Commuter Chaos
I live in New York City and frequently ride the subway with my dog Bo Diddly. At 33lbs., he just comfortably fits into his awesome canvas dog bag made by the company Love Thy Beast. Traveling with a dog can be a hectic experience, especially if you never took the steps to introduce your dog to the idea in the first place. Bo not only comes from the rural south, but he is a dog with low self-esteem. It’s taken a lot of time and energy to build up his level of confidence so that he can calmly handle whatever challenge may lay ahead. That and up until a couple years ago, he most likely had never experienced traveling in a dog bag let alone riding on crowded subways! Be that as it may, he has proven himself to be an awesome traveling companion!
Picture of Bo.
Today was a true testament to that fact. We waited on an unbelievably crowded subway platform, in the cold, for 25min for a train that just didn’t seem to be coming. Bo didn’t care, as he enjoys people watching from the comfort of his bag. When he is in this position, I do not let people pet him as I want to keep him in that calm, working zone. With a quick change of plans, I hailed a taxi. As we drove towards Grand Central station, the driver couldn’t help but notice how relaxed my dog was. I thanked him for the complement, paid my fare, and off to the train we went! I decided to stop for a quick cup of coffee at Starbucks. Taking that calm energy with us, we waited in line to be served. We had people bump into us and Bo almost got stepped on, but he maintained his composure and helped me to do the same! We then walked through the crowd towards our track only to find out last minute that there was a track change! So, Bo and I hurried along to our respected track, not missing a beat, and made our train just in the nick of time. Through all the chaos and last minute changes, my dog stayed by my side and followed my every lead. This is the beauty of a well trained dog. The connection made through great communication is so strong, that this four legged companion truly does become your best friend.