This year my first adventure is to travel across the country with my dog Seymour. My little chihuahua mix is the first dog I've had in over 20 years. I don't know what came over me, but last fall I got on a "I want a dog" kick. I spent many evenings looking at petfinders.com and some weekends going to local animal shelters. I almost got a chihuahua from a rescue group but they made it ridiculously difficult to adopt so I decided to try other places. One evening on a whim, I went to the Town Lake Animal Shelter in Austin, TX and saw a little chihuahua all curled up on his bed in his cage. I opened the cage (not sure if I was supposed to) and picked him up. He wasn't real cuddly but he didn't squirm out of my arms either. I filled out adoption papers but was told that 2 other people were on the list to get "Rico" - but because he was heartworm positive they felt that it would be good to add me to the waiting list also.
I went home and told my daughter about the dog and the next morning I received a call saying the first 2 people turned him down due to his medical conditions and I could have him if I wanted. Long story longer, my daughter and I went to see him again and he was the most pitiful looking guy around - skin and bones, kennel cough, hair rubbed off around his neck due to a collar that was probably too tight, and heartworms. He still had the energy to run frantically around the dog park sniffing at everything and pretty much ignoring me. The Animal Shelter gave me the name of a place that did heartworm treatment for a reasonable rate and they gave me a discount since he was going to need medical care. How could I pass up a bargain! And my animal loving daughter approved. I named him Seymour because I kept thinking of the plant in "Little Shop of Horrors" yelling "Feed me, Seymour" and someone really needed to feed this dog. When I took him home, Seymour refused to look at me for a few weeks but one day, he answered to his name and started looking into my eyes and I knew he finally accepted me.
He's now a healthy 6 1/2 pound bundle of love with a side of sass. He has made my neighbor and my daughter fall in love with him, which is great since I travel for work and they volunteered to pet sit.
Since I have only had him for about 6 months, I decided that my first vacation this year would be with him. I'm going to drive to PA to see my family and friends and stop and see the sights (that will allow dogs) along the way. My trip will start mid-July and will last about 12 days. I've already started buying the essentials, which include:
1. Doggie car seat - too cute. We've been practicing using it. He doesn't like his collar attached to the car seat because he turns around so often in it, he ends up twisted into weird positions. He will sleep in the seat about 25% of the time.
2. Traveling with your Pet - the AAA Pet Book. I got this from Amazon. It lists some dog parks, lodging, campgrounds and a few attractions that allow pets. I'm not sure this will be enough info for me. I need to know restaurants, stores that allow pets and pet-friendly cities. I may need to buy another book or do an Internet search. It's a start and I'm sure I'll learn more as I go. Already I have found that Lowes, Home Depot and Garden Ridge Pottery are OK with dogs in carts or being held.
3. Travel bowls - OK, this was not an essential but it's soo cute. It looks like a little round purse that opens up with 2 bowls inside - as shown at the top of this page. It's kind of girlie, but Seymour doesn't seem to mind.
4. Clothes - since Seymour will probably never see the people we're going to visit again, he needs to be spiffy. He has plenty of clothes and bandannas and luckily they don't take up much room. I don't think I'll bring them on his doggie clothes hangers (yes, they really make those, and no, I don't use them, but yes as embarrassing as it is, I do have some)
5. Dog food and treats - this is going to be a bit of a pain because I'll need an ice chest to keep his dog food cold. It takes him about 4 days to eat a can of dog food. The only treats he will eat are Jerky Tenders and he probably eats 2-3 a day. Luckily those are easy to pack and require no refrigeration.
6. Dog crate - I have to decide whether I should bring the big bulky crate that he sleeps in each night (with his little stuffed dog) or the smaller portable crate I bought. Maybe I'll bring both. By the way, Seymour sleeps with this little stuffed dog and every morning when I let him out of his crate, he makes sure he takes his stuffed dog out of the crate also. He doesn't play with it, he just drops it somewhere in the room and there it stays until it's time for bed.
I have less than 2 weeks until we leave and I've been trying to teach him some tricks to impress the friends and family. For some reason, he will not learn "sit" and forget about "shake" or "roll over". He knows "stop", "lay down" and "stay" and that's about the extent of his "tricks". He'll just have to win them over with his cuteness!
I plan on bringing my computer and updating this blog frequently. I'm even going to bring my camera and hopefully add some pictures. I'm starting to get excited.
More planning to come -
