Dogs are pretty smart animals, more than we usually gave them credit for. They play a wide range of roles that provided much-needed assistance to people, such as police dogs, therapy dogs, medical assistance dogs, and guide dogs. The key to the secret of their dog smarts depended on how we understood their motivations.
Eclipse was a lovely black labrador retriever whose claim to fame was her bus-riding habit. This pooch loved when people surrounded her while she enjoyed quality time in the dog park. She interacted with everyone and explored new places, experiences that motivated her unusual bus-riding habit.
You see, this dog wasn’t just your ordinary attention-seeking canine. Eclipse was known around Seattle as the dog who took the bus downtown and hung out at the dog park by herself. She played with her buddies for hours before she jumped back on the bus that brought her home again.
And she did this every single day.
She also had her bus pass attached to her collar. A lot of the drivers already recognized her and generously accommodated the adorable furball. The regular bus passengers sat beside her, often took photos of the brave dog, and gave her affectionate pats and belly rubs.
Her owner, Jeff Young, shared how impatiently Eclipse waited for him to get ready before going to the park. When she became bored with waiting, she went ahead and got on the bus on her own. Fortunately, the friendly bus driver knew her and promptly dropped her off to her destination.
Her solo bus trips happened several more times before Jeff gave in and allowed her to go off independently. He was amazed that she never lost her way and was always back home a few hours later. She was indeed a smart and remarkable dog!
Photos courtesy of Eclipse Seattle’s Bus Riding Dog via Facebook