Tucker’s First Road Trip: Part Four September 27, 2013

Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day. ~ lyrics from the poem ‘My Western Home’  by Brewster Higley

SO SLEEPY. After my big day yesterday, I just kept on sleeping in bed, even after my mom and dad got up. That has never happened before EVER. Maybe it’s because I like sleeping in the bed?

But breakfast beckoned, so I finally jumped off the bed. Then my mom took me to romp on the meadow again, followed by a walk around the Old Baldy Club golf course. We met a pretty Dallas dog named Bella, who was very friendly. She was an apricot colored, curly haired fluffy sort of dog. Our moms both made a date to meet again at the Puppy Camp later this week.

After that LONG walk, I lolled on the screen porch, just enjoying the cool breezes while my mom read a book. Dad was out doing something called “fishing”.

Then Mom took me to play downstairs with our black Lab friends, Jules and Fenwick. Fenwick had a toothache, and wasn’t feeling very well. His mom thought that I might cheer him up, and I think I did take his mind off his troubles a little bit. Wherever I went to the bathroom, good old Fenwick hauled himself up and went there, too. What a copy-dog!

Afterwards, my mom and I had a quiet afternoon, and because it rained, we just stayed in our room. It was so nice to catch up on our beauty sleep! The rain made it so cold outside; I really liked that breeze that blew through the screen door.

Score! I got another new bone to chew on tonight while my mom and dad went out AGAIN. But I kept wondering why they didn’t want to have that man just deliver their dinner up to our room every night? Oh well, that bone was enough to make me forget about them for a little while.

They did eventually return, and we had another restful sleep, altogether in that big bed. I think I loved that more than just about anything.

Once again, when morning dawned, my mom took me on another morning romp in the meadow. Then she took me on walk along a trail that wound around the perimeter of the OBC. It was more like a path through the wilderness as opposed to a stroll through civilization (i.e. golf course). There were sure some interesting things to sniff, thanks to all the different flowers and wildlife around here (deer, foxes, chipmunks, snakes, etc.). I’ve never smelled such things before!

Then we walked up to where our house will be built, and met one of our new neighbors. She said that she would be bringing her dogs to Puppy Camp tomorrow, too, so that just made me look forward to it even more!

But the most amazing thing about meeting this new neighbor is that (long story short) her son lives on our street back in Houston! He lives just two houses away from us. I like his dog, Max, and I just knew that I would like his mom’s dogs, too! My mom kept saying, “it’s such a small world.”

My mom also said that I was helping her to make new friends, because everyone we met stopped to greet us and exclaim about how I prance like a pony when I walk. Rule for all dogs: If you want to meet people, prance like a pony!

Tune in next week to read about Puppy Camp!

Tucker’s First Road Trip: Part Three September 21, 2013

(Note: This is the third installment of a series about Tucker’s first road trip; he was a champ in every way, and we had so much fun!)

A River Runs Through It ~ by Norman Maclean

Oh, what fun it was to romp in a GIANT meadow with my mom before breakfast this morning! The sun was shining, and it was cold enough for her to wear a jacket. We were so silly! Except she got winded easily, but I didn’t. She blamed it on the altitude. I scoffed at whatever altitude is, and ran my fool head off, barking all the way (ha ha ha! Or rather… arf, arf, arf!)

After breakfast (in my own bowl, of course), we all walked and walked and walked some more, up and down what they call “hills”. I saw my first deer, which was so exciting! If I hadn’t been on a leash, I would have chased it down and herded it like any good Sheltie would do.

What different smells there were in Wyoming! And what an interesting thing a river was. I had never seen one before. I wasn’t too sure what one does in a river, because I am not too keen about baths. Who cares about getting wet? But my dad tried to explain to me about fish and fishing for them. I figured that if I saw a fish, I might understand better.

But the most fun about this day was meeting my new friends, Whitney, Jules, Fenwick and Murphy. Three black Labs and a King Charles Cavalier. Boy did we have fun playing together! And we all got treats! All our respective moms told us that we’d all get to play together again later at the weekly Puppy Camp. We couldn’t wait!

That night, my mom and dad left me alone in the room while they went to dinner. They were worried that I’d bark a lot, but actually, I was pretty quiet. Mostly it was because I was so tired, but I think the fact that my mom brought me a new bone to chew on every day helped!

I don’t remember ever being so tired…

Tucker’s First Road Trip: Part Two September 13, 2013

Note: This is the second installment of a series about Tucker’s first road trip; he was a champ in every way, and we had so much fun!

I think I can, I think I can… ~The Little Engine that Could

(Read the post below this one for the first installment, which ended with:

“The next morning, the sun was shining, the air was COLD and look here! I got breakfast, just like at home! It’s going to be a good day…”)

Day Two

But then we got back in the car again. Once more, I sat up in the back seat most of the time and looked out the window to memorize the way home (just in case). Hmmm. I wondered what were those funny looking things sticking up out of the ground? My mom said they are called “mountains” and that we’ll get to hike on some of them when we get to a place called “Wyoming”. I was so confused! I was learning all sorts of new things I never knew existed. Like, what does “hike” mean?

WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! Yikes, all of a sudden it felt like we were on a roller coaster! I wanted to say, “Dad, slow down!” Mom explained that we were going over the Raton Pass, and she always tells everyone she ever has ever met about her experience driving a U-Haul truck and hauling a car on a trailer over said pass.

Going UP the Raton Pass is no fun in a U-Haul truck; she was seriously channeling the “Little Engine That Could”. Going DOWN was such a huge relief. Then she drank wine that night and slept soundly in Amarillo.

