Bag her up!

So John and I have been thinking for weeks that we need to get Bella used to traveling in a bag. I know it sounds totally Jessica Simpson of me to carry my dog in a bag, but it really does have a purpose! Our former neighbors were kind enough to give us their little pet travel bag before we left Rochester, and we were hesitant to test it out. However, we know an inevitable airplane flight will be coming up with the holidays and Bella will be forced to fly in that thing.

I'm not sure if she was more nervous about going in the bag or if John and I were way more anxious about it. We figured the best test would be to put her in the bag and take her on the train over to the city.

Well, I had every intention of taking a picture of Bella on the train ride from Jersey City to NYC. But the 5 minute ride was rather stressful and I only managed to take one quick image before the stupid flash on my camera set her off and made her somehow realize that she should be FREAKING OUT that she's stuck in a bag, on a train. John and I had the brilliant idea to leave the top of the bag open so we could pet her and "keep her calm". Note to self - BAD IDEA. This was her in mellow times before the incident:














Anyway, she proved to be quite powerful for a 7.5 lb shih tzu, but we were able to get her to stay put in her bag until we exited the path station at World Trade Center. Once there we let her out for a walk near the Hudson. I think all of the stress of the train, combined with a lenthgy walk really pooped her out. So much so that John wanted to go shoe shopping (insert chuckle here)so I just threw Bella back in her bag and took her into the store shopping with us. Here's us in happier times:















After shopping we headed back to the Path Station and back to Jersey City without incident. Now, this is only a 5 minute train ride but it was a start! Oh I've got plans for her now... If she keeps being such a good girl I might just need to totally push the limits and get her a Louis Vuitton carrier, just sayin'!