No New Blog This Week

I'm not even going to try to tell you everything that happened this week that simply erased the time in which I normally write my blog.

Over at the right you see links to all my posts on travel in India, Nepal, Italy, and Japan, as well as some general blogs on travel and the first three posts on travel with pets. If you haven't seen some of them, here's your chance.

If you haven't read last week's blog post, find it here.

Otherwise, see you next week with a post on travel with cats.

Traveling With Pets, Part Three

Each Dog is Different

Cuddles was a timid little dog who had been raised without much love or attention. He was very eager to please, but he was terrified of riding in the car. Before I rescued him, he had been in a car only once--when he was taken to the pound, where the person he had relied on deserted him, and bigger dogs beat him up and peed on him. I took him home in my car, and the next day took him to the vet, where he was poked and prodded and given shots.

I did think about the fact that his only positive rides were going home from the pound and the vet, while he was still traumatized, so I started putting him in the car when I went to the post office, or on other short trips, so he would learn that not all car rides led to trauma.

By the time I got Cuddles, I figured that it was best for him to travel in a crate. His first long trip was to Michigan, for MediaWestCon. I have no idea what made me think that going to a science fiction convention would bring the little dog out of his shell, but I turned out to be right. What I didn't expect was for him to be carsick!

Before we headed for Michigan, none of our practice rides were long enough for him to get sick. It was a good thing I had him crated for his first long trip--much easier to hose out a plastic crate than to clean upholstery!

But that was the only time Cuddles got carsick. He had a grand time at the convention, where everyone fussed over him and petted him and gave him treats. From then on he was willing to travel in the car, though he enjoyed being new places more than the journey, and he was a regular attendee at MediaWest*Con for the next dozen years.

Cuddles didn't really like riding in his crate, but he wanted to ride in my lap, which of course would not do. I could put him on King's chain if King were not with us, but it was heavy on the considerably smaller dog. Besides, Cuddles didn't want to ride down on the floor.

Eventually I found a harness designed to be fastened to a seatbelt. That worked very well. Cuddles could ride shotgun, sit up, lie down, and get just close enough to me to put his nose on my knee but not interfere with my driving. He happily rode many hundreds of miles that way.

The secret to traveling with dogs who are pets rather than working animals is to make sure they trust you (not hard to do, dogs being naturally trusting creatures), and then try safe methods of keeping them comfortable until you find the one that works best for the individual dog.

Stop every two or three hours at a place where you can walk your dog--and of course stop earlier if the dog gets restless and starts to whine. One of the advantages of their habit of refusing to eat and drink on the road is that they rarely need extra pit stops.

Speaking of pit stops, the one most difficult for Cuddles was when we were guests of a convention in downtown Little Rock. It was the only time we stayed at a hotel instead of a motel. At a motel, I could toss my clothes on when we got up in the morning, and take Cuddles to the dog walk before fixing myself up for the day. But that time we were on the 9th floor of a hotel in the middle of the city--and the hotel didn't have a dog walk.

We were on one side of the freeway, and there was a park with a dog walk on the other side of the freeway, with a walking bridge over the traffic. Like most dogs, Cuddles grasped only "inside" and "outside." He was fine walking down the hotel corridor, riding down in the elevator, and walking through the lobby, but I had to fight with him not to lift his leg on the perfectly manicured bushes right outside. Still, by the second day he got the point that he had to wait till we got across the bridge and down into the park.

Speaking of elevators, Cuddles became quite sophisticated about them, as he rode them frequently both at the university where I taught and in our travels. "Elevator" was actually one of the words he understood--not unusual, as dogs can learn as many as a hundred words. Still, fellow conventioneers continued to be amazed that I could say "elevator," drop Cuddles' leash, and he would lead us directly to the nearest one. Fortunately, he would never go into one without me.

When we got on an elevator, Cuddles would always sit down--that way no amount of jolting would throw him off his feet. But dogs are creatures of habit--they like things to stay pretty much the same, and tend to assume that they are until something out of their experience happens. One time we were driving to Philadelphia, and stopped overnight at a motel in Pittsburgh. Obviously Pittsburgh gets very cold in the winter, so the motel had a sort of airlock for its entrance. I had luggage and Cuddles, opened the outer door, and we were in this little room just the size and shape of an elevator. So Cuddles sat down, waiting to be whisked upward! He was very surprised when I opened the door on the other side, although we hadn't moved.

