"Un-locking" car door for mum

Once again, on June. 6th. 2006, I came to mum's rescue when she needed me.



On the morning of June. 6th, mum decided to take me for a two hour hike around Buntzen Lake since the weather was so hot and sunny. It was about 12:30pm by the time we finished our walk and got back to the car. So of course, the car was like an oven. Mum turned the AC on high and pulled into a gas station to buy herself a cold beverage. Since mom thought she was only going to be in the store for a few minutes and the car was still pretty hot from being in the sun, she decided to leave the AC on for me while I waited in the car. (mum: I had a clear view of the car from inside the store.) Well, thanks to mum's bad habit of locking the car door from inside before leaving, she locked the key (in the ignition) and ME in the car. 

SO.....mum was presented with two options. One was to call a tow truck and pay $50+ to have the car unlocked, or she had ME, her SuperDALE. My dear mum of course, opted for the second option. I was asleep in the back seat when all of a sudden I heard this knocking coming from the window and mum calling "Sunshade, Sunshade". I was so tired from the hike and the heat that I really didn't want to move. Through my sleepy eyes though, I could see that mum needed me for something. So reluctantly, I got up and looked at mum. Then mum moved to the front drivers seat window and started to call me from there. Well, I knew then that SHE HAD LOCKED HERSELF OUT AGAIN!!! I jumped to the front seat where mum was frantically pointing at where the lock was located and was telling me to "PAW", which is my command to shake or touch something. I really didn't need mum's commands because I had done this far too many times for her. I knew what to do. By this time, I saw people have started to gather around my silly mum who kept repeating "Sunshade PAW Sunshade PAW" while pointing at the door lock. I knew those people must be thinking what is this crazy woman doing trying to get a dog to unlock her car door. So being the good doghter I am for mum, I decided to not embarrass her infront of her own kind and started pawing at the lock like she had asked of me. It took me a total of 3 tries in less than a minute to get the lock and the latch as well and actually popped the door open. 

Mum screamed "GOOD GIRL SUNSHADE!!!" and I heard applause coming from the on lookers. One very nice man offered me a Tim Bit he had just gotten from theTim Hortons in the gas station. I, of course, happily gobbled it down since my mummy had no "food" reward for me..... (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???).

On our drive home, mum kept telling me how proud she was that I stayed calm, took her commands and performed them to perfection. Little did she know, the memories from my previous "two" experiences were still fresh in my mind and I really didn't need her commands!!!

UPDATE (Oct. 5th. 2006):

This is a video that sort of shows how I un-lock my car door. Mind you it was at my favorite park when this video was taken so I was a little more frantic, a little more anxious about getting out. Most of the time when mum requires my rescue, it usually happens in a boring place such as a gas station, or Safeway parking lot.

You will see and hear:

• mum locking the car door via remote
• mum pointing asking me to "open" or "paw"
• me frantically trying to get my hands on the lock
• finally I got the latch and pulled it
• I stopped pawing as soon as I knew I got the latch
• mum shows how the door is popped from the side of the car
• my reward was being let out of the car