This gadget makes both the dog and the owner look totally ridicoulus.

I had a neighbour as a kid who did this exact thing, but he had made a contraption out of a pole, some wire in a loop at the end on which he put a plastic bag to shove under the dog's ass when sitting down. I have never seen such a paranoid dog before.

This gadget was invented by Tony Shalhoub's brother. Tony Shalhoub is the guy who plays Monk.

the thing looks like a golf club...