King's life overlapped the first three years of Cuddles' life with us, and we already had Soolin, the siamese cat, so for a time I drove down to Florida and back with three animals. They all shared the same habit of not eating or drinking on the road, but only after we had settled in for the night. I don't really advise traveling with three animals at once, but it can be done if they live together at home and are good friends.

Next time: Traveling with Cats
______________________________________

Choosing the Best Dog for Your Kids

Homemade Dogfood Recipes

How to Care for Your Pet Bird

Worldwide Pet Sitting Directory

Click here for Seven Reasons to Visit India.

My posts on Travel and Cancer Survival begin here.

The series of posts on my trip to Japan begins here.

The journal of my trip to India and Nepal begins here.

The series of posts on my trip to Italy begins here.

Geezer-Chick's guest blog on York, England is here.

Geezer-Chick's guest blog about a fabulous carousel is here.

MATERIAL CONNECTION DISCLOSURE: You should assume that the author of this blog has an affiliate relationship and/or another material connection to the providers of goods and services mentioned in this message and may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

Traveling with Pets, Part Two

See more cute dogs at I Has a Hot Dog

Traveling with a Dog

When I got my first dog, King, I immediately had to figure out how to travel with him, because I adopted him while vacationing in Florida, and needed to bring him home to Kentucky. It was a case of "learning by doing."

King was probably nine or ten months old when I adopted him, which is the perfect age at which to adopt a mixed-breed dog. At that age a dog is still easily adaptable, but is the size he's going to stay, and you can tell what his coat is like (how much grooming you will need to do) and any other physical characteristics.

That first trip, I had no special travel gear for King. I didn't even think to try driving him around a bit, to see how he would behave! Instead, I just put Six, the parakeet (in his cage) in the back seat, put King in the front passenger seat, put some bowls and food and water in the car for him, and hit the road.

Until later dogs, I had no idea how lucky I was! King chose the floor in front of the passenger seat as his spot, curled up, and slept all the time I was driving. When I stopped, he was happy to get out and go for a walk, then get back in the car again.

I would never do that today. I just lucked out to get a good traveler as my first dog. He even had the sense to choose the safest place possible to ride, as I had no way to strap him in. Today practically everyone crates a dog for travel. I got King a crate before our next trip, but it was only so I could safely leave him in a motel room while I went out for dinner. That first trip was just after Christmas, so I could lock him in the car.

I learned a lot about traveling with a dog from King. He was a happy, friendly dog, and on that first trip north he did not yet feel protective of me the way he did later. It was on my next trip to Florida that his protectiveness proved a problem.

It was so long ago that there were no self-service gas stations yet--the attendant put gas in your tank. When I stopped, King was asleep on the floor in front of the passenger seat. He sat up, but stayed where he was, because I hadn't opened the door so there was no chance at a walk yet.

But then the gas station attendant came to my window to collect payment for the gas--and when he reached for it, King obviously thought he was reaching for me. He charged up off the floor, snarling at the poor man who had no idea what was going on. I grabbed King's collar and held him back--fortunately he didn't connect.

But that was when I knew I needed some way to keep King on his side of the car! When I got to Florida I told my parents about what had happened. My father came up with a solution: he bolted a two-foot length of chain under the glove compartment, and from then on every time I put King in the car I fastened it to his collar. He could still get up on the seat and look out the window, still sleep comfortably curled up in his favorite spot, but he could not get onto my lap or reach the window on my side.

I learned from King what has proved true for every dog and cat I have traveled with since: they will not eat or drink while we are on the road. Get a motel room, and they know we're staying for the night. Then they will eat and drink.

King was easy--he loved to ride in the car, even if he spent most of the ride sound asleep. My next dog, Cuddles, was not so easy.

Next week: A different kind of dog teaches different lessons.

______________________________________

Choosing the Best Dog for Your Kids

Homemade Dogfood Recipes

How to Care for Your Pet Bird

Worldwide Pet Sitting Directory

Click here for Seven Reasons to Visit India.

My posts on Travel and Cancer Survival begin here.

The series of posts on my trip to Japan begins here.

The journal of my trip to India and Nepal begins here.

The series of posts on my trip to Italy begins here.

Geezer-Chick's guest blog on York, England is here.

Geezer-Chick's guest blog about a fabulous carousel is here.

MATERIAL CONNECTION DISCLOSURE: You should assume that the author of this blog has an affiliate relationship and/or another material connection to the providers of goods and services mentioned in this message and may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.

