Pet strollers can get a lot of flack from casual observers. People can't seem to understand that little dogs have to work up to ten times as hard to keep up with you, since your legs are ten times longer than theirs. For little dogs, pet strollers are handy for those long walks around the park. Big dogs, however, can have energy and endurance to spare.

Pet Strollers Where the Pet Strolls You

Mark Shuette has come up with a pretty interesting idea. He's developed a series of vehicles, including dog powered scooters, dog powered skateboards and dog powered trikes, that can help expend some of that excess energy that work breeds inately have.

My parents owned an Australian Shepherd for a couple years when I was growing up, and he constantly was looking for things to do. He was hyper-intelligent, and our boring suburban home just didn't provide enough exercise or challenge for him. He used to try herding my toddler nieces. We ended up having to give him to some friends of ours on a ranch in the country, just so he could have more things to do. Dogs like that absolutely love using their power to accomplish things. Just ask Iditarod racers.

Gizmodo gives these dog powered vehicles a typically snarky response because of the apparent owner laziness involved. Personally, I think anything that gets you out with your dog, and helps your pooch do something fun, active and rewarding, is a great idea.

Of course, I note that in this picture, the cat is being the most lazy of all. Can you blame him?