Pixie

Pixie in happier times

Sometimes Pixie will ride with George and I to pick up the girls at school. At first, this was challenging because she would bark, but we stuck with it in an effort to socialize her. I used to hold her, and she would flail around wildly, but then I found the seatbelt leash that she seemed to like. The leash gave her some security, calmed her and kept her from jumping around the car/bolting out the doors while the girls were entering the car. Since she improved so much, she started coming along on the afternoon car pool a few times per week.

This morning Pixie got inside the car, and we decided to let her go with us, not really registering that she has never done the car pool drop off before. Backing up a little, let me remind that Pixie adores Lauren and Grace, relates to them and considers herself one of them. Pixie is a nine year old girl, or at least she thinks so. Again, she behaved perfectly during the drop off. However, when the door closed behind the girls, Pixie went a little nuts. She started crying and trying to get to the girls. She cried all the way home and pleaded with me with her "sad doggy eyes" (as Lauren calls them) to turn back. Even George commented on how pitiful she was and was trying to console her.

"Wait! They're outside!" 

"No!!!! You can't leeeeave them!"

"Sissssiiiiiieeeees!!!!!"

"Nooooooooo!"

"Go back!!!!! You've gotta go back!!!!!"

She cried all the way home, and then she sniffed around the vehicle crazily trying to locate them. We spent about thirty minutes trying to calm her down and distract her.

Mental note: don't take Pixie on the morning school run.