MCDONALD’S DOG

Earlier this week, we were stopped at a stop sign by Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis when we saw a man walking his dog across the street in front of us. It was a beautiful lab, leashed, trotting proudly ahead of his owner, a middle-aged Native American man. But what was so show-stoppingly amazing was that the dog was carrying a small paper McDonald’s bag in its mouth.

The bag could have contained anything—a tennis ball, for example. But I honestly believe that there was a hamburger in that bag. (Note: The bag was not big enough for the special with fries and a small drink.) And I think that man had trained his dog so well it would carry a hamburger in its mouth without eating it until the dog got to the place where his owner said it could.

The owner knew that he was causing a minor sensation at that heavily trafficked intersection with his well-trained, McDonald’s carrying dog. I knew he knew because he had a small, smug smirk on his face like “my dog’s cooler than your dog.” And he was right—his dog WAS cooler than everybody else’s dog.

That was one cool dog.