Driving with dogs
I took my dogs for a drive. We drove to Las Vegas. The dogs were in the back seat of my Ford Mustang. There is something about seeing dogs in cars that inspires people to attempt to communicate with them. On the 4 1/2 hour drive several people attempted this communication. Waving was the most common method made to communicate with the dogs.
Neither Cinnamon nor Baxter can wave. Baxter slept for most of the trip, but occasionally he would pop up and look around. This prompted people not only to wave, but to point and in once case to hollar. Several people made floppy dog ear motions at the dogs. Cinnamon just looked at these people. Baxter just looked at these people. If you aren’t giving them a verbal command, a hand signal command, food, or you aren’t encroaching on their space, they aren’t going to notice you all that much. I worry about these people driving who are waving at my dogs. Watch the road not my dogs, please.
Now when we had Zoey it was a different matter. Zoey noticed people waving at her and she played gamed with the people waving. She would play her dog version of peek-a-boo. She would duck down with her head down below the wiindow and wait until she could see the outline of a car next to ours. Then she would pop up and bark at the car. Gotcha! Great fun in parking lots too. She would wait ducked down until someone was next to the car and then she would back at them and scare them. Gotcha! If she thought someone was waving at her, she would get very excited and she’d put her head out the window.
Baxter and Cinnamon only get excited if they see another dog. Then they go crazy. Especially if it’s another dalmation. Baxter will start making talking noises. Cinnamon will whine. Usually the other car or truck with dalmation(s) on board will go crazy back.
The only other time when Baxter and Cinnamon get that excited is at halloween. That’s when kids get dresssed up in dalmation costumes and come to our house. We get at least 2 a year. Cinnamon is always really friendly with these fake dogs. She’s very gentle with them. She generally doesn’t like little children, but the little kids in dalmation costumes just seem to touch her heart and she’s very sweet with them. She stands next to them and gets her picture taken by their parents.
Baxter is a different story. We have to warn kids about Baxter’s tendency to pet people back. There was this child who pet Baxter at PetCo. Nice kid. Baxter pet the kid back. Right in the groin. The kid doubled over and explained in graphic detail to his mother where Baxter had pet him. His mother told him not to use that language. He told her that Baxter had nailed him. So now we warn people that Baxter pets back and to be careful. He sits back like “Yeah, who wants to pet the dog next? Bring it on.” Pet with extreme caution.
Driving a Mustang with two 74 pound dalmations in the back seat causes some commotion especially when I’m getting the dogs into or out of the car. In the neighborhood everyone is used to them and no one pays attention. In places where they aren’t a familiar sight, lots of people stop and stare. They do seem to enjoy car rides and seem to look forward to the trips.
