A dog cart made by the Birdsell Manufacturing co. These carts were made very much like the full size wagons the company made. They were popular from the 1870s to the 1920s. They were even sold through the Sears Roebuck catalog.
I recently had the opportunity to work on one of these dog or goat carts. Below are the running gear notice that one rear wheel is missing the spokes.
Here the spoke blanks are being planed in preparation for turning the taper.
The spokes were turned on the lathe and fitted to the hub with a round tenon.
Removing the steel tire from the wooden rim.
The wooden rim was just nailed to the spokes, on a full size version they would have been morticed.
Removing the nails from the rim. The rim is clamped over a dog hole in the bench so I can drive the nails out.
The rim is clamped to the spokes to mark the length.
The wheel and running gear repaired.
millcreek woodworking 
Great repair, and your shop looks like a cozy workspace. Could you use a dog cart these days without getting a fine for animal cruelty?
Tico, I suspect it depends on where you are.
We have a Newfoundland dog, she likes to pull a sleigh, and I did do some cart training at one time too, I haven’t taken the time to build a decent cart like this, but I am sure there would be no problem in getting her to pull such a cart.
Thanks for sharing
Thanks! We can now identify the wagon we acquired a while back. It’s the same as the photo at the top except ours has been repainted. It which came from Maine and has a set of sleigh runners which can be fitted in place of the wheels.
This is so cool, Tom. Do we get to see the finished cart?
The next post will be the finish.