On the Road :(

Why do I give my blog title a sad face? It is because I have left CA for 2 months of military training in MS, and as a last minute change of plan I left the dogs behind. I think that qualifies for a sad face.

Please no lectures (from anyone!) about how this was "a mature decision" or "it is for the best" because I knew all along bringing my dogs with me was not the best choice, but I didn't care. I had a plan and had everything worked out. I do not thinking taking them would cause any problems, but when people at work started questioning me about what I was doing with my dogs when I was gone, and 2 people came right out and asked if I was taking them, I was forced to change my plans. I could not tell these people I was not taking them, and then take them, because that is lying and is wrong in any circumstances, and in the military will get you in extra huge trouble. I could not tell these people I was taking them because I knew that was not what they wanted to hear. Which meant I had to tell them they were staying with my best friend, and then change my plans to make that true.

So, I had to call up my best, most trusted friend ffluffy, who luckily had already offered to take them before I had my trailer plan in place, and tell her I was taking her up on the offer. I welcome comments on how I can make it up to her. Taking care of 3 extra dogs, 2 of them Malinois and one a Malinois puppy, is not something to be taken lightly. Maybe I should nominate her to the Pope for sainthood. What miracles can I attribute to her? Hmmmmm..... I'll have to think about that one more. Seriously, it is a huge deal she is doing this for me.

Now I am in a lonely Motel room in Van Horn, TX. No dogs. And no dogs for 2 months. I already have dog envy, watching people at the gas stations walking their dogs. I know my dogs will be fine with ffluffy but I am the one who may not be fine. However, leaving them with her was a lot easier than leaving them in a kennel, or at home with someone coming over twice a day. They love ffluffy and her house is lots of fun too. She might enter Pie or Dottie in an agility trial or two.

I did not leave any dogs with my parents (for those who are wondering) because they did not offer to take Dottie (gee, I wonder why?) and Fancy pesters Molly and Pie needs her Pie Pill at certain times of the day and is also not allowed to play with certain toys and maybe that sounded like too many instructions. Plus, since they wouldn't take Dottie, and I knew none of ffluffy's dogs would appreciate a Mal pup chewing on their limbs, I thought Dot and Pie should stay together so Dottie could have someone who didn't mind her type of play. Which means everyone ended up at ffluffy's.

They had better behave themselves. And I hope Fancy does not become too depressed and think I abandoned her forever. She constantly harbors that suspicion, even though I tell her it would never happen. Pie and Dottie are happy to see me, like any dog, but Fancy is very frantic and desperate when she greets me. It makes me sad to think she is constantly worried about being left behind.

As I was packing up the car I propped the front door open, and Pie kept coming about a body length out and just standing there, even though she knows she is not supposed to come out unless I tell her too. I kept telling her to get back inside, then I realized what was going on and just let her get in the car. She knew there was a trip coming and did not want to be left behind. It was also nice that I was able to take the dogs with me on the first leg of the journey (ffluffy lives in AZ) rather than leaving them in the house and driving off. That would probably feed into Fancy's fear of being left behind.

Here is me at a rest stop in TX... somewhere. I wasn't actually happy to be there, but have been conditioned to smile for cameras. I want to photoshop the dogs in
with me....

Me and the trusty oh six Buick- 98000 miles. Will hit 100000 soon!


PS- I think it should be a law that any truck carrying a wide load must state what the heck that thing is so you are not left to wonder. There are some strange huge objects traversing our nations highways.