I like taking the dogs on mini road trips in my truck every evening after work. It feels like I’m rewarding them for all the hours they were forced to sit there and stare at me working. Pom Pom knows the second she sees me pick up my keys that we’re going for a ride. She musters up all eight pounds of muscle and might and pulls me to the car.

Casper has no idea what keys are, and while he does well in the car, he’s not a huge fan. So when we get to my truck, Pom eagerly hops in and sits in the passenger seat.

Casper runs away.

When we’re doing trips in the Prius, he doesn’t really protest. When we’re going into my truck…well, he’d just rather not. After picking him up and saying a few “It’s OKs,” I plop him down into the seat of my truck.

He doesn’t move. He sits in the drivers seat and turns to stone.

I nudge him over so I can sit down. He hops up in my lap.

Casper’s a small dog, but big and poofy enough so that driving isn’t exactly safe with him in my lap.

After sticking out my arm to block him from getting back into the lap, we start driving.

When we get back, he almost jumps out of the truck when I open the door.

Then, it dawns on me. He hates the way the vinyl seats feel on his paws. That explains why he can’t stay still and why he’s always trying to get into my lap.

The moment you know your dog is way too spoiled: When you’re thinking about how you can improve the texture of the seat in your car so that his paws don’t feel weird during a two-minute car ride.