Annie gets it. Bella doesn't.

Since the layoffs happened at a client's office, I've been trying to figure out how to get from the train to the client's office without having to bother Doyle. I usually try to catch a ride from Doyle or a coworker of his, on their way to work. Given the said coworker was laid off, I need to come up with a different solution.

Wanting to inconvenience people as little as possible, I figure I can walk or bike from the train station. Walking would take too long, yet biking requires a cumbersome-on-a-train bike.

Think.

Think.

Think.

I emailed Beth to ask her opinion of her scooter. With her glowing review, I decided to purchase a Xootr. It arrived a couple nights ago, so I took it out for a spin.

I couldn't think of a better reason to go out on a scooter than to walk the dog. No way could I manage two dogs, but one dog might be okay. I leashed up Annie, hopped on the the scooter and off we went.

After the first tug, Annie seemed to understand I was on a scooter and moving quickly. She ran in front of me, running as fast as I was scooting, sometimes a little faster tugging the leash and pulling me along, sometimes more slowly but not enough for me to catch up very much. We zipped down to the corner lickety split, turned around, and zipped back to the house.

High on Annie's success, I unleashed her in the house, then clipped Bella in for my next scoot. We turned left in front of the house and started moving. Instead of intelligently running out, way out, in front of the scooter, Bella decided to zig in front of me, fewer than three feet in front of the front wheel. I lurched on the handbrake, stopping quickly while accidently yanking the dog back.
Okay, that was just one misstep. We tried again. I started moving on the scooter again. Bella decided to zag, all of two feet in front of me. I stopped again, and tried again.

After maybe 80 feet, I decided that, yes, Annie gets it, but Bella? Hell no. That dog does NOT understand scooter and get the heck out of the way dog!