are not the only product line changing in an odd way to accommodate dogs. Some of the other dog fads are puzzling as well: doggy day care, websites featuring lists and meanings of thousands of dog names (you’ve heard of babynames.com; how about doggynames.com?), movies for dogs, dog apparel, dog charities, dog furniture, dog jewelry, dog china, dog salons, dog cosmetics…

One “doggy day care” gave this reasoning for the necessity of day care for dogs, “The guiding principle behind dog day care is simple – provide a safe and healthy atmosphere with lots of interaction, both with other dogs and with people. Dogs can participate in group play, gnaw on a favorite toy, hang out with humans in the office, or just lounge on a couch and watch television. The point is that they’re not at home by themselves.” 1

Perhaps some dog-owners view their dogs as helpers or friends, but…children? Idols, even? One person went so far as to suggest a “dog religion,” in which there were commandments such as, “thou shalt not kill squirrels” or “thou shalt not steal socks and bury them in the yard.” Not too long ago, parents doted on their children. Now with fewer children to love, people are turning their attention to dogs.

1 http://www.canismajor.com/dog/daycare.html