Monday, January 11, 2010

Time for a Car Wash

When I go out in the car, Guinness usually comes with me. Today, we traveled to my grocery store which is next to Petsmart. Guinness always hopes that the trip is for Petsmart, though we only shop there once every couple of months. He starts barking and jumping around as soon as we pull into the parking lot, and he continues to bark after I leave the car. Sometimes he gets all the other dogs in parked cars barking with him. Quite the cacaphony.

Today, a sloppy, snowy day, he was more insistent than normal that he was going shopping too. The little sneak! As I slipped out of my driver's seat, he rushed me from behind, pushing me through the door and escaping across the parking lot at high speed to the wide sidewalk between the two stores. A grocery cart collector was hot on his trail. He made a sweep past the automatic doors of the grocery store, opening them, but thankfully he never noticed! He ran to an elderly lady wearing a full length mink coat who was calling to him. She grabbed his leash (I always leave his leash on him in the car so that I can grab him if he tries to escape.). "I have had two labs," she said, "so I understand." Another store employee dressed in white came to meet this crazy dog. He jumped on her, leaving muddy paw prints on her work clothing. She said, "It's OK. I wear an apron anyway." Both women followed us to our SUV as I pulled out the ramp for him. They offered to hold his leash for me. I thanked them, but said, "He will calm down better with just me. Having you here will keep him excited."

After finishing my grocery excursion, I returned to the car to discover that his muddy, salty paw prints from his race around the parking lot, were smeared all over the front and back seats as well as the rear of the vehicle. This may have been his last time to go grocery shopping!

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