I waved them off, loaded the car up with dogs and went off to do jobs.
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| William and Constance aka Richard Madley and Judy Finnigan |
I am strict with our four, and wont have any silly bouncing around the back of the car on any journey, so -from when they were puppies, they were always taken out daily, to get them used to the expected etiquette of "sit and be quiet" .
Constance being three and a half when she arrived had no such training, and it was a particular joy watching her first reaction to the simple experience of sitting in the back seat of a citroen berlingo.
Constance was neither frightened or excited at first. She was a little non plussed at being lifted up into the car ( at 25 kilos its not an easy job) but after she watched the relaxed reaction of the other dogs, she soon settled down, that was until we actually drove off....
Even today, every time we leave the drive, her little piggy eyes open just that little wider than normal with silent excitement and in her chosen position between the driver and passenger seat, she will watch the world with the look of a slightly shopworn Robert Mitchum. but a Mitchum with a bit of a fire in her eyes.
Every pedestrian will be scrutinised carefully every shop will be noted, and she, like William ,absolutely adores a supermarket car park as if they were visiting a place of 1000 pleasures! They are places where literally hundreds of people can be watched with the precision and diligence of a FBI surveillance team on duty and all from the comfort of a comfortable back seat!.
Dogs are so easily pleased.........that is the joy of them as pets
and I never fail to smile when all four line up patiently, noses against the car doors, waiting to go out on a five minute journey that you and I would think nothing about at all
we could learn a great deal about being happy with our lot from dogs
simple pleasures, enough said.
ReplyDeleteI love to see dogs with their heads out of a car window; lips flapping as they eat the fast air. I'm just waiting for our Monty to realise the pleasure.
ReplyDeleteYou're right about dogs. The pleasure they take in simple things is always a joy to see. Unless of course, it's diving head first into a pile of fox poo !!
ReplyDeleteHow true John! Our little dogs LOVE to go for a ride and especially when we drive the approx 1900 miles ONE WAY to my family in Canada. They had a special place to sit in the truck so they could see everything and were always good. I miss those days and now we tend to fly up so the dogs go to stay with their 'cousins' ;) Hope your day is a good one.
ReplyDeleteMaura :)
What an amusing post. So William and Constance like people watching from the car.
ReplyDeleteMy two like dog spotting and go berserk when they spot one! Not good whilst driving.
My old Gracie HATED the car as she grew old. She would shake so hard, her elbows would rub against the carpet and bleed. We tried everything from feeding her in the car to drugs, to eventually creating a bed with an air mattress, foam and soft blankets and liquid band aid on her elbows. It was extremely stressful for us too seeing her like that, but the dear old thing had anxiety away from us so we were always in a quandry as to whether to take her.
ReplyDeleteI am glad Constance enjoys her excursions. We should all take a lessson from the pets and enjoy the journey more and sniff that fresh air.
John - a delightful post from a pure dog lover. I do agree with all you say. Whenever I take Tess oout (and it has applied to all the dogs I have ever had) the minute I get out of the drivers seat she gets in and assumes the position of responsibility. Your four are so lucky, to have an owner who thinks like a dog - all the best dog owners are like that.
ReplyDeleteThey do love to go for a drove! Kota has gotten so old he can no longer jump into the truck himself. So he will sit down wait for honeyman to get the door open then he immediately stands back up walk over to open area as if he were going to jump up lol... then braces himself (okay ready Dad pick me up) honeyman then lifts him into the truck. I swear every time Kota looks back at DH with a thanks for the help! Lets Roll!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous post. Love the photo!
ReplyDeleteThe thought of Constance widening her eyes just a little bit in excitement made me laugh!
ReplyDeleteMy 4 dogs also enjoy going along on the errands via car, especially our standard poodle Halle. She eagerly jumps in the back seat and regally surveys her domain behind the tinted windows.
ReplyDeleteI took a big Sunday afternoon nap and was too lazy to walk them afterward so we drove to get a milkshake & dog biscuits. Happy all around!
What a lovely post which has brought such a smile to my face.
ReplyDelete(if I were a dog I'd be wagging my tail).
That just sounds a bit wrong really...:)
A fabulous post indeed. We must learn again to enjoy those simple moments of life. The survival of the human race depends on this!
ReplyDeleteHugs
Jon
Oh fabulous.
ReplyDeleteAt our last house, we had a drive which went up the side to the garage. SOmetimes when we moved the car from front to back, we would take Roobarb for a "ride" and she would jump out at the other end, all pleased with herself, like she'd been somewhere special LOL
Love your dogs. Ours love to ride in the car and are very comfortable while I am doing errands.
ReplyDeleteYou are so lucky! Jill poops within the first half mile - trying to perfect a diaper for her.
ReplyDeleteSimple pleasures. Live in the moment. Enjoy life to the fullest. I'm still working on some of those.
ReplyDelete*I'm catching up on posts. Not an uninteresting one in the bunch. And I would love to have a copy of the Jesus/Mary art -- may I copy?
of course x
ReplyDeleteVery true, John. Very true. :)
ReplyDeleteMom and Dads little dachsie used to love going for a car ride, especially when they ended up at the soft serve ice cream place.
ReplyDeleteYour a good parent... having them learn car manners early! Traveling with dogs always made my trips more enjoyable too.
ReplyDeleteI wish my two were as well-behaved.
ReplyDeleteDriving home from the beach they are as good as gold, but on the 5 minute outward journey....we usually end up *wearing* them....like matching Davy Crockett hats....
alice
lol alice
ReplyDeleteyou could see the other two
mad as a box of frogs!
That's sweet...
ReplyDeleteThey are so well behaved, yet on the inside I bet their bubbling with excitement.
I can't help but think of Nora Batty when I see a picture of Constance, you should buy her a hat :)
~Jo
There is an old test to do with dogs and cars:
ReplyDeletePut your dog in the boot of your car, then go away and leave it for 2 hours. When you go back and open the boot, notice how your dog is really pleased to see you and greets you like an old and dear friend.
Now try the same thing with your girl/boyfriend, and see how they react when you let them out.
Dogs are - really - man's best friend.
I'd love to see the four of them all lined up in the Berlingo, carefully scrutinising the supermarket carpark goings-on. (Out of curiosity I Googled Berlingo to see how big they were). I bet other users of the carpark are amused to see them.
ReplyDeleteI would never put the dogs in the boot again!
ReplyDeletelost a weeks shopping as I went around sainsburys roundabout on rainy day!
The berlingos boot had flew open unexpectedly!
see
http://disasterfilm.blogspot.com/2008/01/disaster-day-poorly-mega-fat-pikey-slag.html
It put me in such a happy mood just reading your post. You have to have a heart of steel not to love to see a dog in a car with his head out the window taking in all of life. When you see it, you can't help but look and smile.
ReplyDeleteJOHN GRAY 1960-ish to ?
ReplyDeleteEnduring Lover of the Small Moment.
He saw, he adored, he wrote,
And gave us hope thereby.
Dxxx
Not a big fan of seeing dogs with their heads out the windows. I had a vet tell me once that they can be blinded by the repeated action of the wind blowing in their faces or by things blowing up from the road into their eyes. Not sure if it's true or not but it's coloured my perception ever since.
ReplyDeleteWhats the collective noun for a busload of Phd's? a Smartvan?
ReplyDeletejohn I love you!
ReplyDeleteHi John! I had no idea what a citroen berlingo was, so I looked it up--I like it, and would drive one too! Right now I drive a van and the dogs love it has stow-n-go seats so they can stand up and move around pretty easily, but a couple really want to be in the passengers seat next to me at the same time...that's a problem...
ReplyDelete