All dogs enjoy a trip to the park. But in order to get there and back home, they usually need our help. Most dogs rely on their owners to assist them in getting to their favorite destination for outdoor recreation time. However, there is one Seattle pooch who enjoys the park so much that she takes herself there and back. Eclipse is the strong and independent black Lab and Mastiff mix who rides the bus system all by herself. She’s a daily fixture on the Seattle transit system that she’s even got herself her very own special bus pass that is attached to her collar.
This adorable pup has been riding the bus to her local dog park and back home every day since 2015. Prior to her newfound independence, Eclipse used to visit the park with her owner, Jeff Young. The two would wait at the bus stop by their home, get on, go to the park, and then ride the bus back home once they’d had their fun. But there was one day when Jeff was taking his sweet time finishing his cigarette. In that time their bus had arrived and Eclipse – not wanting to wait for another second longer – boarded the bus without her owner. She’d already ridden it enough times to know which stop was hers. And that is how Eclipse came to be Seattle’s iconic bus riding pup.
In the five years that she’s been riding the bus she had gained herself a pretty big following on social media. People just can’t get over how independent this precious dog is! Everyone is so curious about the black dog riding the bus on her own. While most people around the downtown Seattle area are well aware of this local legend, Young said that he sometimes still receives the occasional worried phone call. He stated, “Probably once a week I get a phone call. ‘Hi. I have your dog Eclipse here on 3rd and Bell’…and I have to tell them, ‘No. She’s fine.’ She knows what she’s doing.” And she clearly does.
We know that Eclipse can ride the bus by herself and she can walk herself, but does she also throw the ball for herself? That is the real question!
