the Curious:

The Good: Its about as snuggly as he ever gets - he rides sacked out in the back but with his head resting on a pillow to protect the console between the front seats. And because Wayne asked me to lengthen the tether to give him more room, sometimes with his snout resting on top of the driver's head

The bad? I've taken to wearing long sleeves and pants as well as keeping jacket in the car - the big boy loves the air conditioning. It gets COLD in there, even when it's 74 outside.

The Hilarious? We stopped for ice cream at a cute little stand - complete with miniature 50's gas stations, an old boat on display and other stuff. Including a statue of a pony just a bit bigger than Ami. Here's how it went:

Ami sees the statue, walks to within 10-15 ft. Stops. Sniffs. Starts to slink
down, and creep forward. Stops. Sniffs, advances, retreats. Sniffs some
more. Continues to cautiously creep forward, with quick hasty retreats. Finally
approaches the thing, very, very cautiously sniff the whole perimeter.
Satisfied, he lifts his leg and pees on it. Then leaves, full of confidence

And the curious - I swear this is exactly how it happened. I have a travel pack with 2 collapsible dog dishes. Ami was on his line in son's backyard. I left him in the morning with 1 dish full of water and the other full of kibble.

When I went back out with the kids an hour later, the water dish was collapsed and upside down about where I left it. The food dish nowhere to be seen. I notice that Ami's snout has dirt across his nose. My first thought is, oh no, Ami, you didn't. For 20 minutes I look around for disturbed dirt or leaf debris to see where he might have burried it. Nothing that I can see. Finally, exasperation, I say "Ami, what did you do with your food bowl " Ami walks 2 ft from me, starts nosing the ground, I notice a slight pile of debris, brush it away. And there is the food bowl...

Please tell me dogs do not have that sophisticated level of language...

he is hilarious with the statue with the creeping and then the peeing . i though it was just me, but Leo dose the same thing, i ask him things and he usually knows what I'm talking about . its a bit wired . but i like it, even though it makes me look a bit weird myself .

Amy, I'm betting the logic goes something like this:
"Ami, what sis you do with your food bowl?" Ami heard "food", associates food with the food bowl and she knew where that was ...

But they do have that level of understanding. I had a Lab who I could tell "get the stick/ball" and she'd bring back the right one. If she lost the ball after I'd thrown it, I could give her hand signals to direct her to where the ball was.

And I know you've seen the S&R Husky here who's being given directions by it's owner. People here have said that a dog has the intelligence of a two year old, I'd rather think it's a four year old.

And yep, I can just see creeping up on the statue and then peeing on it!

Al, I have no clue. I always say "dinner" or "breakfast". Flummoxed me, that's for sure.

I forgot the other part of the bad: we gave him some water while we were driving. Ami frequently aspirates a bit when he drinks. And then coughs to clear his throat. And sprays all over Wayne and I

So cute Amy, you always tell such a good story one where you can actually see it all as if you are right there.

That's one I learned a long time back; I always have water in the Jeep (of course I do, living in the desert) but they don't get it till I'm stopped somewhere. Avalanche has a really wet mouth and he'll stand on the console dripping all over me - if they have water in back, it just gets worse!

aljones wrote:

That's one I learned a long time back;  I always have water in the Jeep (of course I do, living in the desert) but they don't get it till I'm stopped somewhere.  Avalanche has a really wet mouth and he'll stand on the console dripping all over me - if they have water in back, it just gets worse!

OK, Al - any more helpful tidbits? Coulda used that info a little sooner...like before the shower

It did, however, make for a very hardy, shared laugh to break up the monotony of a boring car ride. As did his vocal invitations to play at the 5 hour mark - even though we had just stopped less than an hour before. Unfortunately, traveling with a dog is sort of like traveling with a pre-schooler newly toilet trained - if they give a signal, ya gotta stop, even if you think its a false alarm. Did the stop, he spent 20 minutes reading the pee mail, otherwise, nada

amymeme wrote:

OK, Al - any more helpful tidbits?  Coulda used that info a little sooner...like before the shower

It did, however, make for a very hardy, shared laugh to break up the monotony of a boring car ride.  As did his vocal invitations to play at the 5 hour mark - even though we had just stopped less than an hour before.  Unfortunately, traveling with a dog is sort of like traveling with a pre-schooler newly toilet trained - if they give a signal, ya gotta stop, even if you think its a false alarm.  Did the stop, he spent 20 minutes reading the pee mail, otherwise, nada

Of course I have a lot of helpful tidbits for traveling with dogs, I'm just full of them! (( and be nice! ))

These two are fantastic travelers - to the point that I have to remember that it's been three to four hours since they were out - I don't think either of them has ever "let me know" that they want to stop.

When we do stop though, I look for the most deserted part of a rest area, you described it right. First we have to check all the pmail, one dog going one way and the other one the other way, of course ... me tangled and hamstrung in the middle! Eventually they'll settle down, I'll get to relax with a cup of coffee, while they do their thing and then it's back on the road. Having a 30 foot lead on each dog, compounds the tangle but makes it easier when they settle down to just wandering.

I just spent a good 5 minutes wondering what "pee mail" was...

It clicked and now I feel like an idiot.

Amy, your storytelling abilities are exquisite. It's so descriptive and fun to read, even if sometimes i don't quite understand references...

tyler.jenkins.125 wrote:

I just spent a good 5 minutes wondering what "pee mail" was...

It clicked and now I feel like an idiot.

Amy, your storytelling abilities are exquisite. It's so descriptive and fun to read, even if sometimes i don't quite understand references...

Somehow the post giving credit where credit is due, didn't arrive

The "pmail" concept is courtesy of a member here, Hughie, who gave me some suggestions (as well as others) for our first trip with Mr. Dog. I loved the term, still makes me giggle, and use it often. It is sooooo descriptive.

It might be an active part of my vocabulary now... It is very descriptive. I mean, that is basically what they are doing!