If you tally dog points as I do you know that beyond the actual score things can get kind of fine. Considering whether a dog runs behind a bike, for instance, rather than alongside or in front of it often merits comment. The dog still gets their point of course, but like talking about a basketball players shooting form, there is more going on than just whether or not the ball goes through the net.
With the standard point a dog gets for riding in a basket, a variety of styles persist. Some dogs do this a little more sedately than others, some a little too aggressively and some are even leashed in so they won’t, presumably, jump out and injure themselves. (Is this based on past behavior or owner anxiety? Either way the Cat Committee often claims this alone is reason for not awarding such a dog its point.)
Yesterday, I spotted this dog from afar because, at the previous crossing where the bike had come to a stop, she leaned back for a quick face lick of her biker. She then returned to this top-notch riding form when things got going again. The form, as you can see for yourself is confident and relaxed, forward and observant, and yet well rooted too. She would never be silly enough to chase a car or squirrel while on the move.
And, at the next crossing, she did the same thing, leaning back for another kiss.
Now the world is full of people on microphones who claim they know how things should be. Most of them sound pretty empty to me. The world is also full of people on screens suggesting ways to improve your life. Sometimes I am one of these.
But I’d like to know how this dog got to be such a fine companion and what the woman transporting her did to raise such a good citizen. We should all be so lucky, must all have something to learn from them.
I was happy their route around a busy intersection allowed me to observe them and get a picture too, one I see now also reveals their outfits as matching Amsterdam’s decor. A city kiss.
Lovely.