Traveling Man

The Woman has this belief that I should be able to go most anywhere with her. While she does not take me into the grocery store (unfortunately), she has and does take me to and inside many other places.

The Bank
The Post Office
The Liquor Store
All the Pet Supply Stores
Any Restaurant with a Patio
The Local Tavern
Her School/Classes
Visiting Collegues at Her Old Place of Work

To Name a few.

Belle and I often travel in the car with her. I am the Backseat Driver while Belle has assumed the position of co-pilot in the front seat. It is not uncommon for the two of us to wait patiently while she runs an errand. Almost every time we go somewhere, she takes a minute or two and lets us out of the car to sniff around where we are.

Belle and I make sure that we leave our mark somewhere so that everyone knows that The Shiba has blessed this point on Earth. Almost, but not quite as good, as Google Mapquest.

The interesting thing is how surprised people are as This Shiba moves around in This World. They claim I am well behaved. Well, I am until a squirrel comes by. Once, I attempted to bolt at a dog therapy session with My Ladies because a chipmunk happened to run across the yard. As we drag Belle now along with us to these various places, Belle follows my lead and is becoming more confident in a zen approach with the outside world. Don't get me wrong, though. We still tangle the leashes around The Woman sometimes, and periodically, Belle will announce her presence at an amazingly inconvenient moment. Being well-behaved is a matter of perspective. I suspect that The Woman would love it if the two of us when walking together would choose a side and stick to it, but where is the fun in that?

What I do know is that the Perspective of a Well-Behaved Dog is in the Eye of the Beholder. People think we are well-behaved so we appear to be well-behaved. The Woman expects us to be well-behaved but that doesn't stop Belle from coming into the kitchen to beg for a piece of deli meat when sandwiches are being made or me from pulling all her clothes off the shelf so I can roll on them. These are the qualities that make us unique.

Yesterday, we saw a friend and The Woman pulled over to the side of the road, rolled down the window, and the friend distributed pets to both of us. He then commented, "You know, this is really stupid what I am doing, reaching inside your car and petting your dogs." But, The Woman was happy to see the friend, I recognized his smell immediately, and Belle realized that the situation was a positive one, and felt confident as she accepted his attentions. But our friend was right. It is stupid to lean into a dog's car and pet them. But, The Woman gave the okay and I trust her enough to know that it must be.

It's not about being well-behaved. It is about learning to live with one another. It is about enjoying each other. It is about being the dog that The Woman wants me to be. And if she wants me to be the dog that rides around all day with her in the car while she does errands, then so be it.



I Am Shiba. The Car Needs To Be Cleaned, BTW.