When he isn’t busy teleporting, or destroying furniture, Wylie loves to collect nicknames. He is truly “The Dog of a Thousand Names.”
This past weekend was spent visiting my parents, and as usual Wylie came along.

He’s been very well behaved lately, so when it was time to get in the car, I put him in his harness, but instead of clipping the leash on, I just carried it and let him walk out on his own. We walked out to the car and once the door was open, Wylie hopped right in and stood on the back seat, waiting to be buckled up.

The first stop on the trip was at my aunt’s house. A few minutes after arriving, I took Wylie’s harness and leash off and let him run around with my aunt’s and cousin’s dogs. I only had to call him back to the porch one time, and when it was time to leave, he followed me straight to the car again.

Likewise, coming home on Monday afternoon, Wylie allowed me to put him in his harness and he walked straight to the car, all set to go for a ride.

We arrived home around 5:00. I unhooked his harness and let him hop out of the car while I gathered one or two things from the floor of the back seat. As I started back to the house, I realized that Wylie was no longer with me.

Looking around, I realized what had happened. We’d arrived just in time for Wylie’s usual early evening walk and he was walking himself! By the time I realized what was going on, Wylie was already two doors down, following our usual route. I called his name, whistled once, and Wylie realized he’d jumped the gun and came trotting back.

Because after all, one of Wylie’s nicknames is Good Boy!

And he likes hearing it as much as I like saying it.

Wylie and I generally go out for a walk three times a day. If the weather’s nice and things are calm, there’s sometimes a “bonus walk,” but those three core walks provide a sense of normalcy no matter what else may be going on.

The early morning and late afternoon/early evening walks are really just a chance to get out and stretch our legs while Wylie checks his messages at various neighborhood hydrants. But there’s nothing routine about our evening walks. Those have become the stuff of legend.

• Five years ago Wylie was intently watching a rabbit and walked straight into the side of a parked car. (Yes, my dog hit a car.)
• The next night, he did it again. Same street. Same car. Probably the same rabbit.
• Three years ago, while visiting Mom and Dad, Wylie and I encountered a black and white cat. Wylie wanted to go sniff, but I chose to get us the heck out of there before the skunk could notice us.
• Two years ago, Wylie was intent on his sniffing and failed to notice that his buddy Riley had stopped to “leave a message” at the local hydrant.
• Six months ago, Wylie was intently staring at the flashing lights on a police car and walked head-first into a tree.

During this past Thursday’s walk, Wylie was very intent on cataloging all the new scents around the neighborhood. It had rained almost every day for the past two weeks (and indeed, most of the past two months), so the scents were particularly fresh, to the point where even a human such as I could appreciate some of them.

So intent was he on the scents of the grass, earth, and trees, Wylie completely failed to notice when he walked within 10 feet of a deer.
On the one hand, I really do believe it’s commendable that Wylie is able concentrate so intently on a given task. I’m a little jealous of his powers of concentration.

But I sometimes find myself thinking ol’ Wylie needs a seeing-eye dog.