Interzoo 2026: What if dogs could ride the subway like this?

Traveling to Interzoo 2026 to share our dog mobility solutions, we ran into this situation:

a big dog on the subway sitting on a seat

First of all, we love it. A city and its people being open to well-trained dogs on public transportation makes dog owners’ lives much easier, and it opens up a city for dogs to participate, rather than being left at home.

But, let’s play devil’s advocate too, since we’ve seen cities from around the world where dogs are not provided access to public transportation at all or are highly limited. Why are our canine buddies so often restricted to their urban apartments with so little freedom to roam in cities beyond their daily 1km walk? This is what we’ve seen:

• There are just too many people to serve. Look at Tokyo where most of our Canine Copilot users are. The subways are PACKED. People take priority to the point they have staff whose job it is to pack extra people into the subway cars during rush hour. Unfortunately, giving Fido a spot with such human density just can’t be a priority.
• Too many people are scared of dogs. Unfortunately, some places have people who have bad and scary interactions with dogs that have developed into extreme caution. In some countries we’ve seen pedestrians cross to the other side of the street when they see a big dog (on a leash) walking their way. This is hard to overcome with doing a better job training and integrating dogs into our society.
• Cleanliness + accountability isn’t standardized. In a lot of cities, “dogs on transit” becomes a question of: Who cleans? Who pays? What happens after the one bad incident? When the rules are vague (or enforcement is inconsistent), operators tend to choose the safest default: no dogs, or dogs only if they’re fully contained.
• Accessibility and allergy concerns are real. A shared, enclosed space has to work for people with allergies, trauma, mobility aids, and service animals. Without clear separation (or clear etiquette), operators worry they’re creating conflict between riders.
• It’s hard to distinguish “well-trained” from “well-intentioned.” Most dog owners mean well, but public transit has no time to assess temperament in real time. One reactive bark in a crowded car feels bigger than it is — but it’s enough to shape policy.

These challenges make it hard for many city governments and communities to make public transportation available for dogs. And even if it is made available, the experience for the dog is not an enjoyable one (muzzle rules, sealed enclosures, and now resting spaces).

So what’s the path forward?

For us at Brook & Breeze, we hope that our products make moving around the city with your dog enjoyable not just for you, but also for you dog. After seeing this dog in Nuremburg with its own seat on the subway, it was super inspiring. This (well-trained) dog could enjoy the subway ride just as much as a human, and that makes a big difference.

Now we know that it’s not possible in most places to achieve this, but what if the dog mobility we options aspired to the same level of respect, comfort, and enjoyment as that photo showed?

Rather than using dog mobility bags, cases, and seats as “restraints” and “barriers”, what if they helped to facilitate interaction with humans and create enjoyable experience for the dog?

When we started with Canine Copilot, our goal was not to carry a piece of dog-shaped luggage on our bicycles. Our goal was to allow our dogs to enjoy the bicycle ride with us. It’s not always 100% fun and games on a bike (you sweat, you get tired, you get anxious in traffic), but it is an experience that improves the overall quality of your life - and it should for your dog too.

We’re a long way away from designing subways, but everyday we’re designing new ways for your dog to enjoy mobility just as much as you do. Road trip? Enjoy the wind in your fur! Trip to a cafe for brunch? Have seat at the table. Flying between continents? Well, nobody really enjoys that… but it can be made better!