This adventurous Jack Russell loves nothing more than the feel of the wind in her fur as she travels on her owner’s Triumph motorbike – dressed in a dinky denim biker jacket.
Cookie, who will turn one year old next month, belongs to avid motorbike enthusiast Dave Hall, 40, and his partner Deborah O’Neill, 29.
With their other dog, Mojo, an Northern Inuit, getting a bit elderly the couple decided that if they were to get another dog, it would need to be a smaller breed – so opted for a Jack Russell.
The couple, who met through their love of motorbikes and soon discovered they shared a love of dogs too, never imagined at the time that their pooch would soon be whizzing round Scotland on the back of Dave’s Triumph Rocket 3, with a 2300 CC engine.
But they were inspired by a friend who takes his little dog, Millie, around on the back of his motorbike.
Rather than sitting on the back of the bike, Cookie sits at the front shielded from the wind by a screen, and with £60 specialist goggles protecting her eyes from dust.
The furthest distance Cookie has travelled was 50 miles from home in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, for a camping trip.
And she has been on the motorway once, but at slow speeds.
Dave said: “We are both into bikes, I’ve been riding for 15 years.
“We both love bikes, that’s how we met, and the other love we have is dogs.
“When our old dog died we thought Mojo wouldn’t cope well with another big dog, so we got Cookie.
“Then last year we met a friend who takes his dog, Milly on a motorbike – before then, I didn’t know much about dogs going on bikes.
“It inspired us.
“We thought it was a way to combine the two things we enjoy.
“It was a way to take Cookie on an adventure.”
Cookie’s first experience of going on a bike was short trips around the estate, to get her used to the noise, and wearing goggles to protect her eyes.
But she enjoyed it so much that she now gets impatient with the slow process of getting ready for a journey – and eyeballs Dave from the window of their home when he goes out for a ride without her.
Dave said: “She gets a bit impatient – she likes to watch the world go by.
“When she gets off, she’s so hyper.
“If I go out on the bike myself she will stand and watch by the back window.”
Cookie travels in a special tank bag, and her eyes are protected by Rex Spex goggles.
She even looks the part in a little denim jacket, with patches sewn on including one which reads ‘small dog, big adventures’.
And her easy-going temperament makes her a perfect passenger, social care worker Dave says.
Other bikers are envious of Dave’s travelling companion and Cookie turns heads wherever she goes.
Cookie does not have a helmet as none could be found which were suitable, but Dave is optimistic one could be made to fit her.
He said: “I’ve got to try and keep her safe at all times.
“As long as she enjoys it, that’s what counts.
“She faces to the front and there’s a screen by her head, but her ears flap in the wind.
“We’ve just been trying for a few months now.
“She gets bikers coming up to her who are quite amazed.
“We get quite a lot of attention – she knows when people are watching and smiling.”
Dave and Cookie have been taking small steps getting her used to it over a few months.
The proud dog owner added: “I’d recommend it.
“She’s just been on a camping trip and on a motorway once, but I try and avoid them and go on back roads.
“She’s dead easy going.”
Cookie could soon be the most glamorous dog in Scotland if Dave can find a leather jacket for her to wear, and a contraption to allow her to travel on Deborah’s Harley Davidson.