[BigV]

Pooch with paparazzi: Catching up with Seattle's bus-riding dog

SEATTLE -- A solo Seattle dog is winning the hearts of millions worldwide.
Since making her television debut this week, Eclipse, a bus-riding black Labrador retriever mix, has made headlines across the globe. News outlets from London to Japan picked up the story of the Seattle pooch who has learned to navigate the city transit system to get to the dog park.

Jeff Young, Eclipse's owner, said random people are stopping him on the street to ask him about his dog's unusual talent.

"The FedEx guy - he wasn't stopping us for a package. He was stopping to inquire about Eclipse," Young said. "I get messages from friends that say, "is that Eclipse (on the news)? Is that your Eclipse?' This is just what she's been doing for the last year-plus."

Young said he's been interviewed by national and international outlets since the story first broke about his dog, who gets on the bus near their house by herself and knows when to get off at the dog park, a handful of stops later.

And from USA Today

SEATTLE (AP) — A black Labrador named Eclipse just wants to get to the dog park.

So if her owner takes too long finishing his cigarette, and their bus arrives, she climbs aboard solo and rides to her stop — to the delight of fellow Seattle bus passengers.

KOMO-TV reports that local radio host Miles Montgomery was amazed to see the pooch get off the bus, without an owner, at a dog park last week.

The dog and her owner, Jeff Young, live right near a bus stop.

In Young's words, "She's a bus-riding, sidewalk-walking dog." Young says his dog sometimes gets on the bus without him, and he catches up with her at the dog park three or four stops away.