Monday last we did the final packing which put Emmy into a frenzy of excitement. She sees suitcases and knows that means she gets to go to the boarding kennel. Why that’s so exciting escapes me, but she loves it. Tilly used to as well, but she was still too out of it to realize something different was happening. Parker was just happy to follow me from room to room, sticking his inquisitive nose into everything. He was less than thrilled when I left the house with the other two dogs, not understanding that he was going with us.
Unfortunately for his comfort traveling, he had the runs that day. When it came time to climb aboard the car, he just stood at the open door of the Subaru, looking at me as if he had no clue what he was supposed to do. That’s when I realized that (1) he had never ridden in that car and (2) I was asking him to enter a car from the driver’s side, which he had never done before. But, with a heave of his hind quarters I got him in and off we went. It took several minutes for him to settle down, but once he did, he just went to sleep. Throughout the seven hour trip we made many stops -- not only for him, but for me (too many cups of coffee). He happily walked with Mike while I ran for the potty and then with me while Mike did.
We got to the hotel and unloaded the car while Parker investigated every inch of the room and then went to my son’s house. Lucy, the six year old Boxer, did not take to Parker. In fact, Lucy went nuts, snarling, trying to bite and generally making it very clear that Parker wasn’t welcome. Parker reacted by flopping down onto his belly (and peeing on the floor). A perfectly acceptable response -- it wasn’t his territory. But Lucy didn’t back off, going for his throat. Mike grabbed her collar and twisted and she didn’t desist until she started to run out of air. Lucy spent the week at Nana’s house.
Parker mostly was a perfect gentleman at my sons’t house, letting the seven month old baby use his head as a drum and his ears as a chew toy. He (Parker, not the baby) even let the cat walk over his head to get around the hordes of people.
I usually prefer that dogs leave the room altogether when people eat, but I figured it wouldn’t be a good idea this time, so I asked him to lie at my feet (he did!), although he was very alert to every bit of food that hit the floor. With four little girls, that was a lot. And I let him cruise the floor afterward for goodies.
As good a time as he seemed to have, he was very glad to get home Sunday late, for the first time in a week getting to run without a leash.
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