Breathe...in and out...

Hopefully we are doing the right thing by deciding to take Sabaka with us for a long weekend to visit family. I have decided that at worst he will have to be in his crate in a bedroom with breaks to walk and potty (just like he would be subject to at a boarding facility).

There are some potential problems... Advice would be greatly appreciated...

1) My in-laws have a two year old, 18 lb, male Shih tzu/Bishon. Our dogs have never met. Before these two dogs, we both had female dogs who were the best buddies. Visits were great fun! I don't even remember how we kept our own dogs from eating the other dog's food. I know we did it, because our dog had food allergies. We're hoping this first meeting goes well!

2) Some young nephews are also visiting but not staying where we are. I just got word that they "do not know how to shut a door" including the front door. My SIL keeps her dog on a leash when they are visiting. The back door is usually safe since it opens to a fenced yard, but the kids were leaving the gate open so my BIL got ticked and nailed it shut...lol!

3) After talking to my SIL, it is obvious that the kids are afraid of dogs and act "strange"... like screaming and laughing and falling over. In our house, that kind of behavior means "come play or wrestle with me". If these kids are freaked over an 18-lb ball of fluff, what are they going to think when Sabaka shows up!?

4) Any excitement of this magnitude will cause Sabaka to get runny poo. I have a couple days before we leave to try one of those calming aids for dogs. I would not want to try it the first time when we are there and have issues with it. A few weeks ago we drove a couple hours away to a family reunion at a park. He behaved very well but had the diarrhea from excitement. Do you think I should try that for the initial meeting of ALL these people and animals...?

Whew... I hope this goes well...

Sounds like the kids need to be crated, not the dogs. Best of luck! That's tough enough with the 1 other dog, not to mention adding the kids to the mix! Can Sabaka get some quiet alone time in the yard?

Good luck!! How does he travel? Are you driving?

hollywoodhuskies wrote:

Sounds like the kids need to be crated, not the dogs. Best of luck! That's tough enough with the 1 other dog, not to mention adding the kids to the mix! Can Sabaka get some quiet alone time in the yard?

Well now... the kids' behavior is not one we will want to address during one quick weekend visit... if ever. You know how moms react when someone messes with their kids or their parenting.

The SIL and BIL that we are staying with will definitely understand and will work with us as much as they can. They love their little guy like crazy, too. So we will have 4 adults keeping watch over all the situations. They also have a cool, unfinished basement that I'm thinking could be a good "den" even if he needs to stay crated down there. It would be quiet, dark and cool.

The other kids are teens who know and have dogs, so they will be some help as well.

We are driving. He loves to travel. So I think he will do fine. He has never gone on a 5 hour trip before, so I'm guessing he'll be full of zoomies at the end! (Unless I try that calming med...)

Those teens sound like a great resource to take Sabaka out on walks (with proper lectures on not letting the dog off leash!) and play with him in the backyard! Perhaps tiring him out while ease the anxiety?

Don't get me started on people and their kids' behavior... My dogs have better manners than most peoples kids around here...hehe

Good luck Lisa! We take our dogs to big family get togethers all the time and it's chock full of crazy kids, tons of people, doors opening and closing, food out, little dogs running around all over the place...just general mayhem! I keep my chi girls crated almost all the time except when I take them out to feed them and also for walks and potty breaks. I usually keep our sibe, Dakota, on a lead that is connected to me at all times. It's less stress for me because I don't have to worry about him slipping out an open door or have to wonder if he's being too rough with other dogs or kids, or worry about him eating things he shouldn't. I always make it a point to take the dogs out at least every two hours if not more just to give them an "escape" outside for a little while...I know I also appreciate the little breather when I take them out as well!

I don't have any advice, just want to tell you good luck! I hope it works out so you won't have any issues with future family trips.

Well, we survived...

The two dogs played non-stop...seriously... I watched them take a brief time-out every hour or so to get a drink of water. It was like, "Here, have some water." "Thank you very much." "Now you take a drink." "Are you ready to wrestle again?" "Why, yes I am...LET'S GO!!" And then they were back at it. Inside... outside... It made no difference. Sabaka was stressed in his own crate at a strange house so we tried giving him some Relax tabs for dogs by GNC. It did not seem to make any difference.

Since the dogs had each other, they pretty much ignored the kids and the kids ignored them. The dogs would have been wrestling all over the house running into the twelve people there, so we almost always had them leashed or crated in the house so the open doors were not an issue. And our BIL had already nailed the gate outside closed for his dog's safety.

Poor Sabaka may sleep continually for the next three days!! LOL!! Bob "forced" him to go on a little walk tonight. He was not very excited.

GLAD TO BE HOME!

Sounds like it went great!

SabakaMom wrote:

...we tried giving him some Relax tabs for dogs by GNC. It did not seem to make any difference.

LOL Our vet gave us a prescription sedative for Dakota one time when we were traveling. Gave him the normal dose and it did nothing. At the vets advice, we gave him double the normal dose the next day and it still had NO EFFECT whatsoever...must be a husky thing.

Glad to hear things went so well. I may also look into some kind of mild sedative for my two for our 2000 mile drive next month...

glad the trip went well and now you should be ready for the next one
so having that other dog to play with on the trip did it lean you towards a 2nd husky.....

jbealer wrote:

so having that other dog to play with on the trip did it lean you towards a 2nd husky.....

Ha ha ha ha ha!!! I would love to have another... I just can't imagine how it could happen. I need to recover from the shocking vet bills of a puppy's first year. I would love to rescue. Actually I would have rescued this time but I also have a 10-year old who cannot handle death and loss so he's hoping to be at least 20 years old before we have to think about Sabaka's death. Before this we had always found or rescued our pets. Maybe in a few years he'll change his mind...

there are plenty of huskies out there needing homes that are under a yr but past all the "puppy" part of things