Ain't No River Wide Enough

Jasper prefers for his little pack of people to remain together. But tonight, in the middle of our walk, Alex and I briefly split up. We were taking a long walk (all the way to our favorite coffee shop, for those of you who have visited us), so Jasper and I continued onto the trail next to the river, while Alex veered off to cross the creek on the bike path so as to reach the nearest trash can. Jasper quickly figured out that something a little strange had occurred, and he was keeping a close eye on Alex's progress on the other side of the creek. I could divert his attention for a moment by playing with him, but he was too distracted by Alex's absence to be fully engaged with me.

Suddenly, he decided that this separation simply would not do. He took off down the embankment, waded across the mouth of the creek, and threaded his way up the opposite bank, arriving, tail wagging madly, in front of Alex just as Alex got to the trash can and turned around to head back and meet us. Once he got a treat and felt reassured that all was right with the world, he responded to my call by doing the whole mad dash in reverse to get back to me.

What a loyal puppy!