Hank is twelve – no – thirteen! Time flies... He's a constant companion and it seems strange to say I bought him from anywhere or anyone but, truth is, I purchased him from a woman in Covington, Louisiana. I'd like to say the magical Poodle Gnome deposited him as a tiny puppy in a patch of clover and then left a stardust-dream in my head that led me to him upon awakening. A friend found an ad in the classifieds for the last puppy left from a batch of six or eight. We took a long drive across Lake Pontchartrain to look him over. He was rather mature (four months) to be sold but the breeder had become attached to him and was reluctant to let him go.
Hank is a mellow guy. The kind of character you'd want to go bowling with. Or maybe share a po-boy on the seawall and watch steam clouds in the sky turn pink at the end of the day. He was a real bitch to housebreak but that was really my fault as it took me two whole weeks to realize his bladder was only the size of a shelled peanut and had to be emptied far more often that I imagined.
I bought a cat harness and trussed him up in it. He was about five months old. My bicycle was outfitted with a nylon pannier. I rigged a restraining tether up using the shoulder strap from an airline bag. One end of the tether was wrapped and re-wrapped around the bike's cargo rack, the other end, with a large claw clip on it, hung free. The pannier floor I padded with foam before I lowered Hank onto it. His harness had a ring for a leash and I clipped his “tether” to it.
The first seven days I simply walked the bike, with Hank shotgun, up and down the block. After that we spent a week riding slooowly around the block once daily. The puppy caught on before I ever expected it. He showed no stress; rather, he was alert and interested in all around him. Peering eagerly at people and cars, nose twitching constantly, he was entirely at ease with his new hobby. Before long he was bold enough to raise his body and place his front paws on the rim of the pannier. His tether was secure, I knew, so I felt as confident as he seemed to.
It's been over a decade now and Hank, though a little compromised by growing cataracts in both eyes, is as happy as ever to go for a ride.
