RUSTY BRYANT-RISE

He watched intently as he rode, every car that went by and anything that moved. Piercing gaze. Pricked up ears. Eventually, his eyes began to get heavy and he was fighting off sleep. He was still sitting up on those long front legs of his as his head got heavier and heavier, dropping down down until snap! He'd catch himself and wake up for a minute. He'd look around as if he meant to do that, then he'd do it all over again. This cycle went on for many miles. He finally decided it was safe to lie down and relax. He had a good two-hour snooze. I reached back through the front seats for much of the trip and just kept my hand on him. He would sigh and smack his lips and continue sleeping. He seemed content. So much so that when I'd take my hand away, he'd lift his head up with a start, and gaze at me through heavy eyelids. Okay okay! I put my hand back. Sigh . . . he is so beautiful! (It's love . . . ) At one point, I grabbed a treat for him and put my hand back there. He sniffed my hand and suddenly the treat AND my fingers ended up in his mouth. He carefully located the treat and softly took it from my hand without even so much as an accidental "bite". He's a keeper. About 20 minutes from home, he hopped up from his snooze and started wiggling. He put his paw on the armrest of the door and looked out the window. I asked him if he needed to go outside and his eyes widened and he just stared at me. No whining. No barking. This dog uses mental sign language. We took that as a yes and made a quick stop at a small park in town. Out he jumped. It was a little windy out. He was trotting across the parking lot toward a patch of grass when a gust of wind came through and nearly lifted the little guy off the ground! He was doing his best to stay earthbound and ended up doing the sideways crabwalk across the parking lot. So funny. His tiny frame atop those long legs with that classic Airedale prance . . . He quickly did his business, turned right around and returned to the truck. All on his own. Didn't even have to tell him to do anything. Craig whistled and motioned for him to get up into the truck and he did so with a swift and energetic BOING! He jumped so far, in fact, that he almost went straight out the open door on the other side! Nothing wrong with his jumper-muscles.

CONTINUE WITH THE SAGA OF RUSTY BRYANT-RISE HERE