A few years back my wife and I were crossing the border from Canada to the US, there was a line but it wasn’t too bad. As we waited we made sure our papers were in order, green card? Check, approved picture ID for my wife? Check, vet records for the dog? Check, receipts for the Canadian beer from the duty free shop? Check.
On a previous trip when Sequoia stuck her head out the window all the customs guard asked was what country she was from. She is a Siberian Husky so I was tempted to say Siberia, but every once in a while I think before I speak and I answered, ‘United States’ The customs agent told us how beautiful Sequoia is and sent us on our way.
This time was different we finally got to the little booth and were asked the appropriate questions, the whole time however the border guard was eyeing Sequoia, “Is that a husky?” he finally asked.
“Yes , she is a Siberian husky, here are her papers and rabies cer…”
(ignoring the papers we offered) “We had Dobermans growing up, I always wanted a husky, I was told they are a handful”
“Yes, they can be, they are prey driven dogs, they love to run, outside they always need to be on a leash or in a ken…”
“Is it a male or female?”
“Female, her name is Sequoia”
(opening the window further as the customs officer tried to crawl into our back seat)
“Oh Sequoia you are sooo soft! Are all huskies this soft?”
(looking out the rearview mirror watching the line behind getting longer)
“They are all pretty soft, but Sequoia has a woolly coat while others have….”
“Right now I live in an apartment so I really can’t have one, but once I move into a house I am getting a husky! Welcome back to the States and enjoy the rest of the day”
I keep thinking to myself that I really need to get my expired passport sorted out so I don’t have to worry about it the next time we go back to Canada. On the other hand it would be easier just to roll down the window and let Sequoia stick her head out as our trackrecord shows that as long as the customes agent gets to see Sequoia our paperwork is not really an issue.
PanningForGold 