The Magic Surprise Box

Hello Everyone, I read a great comment once that described one aspect of a dog’s perspective on life. They have no sense when they get in a car that you have control over the motions of the vehicle; instead, to them, it’s just a magic travel box where you get in at one place and get out at another. Elevators are the same. They have no sense of the mechanics of the thing, and since they don’t think in those terms, they don’t wonder about it either. They just get in at one location and arrive at another. But the elevator in Emilie’s building now works like a magic surprise box. In her building, there’s a big, fluffy white samoid that we’ve run into a few times getting on or off the elevator. They are both nervous dogs when in confined spaces, so they got pretty worked up when meeting. But just as Arthur has no sense or control over where he ends up when he gets in the car, he has no control over who gets out of the elevator when it opens up. Thus, it's a magic surprise box that opens up and occasionally another dog jumps out. I can tell he’s excited because there’s a bell that rings whenever the elevator reaches our floor. It’s a perfect Pavlovian response: his ears perk up, tail goes up, and he strains to look inside. Having a pretty high threshold for boredom, the fact that he’s only met this dog twice, doesn’t diminish his enthusiasm and excitement whenever the elevator arrives. He’s super ready to meet his new friend. 

And bark his face off.

Wes

Photos 

I love winter, but I don't bury-my-face-in-the-snow love winter.