Back in 2015, there was a dog, a super cute female Black Lab/Bullmastiff pup who would leave home and take the bus to the dog park and back. She shot into super stardom in no time, given the age of social media and all of that.
Unfortunately, the Seattle bus scenes will be a little bit quieter now, because sadly, Eclipse, the bus-riding, dog park-loving dog, has passed away (as of October 14), at the age of 10.
Has a pup like Eclipse changed your life? Let’s find out more about how she completely changed the Seattle bus scene for years and still will going forward!
Eclipse was a super sweet, world-famous, bus riding dog and true Seattle icon.
— King County Metro 🚏 🚌🚎⛴🚐 (@KingCountyMetro) October 14, 2022
You brought joy and happiness to everyone and showed us all that good dogs belong on the bus. pic.twitter.com/YhSFjNGU05
Back in 2015 when she first started riding the bus, and all throughout her bus-riding journeys, Eclipse would never ride the bus for long, just a couple of stops here and there. Most of them were to the dog park. Throughout her casual rides, she’d constantly fall asleep on the laps of complete and utter strangers, and eagerly bang on the door when she knew that it was her stop to get off.
How did this all start you may be asking? Well…her owner, a man by the name of Jeff Young, was casually having a cigarette and was unaware that Eclipse had slipped onto one of Seattle’s busiest public transit buses. Young frantically began to look for her when he found her at a place that she was enjoying herself to her true and absolute fullest: the dog park!
After her one accidental ride, she became a regular commuter! She took a few trips to the dog park per week (yes, all by herself) and would make sure to look out the window not to miss her stop!
Her first ride immediately began to gain her national news-style attention after a former radio host noticed her get off the bus without her owner. It became a regular segment on his past radio show, and eventually gained even more attention from a super popular Seattle news station, KOMO. All of the media began to cover Eclipse’s weekly journeys and the rest of it is all history, as she did most of the work herself by being her totally cute and super authentic self to all of the bus-riders!
What else came of her fame? The bus company that she chose to ride on, King County Metro, got some free advertising! They used multiple catch phrases, but my personal favorite that I found out was the following: “Get Around Like Eclipse. Plan Your Next Trip”.
Young had Eclipse since she was a 10-week old puppy and made sure to share their relationship online as well, noting how attached at the hips that they both were for each other.
This past Wednesday, Young had announced on Eclipse’s Facebook Page, that her vet had found some cancerous tumors and asked her fans to send “spare vibes” their way.
Two days later, the unfortunate happened: she had died overnight in her sleep. While it’s so sad to hear this news, I just hope that her passing was peaceful and that she wasn’t in any pain at all.
In an interview with The Washington Post, here’s what owner Jeff Young had to shortly but sweetly say: “She’s gone, and I miss her, and it really sucks.”
Here was King County Metro’s response to hearing what Jeff had to say: “Eclipse was a super sweet, world-famous, bus riding dog and true Seattle icon. You brought joy and happiness to everyone and showed us all that good dogs belong on the bus.”
Rest in Peace and Paradise, sweet little girl Eclipse! Hang in there Jeff, we’re all here for you!
How has a dog impacted your life? Let’s talk all about that and the true magic that dogs bring into our lives (and so so much more) down in the comments below…as always…Woof, Woof!