On The Road Again: Part 2

Apologies for the (very) late conclusion to our trip, but it’s been a busy few weeks around here!

Friday was nice and quiet for pups. People went golfing and shopping, and some fabulous naps were had. I even took the pups to a nearby park, where Sadie could wander off-leash, and Maxwell played fetch on his long-line. Even in the light drizzling rain, we had a great time. Sadie sniffed around, got treats for recalls, and beat on her brother. Maxwell got to burn some of his crazy energy, relax away from the crowd, and got lots of treats for getting called off another dog walking past.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, a bunch of us were going to take the train into Chicago to hang out and have dinner. My boyfriend’s parents would watch the dogs for us, though no real walks or anything would be needed.

We had a late lunch of take-out Chinese, which meant both our pups were under the table, praying for someone to drop food. Towards the end of the meal, my boyfriend rubbed Sadie with his foot for being a good dog. She was wet.

We got her up on her feet, and found that she had been lying in a puddle for some time. It wasn’t there when we sat down to eat, so clearly she peed herself and either a) didn’t notice, or b) didn’t care. Sadie hates being wet (unless swimming is involved) so I’m going with option a.

She also walked really funny, and kept trying to just lie down wherever she was. Poor thing looked miserable. Which of course means we made her even happier by getting her into a bathtub to wash off the urine. She had already stopped moving strangely by the time we finished cleaning her up, and she shook off like a normal dog. Someone suggested that she knew she had been bad by peeing in the house. I reminded them that she was probably scared and confused, since suddenly there were six humans fussing over her and acting strangely.

Our trip into the city was cancelled, and we stayed in to watch the dog. She drank a fair amount, and peed even more, but didn’t make another mess in the house. I made sure. I took her outside at least every hour until we went to bed.

Both dogs were ready to head home the next morning. They were totally worn out from all the people and lack of dog-naps, and probably missing their routines. Sadie even slept for a while on the road home.

It’s amazing how dogs seem to know when they are close to home. By the time we got to our exit, both animals were staring hard out the windows and panting. Sadie ran back and forth, driver-side to passenger-side and back again, whining. Maxwell sat on the center armrest and looked over his shoulder at the road ahead.

As we came in the door, we just dropped stuff on the floor until the car was unloaded. Maxwell’s bed ended up in the middle of the entryway, with Sadie happily ensconced. Maxwell patrolled the apartment, eventually settling on the human bed.

And all was right in the canine world again.