Even with the new feeding schedule and a new puppy to monitor, I was impressed we made it out of the hotel within 90 minutes of getting up. This included play time for Page and having both girls walked long enough to "do both."
Luckily, Page was ready for a morning nap when she was loaded in the car. She didn't even move when we stopped for gas about 45 minutes out. In fact, she slept for about 2-3 hours before waking up and getting interested in her surroundings. She barked a few times, but soon decided that wasn't going to faze me. She tried to poke Devon through the crates where they overlapped, but she got the same response from Devon she'd gotten the night before - she was ignored!
Finally, she discovered one of the Styrofoam coolers that held her frozen raw dog food. Now this was interesting! She began to nibble on the lid. Great, I'm going 70 mph down the Interstate with no exit in sight! How was I going to stop this! Well blessings come in all shapes and sizes!
Two days earlier as we were cleaning up from our Golden Retriever club meeting where we have a pitch in lunch, Jim asked if I wanted to take some of the fruit he brought in my cooler as I was traveling. I jumped at the chance for a healthy snack as I was driving! I had the cooler open and a gallon bag of fresh fruit open beside me on the seat, and I was using a fork to skewer fruit as I drove down the road.
To distract Page, I skewered a piece of cantaloupe, reached back and dropped it into her crate. Bingo! She turned and wondered what manna was falling from heaven. Wow! The angels gave her a slimy orange toy! Soon I heard, "bark, bark, bark!" I glanced back to see her chasing this piece of fruit around the bottom of her crate, pouncing and playing with it. The cooler destruction was long forgotten! I only wish I had video for you!
Page was a trooper and the girls made it within 78 miles of Ohio before we stopped for gas and a potty break. I gave Page "lunch" of two kongs filled with Bravo and grain-free kibble. This kept her busy until the road put her to sleep again. Before I expected, but one more cantaloupe play toy later, we were rolling into our hotel in Ohio.
Once we were checked in, the girls and I had play time. Believe it or not, after 24 hours Devon decided maybe Page was an OK kid after all. Devon waited until I seemed distracted, so I was very quiet when I took these videos of their first play sessions. Once Devon saw me watching, she got a little more aloof again; she didn't want to let on that maybe this puppy was kind of neat!
After 1.5 hours of play, Page crashed. I took this opportunity to load them in the SUV (yes, again) and head to HYBAR to watch obedience classes. I take private lessons from Linda MacDonald of HYBAR, and she had said to come watch if I had time. I was really glad I did because I got to see more advanced work and proofing. Pauline and her Golden boy Blue was also in this class, so it was fun to see them work since I have not seen them do obedience. Page got to come into the building to say hello to some of the Golden crowd after the class.
As we headed back to the hotel, I ordered carry out, fixed a quick dinner for the girls, walked the girls and got my food. They watched me eat, then enjoyed evening play time. We also did another couple of sessions of clicker training before we went to bed.
Page didn't sleep as well this second night, probably due to lots of sleep and little activity during the day. She got me up 2 hours after we went to bed, and I did take her out. However, when she wanted to go out again 3 hours after that, I told her "quiet" and she didn't fuss much. I got up around 5:15 a.m. to take her out, and she did go. However, I did notice a damp spot on the towel in the crate. I think I misread the earlier request to go out and she had her first accident. My fault, but we'll both live through it.
No comments:
Post a Comment