It was overwhelming for Heidi, but she did well. She's a great traveler in the car (sleeps the whole way). She did get anxious being around new dogs and lots of people and children, but she was very good. She did have an accident the minute we walked into my in-laws house, on the rug no less, but it was my fault. I hadn't realized that we hadn't actually let her out to use the bathroom in several hours. Otherwise, she did well.
Back home now, enjoying the gorgeous spring weather. All the windows are open, the fans are on, and temperature is perfect.
Other new things: I got my latest bonus check from work (quite large, given the slow economy and generally slow season), as well as our tax return (quite large thanks to the contribution of the $8000 tax credit for buying a house). With that, we were able to firmly establish our emergency living fund, buy Jim a car (in cash), and buy a new stainless steel fridge and microwave for the kitchen (appliances are phase 1 of the kitchen remodel).
All in all, it's been a nice week off from work.
4 comments:
Heidi must think she is in heaven now!!
She looks like she is so good in the car, that is great, it makes it so much easier to travel.
but *cough cough* I don't see a seatbelt on Heidi.... a good seatbelt will still allow her to standup, change position, lay down and keep her from becoming a missile if the brakes happen to go on suddenly..
I'm just saying...
You know, having never owned a traveling dog before, I was a little concerned about the seatbelt thing. It occurred to me that if we - god forbid - had a car accident, she would be a rather large object unsecured. I wasn't sure how to use a seatbelt on her so that she would be comfortable and could lie down. I will give this some more thought. I know they sell dog specific seatbelts, but can you use a regular seatbelt for this? How do you do so?
I have tried numerous seatbelt systems ( note total waste of money )for my dogs and my biggest complaint was that the dogs got twisted up when they moved around to get comfortable. Or if the end fit into the actual seatbelt buckle it never stayed attached. All of a sudden I had a dog on my lapt in the frint seat. The seatbelt attachement didn't have any kind of swivel to prevent the twisting up.
Then I found this System.
http://canineauto.com/champion.htm
It is by far, bar none the best system I have used. I am in Canada and for some reasaon it was a pain getting them here but you can't pry them out of my hands now. They were worth the hassle of getting them.
My dogs are comfortable, they don't get twisted up because the lead swivels and the restraint strap can be left attached and they do not get in the way of someone wanting to use the seatbelt (human that is ).
I am not trying to push this model specifically just the design... It is awesome.. Make sure if you get it get the restraint strap as well that attaches to the harness. I can't remember if that was aseparate item when I ordered.
Look around, do your own research but make sure it has a swivel system and does not buckle into the seatbelt.. ie. that was a PITA!
Thanks for the suggestion, I am looking into it as I type.
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