Safely returned from vacation!

Tug put his paws in the ocean- here I thought he was the ultimate weenie and he just walked up and looked at the ocean like "so what?" and let his paws get wet. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it but we did get photos.

We camped in an RV on the intercoastal waterway way off the Gulf Coast of FL. When we arrived it was WINDY. For 3 days it was WINDY. Tug couldn't believe his luck the first day- he had all three of his girls and a new vehicle to smell. We attached his long red house lead to the dinette's seatbelt and he could walk the whole RV. He spent most of his time on the sofa with whoever was sitting there. When we'd go outside his little nose would hit the ground and he'd sniff, sniff, sniff and then eat dirt. (sigh)

He was petrified the first night when we all went to bed. Mama and I shared the bedroom at the back and my sister opened the sofa into a bed. He got popped into his little folding "tent" crate which he'd never slept in and began to whine and yip from fear. Mama and I stayed quiet and let my sister handle it as his crate had to be out by her. She talked to him as we shut out the lights and, eventually, he settled in to sleep. He did wake up when Mama got up to use the loo and barked twice from fear since he couldn't see her. She spoke to him and he settled back down. By the second night he knew what to expect and was okay. The third night he wanted to go to sleep so badly he jumped in it and snuggled into the back end before my sister could even get the door zippered shut.

Okay, back to the wind- unusual for this time of year. Here's the thing- it was dang cold at night. The first night we arrived just before sunset and rushed around setting up the RV the way the instructional video had shown us before we left the rental place. We put on the air conditioner since we were all warm from hustling around. For the record: I did suggest turning it off before we went to bed. We all freakin' froze! We hadn't taken warm blankets and only had lap blankets we use when Tug's sitting on us. The next night we were smarter and all wore more clothes to bed and Tug got extra towels to sleep on as he digs in and gets cozy.

There was no room for Tug's "papers" so my sister, who was sleeping right by him, had to get up early every morning when he did his "gotta go" shuffle and get him outside. Usually, Mama has to wake him up but he was so cold he had to go! He was an excellent camper and mostly a good neighbor to the other dogs around us. Sunday morning some dog nearby started barking so Tug started barking and just wouldn't stop. I know he's a dog but I hate loud and obnoxious barkers so when he does it I just go nuts.

The only time he got the "crazies" was on Saturday evening when we gave him a sponge bath because he'd been to the dog beach two days in a row without a bath. We'd go in the late afternoon and it was too cold to give him a full bath. After a few minutes of being sponged off and having his feet put into a bowl of warm water to get the sand off he just snapped. He raced around like a lunatic for a few moments but it didn't last long.

Overall, we're really lucky with Tug. He doesn't mind car rides at all and even took to the RV pretty well. I can't believe he'd do well camping but we were in a nice place so the distractions weren't too distressing. He and Mama came home Sunday evening while my sister and I checked into a nearby state park to clean up the RV to return it on Monday (can you believe they're closed on Sundays?). Mama said when Tug needed to "go" he went and stood by the front door instead of the porch door. She took him to his "papers" on the porch and, instead of using them, he walked back to the front door (the only door out of the condo). He wanted to "go" outside on the grass instead- he'd just spent 3 days doing that and wanted to continue it. Poor thing had to re-learn that home is different from away but he's fine now.