Now, where were we? Ah. Back to our current road trip, I kept flapping my ears, and Mom wondered if dogs’ ears pop when climbing in altitude. I’m not sure what that means, but I think the answer is yes.

All of a sudden, I discovered that if yipped a few times, the car would stop for a break. Dogs rule. But mostly, I just kept sitting up and looking out the window (memorizing the way back home, just in case).

Once I got to sit in my mom’s lap in the front seat, as we were driving on a very windy (not WINDY: marked by strong wind or by more wind than usual, but rather WINDY: WINDING- there is a difference!) road through the Snowy Mountains. She was worried that I’d get carsick with all the lurching, because of course, Dad was driving in his usual fashion.

FINALLY, after being in the car for another nine hours, we made it to the Old Baldy Club in Wyoming! Our room was on the 2nd floor, which was a bummer, because I don’t like stairs, and I especially don’t like open stairs. I don’t like elevators much, either, but they sure beat open stairs!

At first, I wasn’t sure about this new place that required my using the stairs or elevator. And the screen porch was kind of scary at first, too. I wouldn’t cross the threshold from the carpeted living room to the flagstone porch. But with some yummy temptations, I did it, and discovered that it wasn’t all that bad out there! Soon I was hanging out there with my mom and dad. It was great to feel the cool breezes and sniff the interesting smells. I decided that I will like Wyoming, too.

Later that evening, we all took a walk to see the lot where our new house will be built. This will be my new yard! We stood there and watched the sun going down in the western sky.

After we returned to our room, a man suddenly brought dinner for my mom and dad. It turns out that my mom didn’t want to leave me alone that first night, so they ate dinner out on the screen porch. That was interesting. I’ve never seen a man who delivers dinner at home (well, I guess the pizza guy does, but he doesn’t set the table and do all that other stuff).

It had been another very long day, so I was happy to go to bed, even though I had to go up and down in the elevator to “do my business”. My mom and dad let me sleep in the bed again, and ahhh… I remember thinking that I was going to like Wyoming!

Tucker’s First Road Trip: Part One September 6, 2013

(This is the first installment of a series about Tucker’s first road trip; he was a champ in every way, and we had so much fun!) 

You get educated by traveling ~ Solange Knowles

Day One

It’s really hard to type with paws, so it has taken me a whole month to write down my memories of my very first road trip (up to Wyoming).

Let me begin by saying that I love to ride in the car. My mom takes me wherever I am welcome, like to the cleaners, our church, the drive through bank (where they send me cookies in that little carrier thing!), the pet store and the Buckingham, where I visit my two grandmothers and all the other nice people in the hall. She takes me to the gas station and opens the windows for me to see her while she pumps gas. She even takes me to the trophy store and the place where she gets her running shoes! I love meeting new people, and they all seem to love me, too! Maybe it’s because I have perfected what my mom calls my “happy dance”.

She’ll say, “Come on Tucker, let’s go for a ride!” and I come running.  I like to sit right behind her, close enough for her to touch me. It’s really fun when Mom rolls the window down, and I can stick my head out.

So about a month ago, she and my dad were scurrying about, packing up suitcases and ice chests, along with some groceries and curious things like fishing poles. Then Mom said, “Come on Tucker!” And I was all like, “Yes! Where are we going now?”

Funny, once I got in my usual spot, I discovered that there wasn’t much room to move around; there was stuff in the back seat and the other middle seat; all I had was my one little spot. I wondered what my food and water bowls were doing on the floor…

So off we went. We drove for a very long time, then we’d get out briefly in strange places. Mom would find a spot of grass for us to walk around and stretch our legs while Dad pumped gas. They tried to get me to drink some water, but I wouldn’t do it, even though it was Houston water and it was in my own water bowl. Oh well!

Then it was lunch time, so we stopped at a roadside park and had a picnic. Or rather we tried to have a picnic, but the ruler of the roadside park decreed that no dogs were allowed by the tables and pointed us to an area where there were no trees and no places to sit. Of course, being Texas in July, it was blisteringly hot. So Mom and Dad assembled their sandwiches and we just drove on. I got a piece of cheese, so I was happy! I don’t think Mom and Dad were as happy as I was.

I kept looking out the window to memorize the way home in case I somehow got left behind, a la “The Incredible Journey” dogs (one of my mom’s favorite movies from when she was a kid. She always cries at the end).

FINALLY, after eleven hours of driving, we arrived at a place called New Mexico. I didn’t know there was any other place besides Texas! My mom kept saying that this would be the first time I had ever stayed in a hotel. I didn’t know what a hotel was, but as it turned out, we were all in one room with my bowls and toys and cookies!

There was even a little park with a little fire hydrant, the perfect doggie spot, with other dogs to meet. Oh, and the best part was that it was chilly there in New Mexico! I think I’ll like living in this place called a hotel forever!

I was SO tired, I quickly fell asleep, exactly where I do every night, right next to where my mom sleeps. That way, in case she gets up in the night, she always steps on me to wake me up so I can go with her wherever she goes, because that’s my job.

Well, this time, I woke up instead of her. All of a sudden, I wasn’t sure where I was, so I jumped up and didn’t know what to do. My mom was totally crashed, but my dad heard me, and he got up to take me outside (just in case).

Well, do you know what happened next? He LET ME SLEEP IN THE BED with him and Mom! I snuggled up next to my mom and felt so much better. I don’t know how she felt about it, because she didn’t sleep much after that, since I quickly learned how to be a bed hog, oops I mean, DOG.

The next morning, the sun was shining, the air was COLD and look here! I got breakfast, just like at home! I knew it was going to be a good day…