Saturday Afternoon Mini-Adventure

Aidan wasn't quite ready to end our ride.

This was about 10 seconds before my panic attack.

So this morning I was thinking about the few things I needed from the grocery store, and how I'd need to crate Aidan while I went out, and how he'd been so patient in the crate already this week, and how I really didn't want to go shopping and I really didn't want to leave him behind, and I thought, "Let's try this free pick-up thing."

So I hopped online, chose a time I wanted to pick my order up, and did all my shopping virtually while Aidan ate his breakfast. I got an alert that my order was ready 20 minutes before our hour window, so I harnessed him into his doggie seatbelt and away we went. He loves riding in the car. And with his seatbelt, he sits very nicely and quietly without trying to roam about or be a distraction. 

We pulled into one of ten pickup parking spots, and there was only one vehicle in any of the other spots. I clicked the "check in" button on the grocery app and within a couple of minutes, our guy was

bringing our stuff out to load into the car. And he brought doggie treats for Aidan and a freebie bag for me. We were in and out of the parking lot inside of 10 minutes.

When we got back, I unloaded the groceries inside and came back to unbuckle Aidan, who had hopped in wearing his new leash recommended by our trainer as well as his seatbelt harness.

Then he hopped out of the car wearing his harness, but, too late, I realized the leash was lying on the seat and he was trotting out of the garage and down the sidewalk, quite elated that I'd decided to let him roam!

My heart in my throat, I willed myself not to panic, grabbed the leash and slowly followed, calling to him. He kept turning around and looking at me, but deciding he'd really rather taste a bit of freedom down the street instead. Luckily, from behind us, came another guy walking his boxer, which Aidan thought was a great treat. He ran over to the boxer to say hi and the guy held his collar while I profusely thanked him for saving me what might have been a very long afternoon. Flashes of Evan's run his first week at home were replaying in my mind the entire two minutes Aidan was off leash down the street.

Crisis averted. Thank you, Boxer Man!

So, he may just stay in his crate while I run errands next time.

But the online pick-up thing was really cool, super easy, and they got the order exactly right. The only thing I probably would've picked better was the carton of strawberries. They even got the avocado perfect!