First off- be sure you give yourself a break! When I am dealing with grief, even when I think I'm handling things just fine I’ll do something that surprises me.  While mourning a family member a few years ago I ran my truck out of gas...twice...in a month!  I rarely let my tank get below half.  I once had a truck that for 4 years the sending unit was broken which meant the gas gauge didn't work and I never ran out of gas.

I've been using a stroller on and off for over 11.5 years now with my last 4 dogs.  Lots of looks and smiles- which really bothered me when I first started carting Tripug Maggie around.  I found myself acting a bit defensive when people asked why I was using it- for some reason I felt like I had to describe the circumstances- like I needed to justify to a stranger why my dog was in a stroller.  I think it goes a bit to what you said Clare:

I have found that NOTHING pushes my buttons like someone insulting my dogs or my care of my dogs

And I think part of it was the judgment you get from some people when you have little dogs- as if all small dogs are yappy and delicate and need to be carried everywhere. Before I brought Maggie home one of my co-workers asked me (when they found out she was a pug) if I was going to carry her everywhere in ‘one of those bags’. I distinctly remember replying, “no she comes with feet which will be on the ground”. (Little did I know…)

Now that I have been using strollers for so long I don't really care about the looks, and I don’t feel obligated to explain. I’m always happy to discuss if someone asks a question- I’m proud about the care I give my dogs!  I’ve always been sarcastic though and with the lowering of inhibition age has brought if I get negative comments or responses I bring it!

The worst comment I remember getting was about Tani and nothing to do with the stroller, it was pre-stroller, pre-amp days of the Pug Girls. I was talking to a guy at the dog park about our dogs we got around to discussing how bright or dim they were. I told him Mag was pretty smart but Tani had a brain injury so wasn’t the brightest, at some point I mentioned that the injury caused epilepsy. Later we were leaving the dog park and a woman and small girl joined the guy. The girl started toward the pugs to pet them and the guy grabbed her arm and said ‘don’t get to close, on of them has epilepsy and there is no telling what it might do!’ I was so surprised I couldn’t think of anything to say. To this day I wonder if the poor girl is afraid of dogs or people who have epilepsy.

Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls

The one issue I have had recently with mine is repeated punctures.

I had the same problem when I switched from Maggie's chariot that had hard wheels to a jogger type stroller for Tani, in fact I popped two of three tubes on one walk.  In addition to the puncture resistant tubes I got I also installed a puncture resistant liner in the tires (also called tube protectors).  The combo works well and I've rarely have puncture issues anymore.

Karen