Palando The Great!
Happy Camperbus 2 months ago // Outdoor Adventure Happy Camper Bus

I haven’t had the chance to properly introduce Capone. Nor can I claim that this will serve as a proper introduction. I mean, there is so much here. He is a humongous part of our lives, and our travels.

Capone, whom we have taken to calling Palando The Great (Or Palando The Beautiful!) since being on the road, is an 8 year old chihuahua/min-pin mix. He is the source of a tremendous amount of joy around here, and also serves as the resident trouble maker!

While preparing for our travels, we went through the process of vaccinating, licensing and ultimately micro-chipping Capone. Trying to do things right and responsibly, you know, in case anything should happen.

Our very first incident of Police contact was directly related to Capone. I now have a better understanding of why that initial charade happened in the first place.

It was curious, we literally went strait from the Human Society where Capone was brutalized by the too-large-for-his-small-body injection that implanted his micro-chip, to the Barnes & Noble Cafe for a game of Scrabble. While there, we had a chance to meet the resident Dog Catcher. She introduced herself to Capone and he barked at her. A good little example of showing disdain for authority figures, I suppose. She told him pointedly that SHE was THE wrong person to be barking at in a somewhat comical, somewhat serious manner. Me and Smick were accompanied by our dear friend Alan and discussed at length on our way to the cafe, what characteristics one might have to be a Dog Catcher, and what the role of Animal Control encompasses.

Welp, we found out shortly there after. We were unable to secure a table outside so we opted to leave Capone in the Bus while we played Scrabble. When we returned to the Bus, after having checked on him several times mind you, the Cops were there!

The officer told us very seriously and in a very strait forward manner that dogs are not allowed to be left in the car…period. Now, I certainly understand the hot day thing or prolonged periods that would constitute neglect, things of this nature. In this case though, Capone was set up pretty nicely. Windows down, lots of water, his dog bed, our bed in the Camper Bus, a toy and a shady spot. Hmmm… The officer told us that he had called Animal Control and we joked with him that we had just met the Dog Catcher. We waited around for about half an hour, in the officer’s presence waiting for her to show. During that time, we became more and more baffled as to why he stopped, and why Animal Control was called. We thought of course he may have just wanted to check out the Bus, which is fine, but why call in Capone? He stated continuously that the circumstances were on the up and up, Capone was not in duress nor panting and that we did everything right?! He described the conditions that the working K-9 unit for the Police as much more precarious. WTF?! At long last, he let us go. Animal Control was a no show. It made little sense to any of us.

And now, that me, Smick and Palando The Great have hit the road, I know why.

After a few minutes of being left alone in the Bus, even under cushy circumstances, Capone sounds nothing shy of a tortured soul that needs immediate assistance. He begins to cry so intensely, it is bound to hurt the ears of any passersby and certainly call negative attention his way. It’s bad. We joke that he gets his little lips out the window and has a routine that goes something like this “Help! HELP me, I am under duress! Call the cops! THE COPS! I am being tortured, hurt…HEELLLPP!! It’s hot in here, help me! Call the cops!!” and repeat.

The officer did mention when Capone hopped out of the Bus when we retrieved him, “Boy, he’s doing okay now”. It’s all making sense. He FELT for that little thing and hence did the right thing. I had yet to learn how impactful his cries were.

Heck, what are we gonna do? He drives his fair share of the trip, you know.