It’s been a while since we had a Charlie update, so I thought it might be fun just to look at how my sweet, wild pup handled her first (and only, to date) vacation since she became a part of the Fogle family.
During my recent road trip up to the Richmond & DC area, Charlie came along for the ride. I have to say, it was quite a treat to take her traveling with me for the first time (normally when I travel, she has a dog sitter or goes to a day camp). She didn’t stay still much, (there were just too many fun things going on), but I did manage to snap a few photos of her throughout the trip. She isn’t the kind of dog who can run around in a new place without a leash, so I bought a tie-out and thought we’d be good to go. Those ears still kill me!
For the record, she did not behave herself very well for the first few days. The first part of the trip started in a place called Deltaville, Virginia, which had a beautiful view (I love those cotton-candy sunsets!) and a convenient dock to enjoy the river. The fireworks spooked her though, and she escaped not one, but three times during the first 48 hours of the trip (I was very embarrassed for inconveniencing people because of it, but everyone was extremely understanding and helped track her down… phew). As a result, she’s now got a brand new harness that seems to really keep my strong but skittish gal in check.
She also really liked barking at the fireflies whenever the sun went down.
But unlike how I struggled at first, Charlie definitely figured out the whole relaxation thing pretty fast. This was, like, Day One.
The guest house pictured in these photos was dog-friendly, so I (thankfully) didn’t have to feel self-conscious when she made herself at home on the furniture (the owner had another dog who was also lounging around, so I guess Charlie just decided to go along with local customs to fit in, ha).
Later on in the trip, Charlie also came along for a quick two-day stay in Virginia Beach. The guy I went with and I thought we were pretty well-covered by finding a dog-friendly hotel, but for whatever reason, the hotel turned out to be several miles away the area of the beach that would actually allow dogs. No matter — we just drove over and walked her down to the water’s edge. Which turned out to be… well… interesting.
Before this, Charlie had never seen sand, the ocean, or understood any part of how that environment worked. For a dog who gets nervous just trying to go from rug to hardwood floors, it’s putting it mildly that Charlie was kind of uncomfortable with the whole concept (except watching all of the other dogs happily running around, digging, and running into the ocean, that is). Sadly, she lasted all of five whole minutes.
The second that evil, cold ocean water hit her front paw (about 30 seconds after I snapped the photo above), she did her best impersonation of a dog in real, mortal danger and promptly flipped out. We took her back to the hotel and continued the trip, but with a few more funny memories for me to share. :)
Charlie may have handled the whole trip pretty much exactly the opposite way I did (relaxation = instantaneous, enjoyable activities for humans = made of NOPE), but I’m thrilled I got to have my crazy pup along for the ride. She is suck a kook, and every new experience is a guaranteed riot!
Have you ever taken your dog on vacation? How do they handle it?
The post Charlie’s First Vacation appeared first on The Ugly Duckling House.
Website // Subscribe // Advertise // Twitter // Facebook // Google+
from The Ugly Duckling House http://www.uglyducklinghouse.com/charlies-first-vacation/
No comments:
Post a Comment