vacation countdown

Woooo hoooo! The camping trip to the beach is just over a week away now...3 women, a terrier and an RV. Sounds like the plot description for a National Lampoon movie, actually...

We have a great water front campsite, a screen room (dang no-see-ums), and (can I get an AMEN) a toilet in the RV!! I grew up tent and car camping but after my first pop-up trailer experience I swore off sleeping on the ground. I can pee behind a bush with the best of 'em but that first pop-up trip was also the first time I'd been around dogs while camping and those two had wet noses! (Right on my bare hiney!) Yeah, I figure Tug'd be the same way...

The place we're going to has a loop just for dog people so we know there will be a lot of 4 legged types around (who else would reserve a site there?). Space is at a premium while we drive in my sister's little SUV to get to the RV rental place about an hour away. Then we'll dump everything but Tug into the RV- he's riding with my sister- and we caravan over a hundred miles to our site.

We have to pack Tug's favorite toys, his new "just for vacation toys" (yeah, my sister will probably sneak a squeaky one in just to be mean), food, water, anti-nausea meds, rug for outdoor laying around, towels for wiping paws, towels for drying off, treats to eat, "tent" (a screen and nylon "crate" to sleep in which doesn't take up so much room to pack), tie out, leashes, harness, collar, vaccination papers, shampoo, and- the grand finale- lines to cover the dinette seats and couch in the RV in hopes of getting some of our pet deposit back (to keep the fur from getting into the upholstery).

Oh, yeah, then stuff for three women and food- did I mention it's a small SUV and an hour long ride to the RV place? LOL Hey, if we survive the first 60 minutes we're golden!

Finally!

After over a week of being blocked from posting and getting stupid 'security token' errors which aren't listed on the help page I'm finally back in! Boy, did I have a few cute stories about the boy- and none were saved as drafts, even. Oh, well, we'll just go with this:

Mama and I are idiots. Tug was on a pretty strict diet for his first year and then we went to training classes. What Mama has figured out- through trial and error- is that Tug's little digestive tract can't handle the peanut butter and cheese he gets as treats- even though it's tiny amounts. It would only be a little each week but she's now thinking that this is what had his stomach so messed up that when he got sick recently he couldn't recover quickly. It lasted for a few weeks. Now, after a few weeks off both of those items, he's our normal little boy again! YEA!!!!

Mama was out this evening and he was a pest but he also snoozed in my lap for awhile. We had gotten truly worried when he was sick and both just said "what would we do without him" but not looking at each other. We really can't imagine life without the little lick monster anymore...

Tug's Spring Outing

It was foggy this morning so we weren't sure we'd get to go to a state park for a picnic lunch. We were just going to stop for subs on the way so when it cleared up towards mid-morning we decided to go. The whole grilling thing takes so much more time that it'd have been to much of the afternoon.

Mama stayed in the car with Tug while my sister and I went in for the food. He just gets frantic when anyone of us leaves the car- even if Mama's in the backseat with him. Silly Tug.

He did enjoy the outing even though the park ranger at the gate was out of dog biscuits. I swear, he knows where he's gotten them before and gets excited as he drives up to those places. Of course, he's never gotten one at a toll both and gets excited there, too...

My aunt came over yesterday for a short visit and Tuggums was literally hysterical with joy. We thought he was going to hurt himself. That little pea brain just flips to "terrier" mode and it's all over. (sigh)

shout out!

Tug would like to give a "shout out" to the newest member of our extended family: Miss Dakota!

Dakota moved in today with a family friend a few states away- lucky dog! And Dakota's got it made, too! LOL

poor little Tug

Tug got sick again this week. He stopped eating and just stood around with his head hanging down like a cow at a fence. Mama took him to the vet for an IV, shots, blood draw and medications to take at home for the nausea that's making him feel so bad.

Remember that "treat slut" joke from other posts? The one about "if he can figure out what we want he'll do it if he sees a treat..." That joke is now officially dead. Apparently, pill-swallowing does not fit into that category. We're certain he understands because we hide it in treats and he eats the treat and spits out the capsule- funnily enough it's usually out the side of his mouth. Just "plop." sheesh. Mama's even put her fingers in there to try and push it down- like putting your fingers in a lion's mouth but he's been good and isn't biting.

He's feeling better and the blood work came out "fine." We still don't know what's going on...