We have tried many dog strollers for our Tripawds over the years. The Burley Bark Ranger always comes out on top. But please don’t take our word for it. Just ask Tripawd Jack! His human @Debbie generously offered to share his experience with the Burley to help spread the word that The Bark Ranger is definitely the best stroller for Tripawd dogs!
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Tell us about Jack: why did he join our club?
Jack is probably around 10 years old. We have only had him since August 2022. In late December 2024 Jack became a little gimpy. This lead to five long months of vet visits and incorrect diagnoses while Jack got progressively worse.
Finally, in early May we took him to University of Georgia where we got the real answer: bone cancer in his left scapula. Our choices were euthanasia or amputation.
We felt like he was agile enough and strong enough to get by on three legs. His amputation was on May 13.
What is Jack like? His favorite things to do? His favorite buddies? And if he could talk, what he would say about living life on three legs after surgery?
Jack is a super sweet dog who loves being with his people and running in the woods. Sniffing things is his favorite pastime. He especially enjoys sticking his nose up into the wind and just smelling away.
His best friend is Oreo, a black and white lab mix who plays rough and likes to order him around. He loves going to work with Debbie and Oreo (Debbie works at a horse farm).
Basically he loves going anywhere and he is welcome wherever he goes! He gets along with everyone he meets. In fact he is a therapy dog and with Tony and Debbie as his chauffeurs he has brought smiles and joy to lots of people.
Even though Jack LOOKS like a Labrador retriever, he does not fetch, has no interest in tennis balls and could not care less about food. He is deathly afraid of thunder and fireworks and tries to hide under Debbie’s pillow when we have storms at night. How he can breathe with his head stuffed under the pillow we will never know.
“I was feeling pretty bad for a long time before my surgery,” says Jack. “I was actually really happy to get rid of that nasty leg. It was doing me no good at all.
It did take me some time to figure things out, but now I can run and do most stuff I did before. And, most importantly, my nose still works great. Oh and I wasn’t ready to leave my people just yet. I only just got them three years ago and I still have lots I want to do with them.” — Jack
What kinds of things do you do together, both before surgery, and now after?
We are a fairly active group. We love walking and day hikes. Our favorite hikes are in the Blue Ridge Mountains of VA, but we have found some nice places closer to home as well (we live in GA). We enjoy exploring new trails and seeing new sights.
Since Jack’s surgery we have had to find new “trails” that we can take the Burley on. This means our favorite trails are out, but we have found new places that are both beautiful and stroller friendly. This has been one of the hardest adjustments for us.
Why a dog stroller, and why the Burley? What made you first want to give dog strollers a try?
We started looking at strollers back in March when Jack was incorrectly diagnosed with a medial shoulder injury and was put on strict exercise restrictions and required to wear hobbles.
We had a trip to KY planned for April and it was going to be three days of walking! But the strollers we saw were really too small for Jack and seemed very expensive for something that we would only be using temporarily.
First, we purchased a wagon, the foldup type you can get at most sporting goods stores or department stores.
It worked out pretty well for our KY trip and we also used it for a short time after his amputation. Jack liked that and it worked okay; he could walk some, then rest or sniff while we pulled him around. We used it at the 3-day horse show in KY, paved trails, and parks.
However, it had disadvantages
- it was hard to lift Jack in and out of it, especially after the amputation.
- It was tiring to pull for long distances
- and the fact that you had to pull it meant Jack was out of view. This proved to be a problem on occasion if Jack decided to jump out of the moving wagon; we would not see him form the intent and he would be out (and after amputation flat on his face) before we could stop him.
We decided that, since Jack would need to be toted around on a regular basis, we would look again into getting a stroller.
We saw the Burley dog stroller on the Tripawds website.
It looked like it might just work for a dog Jack’s size. We liked the idea of the stroller:
- pushing instead of pulling, which is much easier on the people
- the ability to see Jack at all times so we can stop him if we see he wants to jump out
- and the ease of loading Jack compared to the wagon.
The Burley had all of these advantages, along with:
- being low and very easy for Jack to load into it
- covers that can be folded back to allow Jack to see or zipped up to shield Jack from the sun
- the ease of disassembly to put it in the car
- and ease of assembly when we get to our destination
- and the large size to accommodate Jack
We had never tried a stroller or the Burley before, but it looked to be a much better option than the wagon or the other strollers we had seen.
What would Jack say about the Burley if he could talk our language? And how did he acclimate to it? Did he need a lot of training?
“The Burley is pretty cool. It’s a comfy ride and I get lots of extra attention when I’m riding in it, so that’s good – though Oreo gets jealous!
The bad thing is that I can’t just stop and sniff everything the way I do when I’m on foot, but the smells are still smellable. I can’t pee on stuff when I’m in the Burley, but Oreo is a really good marker (especially for a girl) so at least one of us is leaving a message.” — Jack
Jack took to riding in the stroller very easily.
He went right in as soon as we had it assembled. Getting out took a little practice. He is a very long dog, so turning around is a bit difficult. Sometimes he just backs out, like a horse getting off a trailer.
We worried at first about him trying to jump out the front, but he has not tried that so far.
What are your favorite things about the Bark Ranger? If you could change anything about it, what would that be?
The Burley has proven to have all the advantages that we saw on the Tripawds and Burley website.
When disassembled it fits into our car with no problem (though it does not leave room for much else!), and is very easy to fold out and install wheels when we get to the fun spot.
Jack walks right into it without any problem and lies down.
He can also stand up to look around and sniff, or sit and look about. When he lies down he has enough room to be comfortable and stretch his front leg out.
It is easy to push along the paved paths we have traveled.
So far we have used it at parks and trails that are paved or concrete. We have wheeled it on grass for short distances and it is still easy to push, but we have not tried it on some of the hilly grassy terrain we traveled at the horse show.
Likes include ease of dog loading, lots of room, ease of disassembly and assembly, very easy to push, and can keep Jack in view at all times.
Things to change – a taller handle. We bought the handle Burley offers, but Tony is 6’3” tall, and the short handle is just a bit low for perfect comfort.
It would be nice if Burley offered a taller handle, but this one does work well too. It is a minor issue, and barely worth mentioning.
What would you say to someone who is thinking about taking the plunge on a Burley (or any dog stroller)?
Make sure to buy the dog bed that’s made for it.
There is also a storage bag that might be good to keep all the parts together. (We just ordered that, so don’t know how good it is yet)
We believe the Burley is a good tool to use to try and balance keeping Jack’s remaining front leg healthy, while also still letting him be the inquisitive, active dog that he has always been.
Once he gets tired, we put him in the Burley. After he has rested some, we let him walk a little more.
We don’t keep Jack in the Burley for an entire trip. He does walk some, runs some, and does lots of sniffing when we get to the fun spot.
We use the Burley to move Jack when tired and to keep stress off of his joints, but we also remember that he is a dog that wants to explore and move like he did before. He just can’t go as long as he did before.
Any final words of wisdom as a new Tripawd parent?
Jack is physically different after amputation, and sadly cannot go on the long hikes he used to enjoy. However he is the same Jack, and still wants to go and do – our job is to keep him from overdoing while still living a full, enjoyable life.
Follow Jack’s Bark Ranger adventures in the Tripawds Support Circle