Rusty knows enough about traffic to move when a car gets too close.
That is what makes everything else so difficult to understand.
The six-year-old scruffy Terrier mix has been wandering around an industrial district, his coat clumped with dust and grime and one swollen front leg giving him a noticeable limp.
He has plenty of reasons to stay away from the road.
Yet every time someone moves one particular orange traffic cone out of the lane, Rusty comes back for it.
He lowers his head.
Grabs the plastic rim with his teeth.
Then begins dragging.
His injured front leg struggles to keep up as the cone scrapes across the pavement behind him.
Rusty does not stop at the sidewalk.
He pulls the cone back into the road.
Always toward the same place.
Then he releases it, circles once, and curls his body beside it.
A vehicle approaches.
Rusty startles and scrambles toward the shoulder.
The cone is moved again.
Minutes later, the little Terrier limps back.
He bites the rim.
And starts dragging it into the road all over again.
At First, Rusty Looks Like Another Stray Moving Through the Industrial Area
He is easy to notice once someone looks closely.
His coat is rough and dirty.
Dust has worked deep into the longer fur around his legs and belly.
His body appears lean beneath it.
But his front leg draws the most attention.
Rusty favors it when he walks.
The limb is swollen.
Each step on that side is shorter and more cautious.
When he stops, he sometimes shifts weight away from it.
Still, he keeps moving.
The Traffic Cone Is Harder to Explain
It is an ordinary road cone.
Scratched.
Dirty.
Light enough for a determined dog to move, but awkward enough that dragging it requires effort.
Rusty seems unusually interested in it.
Not every cone.
This one.
And not merely as something to chew.
He appears concerned with where it is.
Someone Moves It Toward the Shoulder
The cone has ended up in an unsafe position.
So it is pulled away from the active lane.
Rusty watches.
For a few moments, he stays where he is.
Then he approaches.
He sniffs the cone.
Walks around it.
Lowers his muzzle to its broad plastic base.
Then his teeth catch the edge.
The First Pull Barely Moves It
Rusty braces.
His healthy front leg takes most of his forward weight.
The swollen limb touches down briefly.
He pulls.
The cone scrapes several inches across the pavement.
Rusty releases it.
Takes another grip.
Pulls again.
It is slow work for a dog already limping.
But Rusty keeps going.
He Isn't Dragging It Somewhere Safer
That is the surprise.
Rusty pulls toward the roadway.
The cone scrapes from the shoulder toward the lane.
When it reaches one particular area, Rusty stops.
He releases the plastic.
Then he lowers himself beside it.
He Curls Against the Cone
His body fits against the broad base.
Rusty folds his legs beneath himself as carefully as he can.
The swollen front limb remains positioned slightly away from his chest.
His side presses close to the plastic.
His head lowers.
For a moment, the little dog appears ready to sleep.
Then an engine approaches.
Rusty Hears It
His head comes up.
The vehicle draws closer.