Traveling With Pets, Part One

In order to post photos from some of my earlier international travels, I need to first locate the photos I took and then scan them. Yes, up until four or five years ago I used a 35mm SLR camera that required film. Remember film? Remember not knowing till the prints were developed whether any of them were good, too late to go back and reshoot?

Anyway, till I can find and scan photos from other trips, I thought I'd discuss something I've done for years within the United States: traveling with my pets. I travel by car, and these days take only cats and dogs. However, my first traveling pet was an unusual road trip companion, to say the least.

That first traveling pet was, believe it or not, a parakeet (budgerigar, to be specific). His name was Six, because I purchased him when The Prisoner was running on TV, and Six certainly thought he was a prisoner whenever the door was closed on his very large cage. At the time I had just gotten my first university teaching job and was still living in "No Pets" apartments.


But the rules allowed fish or birds. I had had my fill of short-lived goldfish, and I had a birdcage left from rescuing a wild bird fallen out of the nest, so I decided to get a parakeet. In those days birds were sold at Woolworth's, and our local store had a batch of healthy young birds. I studied them, and picked the one that climbed the bars to nibble at my finger instead of rushing away when I touched the cage. That boded well for the first rule of traveling with pets: make sure your animal companion is bonded with you and trusts you. It helps if he's not afraid of strangers, but the most important thing is that he trust the person taking him into unfamiliar situations.

Along with the little green bird, birdseed, seed and water cups, grit, etc., I bought a book on how to care for parakeets. It told me to put him in his cage, talk to him, give him food and water, but not open the cage for two weeks until he got used to me. Then, it said, take the cage into the smallest room in the house, close the doors and windows, and let him out.

I waited the two weeks, took Six in his cage into the bathroom, and opened the door.

Six hopped onto my hand, walked up my arm to my shoulder, and chirred happily into my ear.

So much for taming him!



Of course after he had reassured me that he was definitely my bird he did fly around the cramped space of the bathroom, and bump into the mirror. Later he would bump into the window and mirror in the living room, but only once each. Six was a fast learner.

Six was a most unusual bird, not afraid of anything. He trusted me from day one, and proved extremely easy to train. I quickly discovered that the one thing he hated was to be grasped with my hand holding down his wings against his body, so that was how I trained him not to perch on people's heads. I trained him to land on hands and shoulders, where he would receive treats.

And over the next few years I taught him to talk.

The books will tell you that male parakeets make the best talkers, but that if you have a pair they will chatter to one another and be unlikely to copy human speech. Six bonded with me and imitated what I said. We started with the traditional "pretty bird," and when he had conquered that I taught him "My name is Six" and "I belong to Jean Lorrah." I figured that if he ever got out and got lost, he would probably go to a person--and most people would want to keep a little talking bird. But if he kept saying he belonged to someone else ....

I don't know if you can microchip a parakeet, but there were no microchips in those days. You certainly can't put a collar with ID tags on him! I didn't know of anywhere to get an ID band for his leg, so I did the best I could to build his ID into him!

Of course he traveled in his familiar cage with all his favorite toys inside and plenty of food and water. I strapped it securely into the back seat of the car and fastened a towel around it with clothespins to protect Six from drafts.

He loved to travel! Three or four times a year I would drive down I-75 to visit my family in Florida, and then back again. Six chattered and talked and sang all the way. Singing and chattering indicate that a parakeet is happy.

So, with a rather unusual traveling pet, I figured out the basics of traveling with animals: keep your pet secure and safe, provide as much as you can of his familiar surroundings, and take along his regular food, treats, and toys. With a bird it's surprisingly easy, because he lives in a cage. But on the other hand, if you have a timid, easily frightened bird who is afraid of strangers, it's probably best to leave him at home with a friend looking in on him.

Next week: traveling with a dog.
_________________________________________________

How to Care for Your Pet Bird

Worldwide Pet Sitting Directory

Click here for Seven Reasons to Visit India.

My posts on Travel and Cancer Survival begin here.

The series of posts on my trip to Japan begins here.

The journal of my trip to India and Nepal begins here.

The series of posts on my trip to Italy begins here.

Geezer-Chick's guest blog on York, England is here.

Geezer-Chick's guest blog about a fabulous carousel is here.

MATERIAL CONNECTION DISCLOSURE: You should assume that the author of this blog has an affiliate relationship and/or another material connection to the providers of goods and services mentioned in this message and may be compensated when you purchase from a provider. You should always perform due diligence before buying goods or services from anyone via the Internet or offline.