Now here's a quandary. We've booked to go to a couple of Provincial Parks out of our immediate region, without the Tadpoles, but do we take the hound?
She's no great trouble when we're camping but she is a little limiting. We can't, for instance, wander into a little restaurant somewhere, nor a museum or a shop, at least not without one of us standing outside with the darling doggie. On the other hand, is it harsh to put her in kennels whilst we're out gallivanting?
On balance, and knowing that we have a very good boarding kennel close by, we've decided to go dogless. Sure, it's not a cheap option, but Willow's previous stays at Fargo Ridge have been successful, and she is deemed to be a star by the owner, Mary-Lou, and her kennel team.
So, Willow gets to visit Mary-Lou for a week whilst we get some unfettered adult time in our lovely Towed Haul. I may not be so sanguine as I drop the hound at her hotel, but it is for the best.
What do others do with their hounds?
My wife has had a couple of black Labs, lifetime pets. The agreement was we would have the dogs while I was working but once retired, if she wanted to travel with me, no dogs. Our Zelda passed away a couple of years ago and as of Friday, I'll be retired.
ReplyDeleteFor exactly the reasons you point out, I didn't want a dog for travel. I'll be shouted down for this but when you have a pet it's difficult to be spontaneous about stopping somewhere. Even before retirement it was difficult because we had to make arrangements at the kennel a week in advance, especially over holidays.
When I travel with the wife, I want us to enjoy the time together, not staying in the trailer with the dog. If your life style is to travel from camp to camp, where you can have your pet, then I'd say take it. If you would rather wander the countryside and stop where you want to stop, at attractions or restaurants, I'd say board it.
One other option, find a good neighbor that would be willing to come to your house daily to feed the dog and let it out a couple of times. Since we don't have a pet my wife has done this for our neighbors. They get a pet sitter and she gets a 'pet loan' for a week or so; win - win.
-Rich
Well, we have two and we're about to start full timing. I'm hoping that, by the time we start our long haul travelling in December, both dogs will be acclimated to our Mobile Manor and we'll be able to leave them comfortably at home. We do plan to spend Christmas at Disneyland with our Adult Children (22 and 27 by that time), and they have daycare there, thank heaven.
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