Meet our RV Dogs

 

Introducing Buddy and Hero

Anyone who knows us for longer than a minute understands our deep devotion to our fur babies.

Since 2004 we have owned four lovable labs (Ralf, Mia, Bella, and Jude) ... witnessed Mia give birth to three litters of puppies (Jude is one from the last litter) ... and adopted a very stubborn basset.

When the basset passed unexpectedly in 2019, we didn't think we could bear the loss of another beloved pet. We decided to hold off adding another dog to the family.

But the house was too quiet and I missed my constant companion. 

Two months later I discovered a senior dog rescue in our community: Always and Furever (fondly known as the Little Red Barn). I stalked their Facebook page for weeks before deciding to volunteer. One thing led to another, and soon we adopted Buddy -- a 12-year-old shepherd/chow/lab mix. Buddy came from a rural home filled with 73 cats(!) When he arrived at the Barn he was covered with fleas. But a good scrub in the tub gave him a clean, shiny coat and a sweet disposition.

Buddy is my shadow. He loves to sit under my desk and snooze while I write. He follows me everywhere, always in the mood for a few scratches behind the ears. To say Buddy is docile is quite an understatement. And I cannot imagine life without him.

Buddy came "home" in October. Six weeks later the Barn called and asked if we would consider fostering another lab mix... just until his court case was resolved 😳

The chocolate lab was found in a storage unit with a 7-month-old Malawa puppy. They were each in separate lay-down crates. No food and little water. Most likely caged for a month. The vet said the puppy had less than 24-hours left to live.

The lab heard voices outside the unit and began barking... and barking... and barking. Finally, the manager opened the door to discover the horrific sight.

The lab recovered in about two weeks. It took months for the puppy to hold her own. But both survived.

We of course agreed to take the dog. And we named him Hero because he is, in fact, a Hero.

Hero is about 8-years-old, 100 pounds of pure muscle, and Geoff's shadow (which is good since I don't have the strenght to handle him). He is a sweet pup, but as you can imagine, he suffers from anxiety. This often manifests as incessant barking.

A difficult conundrum. We don't want to silence the bark because it literally saved a life. But we need to help him control it.

Introducing Buddy and Hero to the RV

Before purchasing the RV, Geoff and I would travel about once a quarter. We have a fantastic dog sitter who loves these pups as her own. We trust her implicitly. BUT... we miss them when we are away 😕 We want to share our travels with our fur babies and not leave them behind.

The RV seemed the perfect solution. But I had two primary concerns.

First was Buddy's mobility issues.

He is a lethargic 13-year-old lab with arthritis. Would he be able to navigate the steps in-and-out? I investigated a truck ramp to aid the process, but we first decided to see how he did on his own.

Come to find out this sweet pup still has some agility! He is a little slow, but he manages to get up-and-down just fine. 

Problem #1 solved.

Now for hurdle #2: Hero's anxiety.

I anticipated both dogs would be nervous on travel days. Their typical car ride is about 15 minutes to the local dog park. We plan to cover 200-300 miles on travel days. The dogs panted quite a bit the first trip, which we tried to alleviate by frequent rest stops and water breaks. Anxiety levels seemed to decrease on the trip home, so hopefully they will soon acclimate to this mode of transportation. 

As you can see, Hero has dubbed himself the co-pilot 😀

Hero's Greatest Fear

What I did not anticipate, however, was Hero's reaction when Geoff leaves the rig. His anxiety is through the roof: constant whining, pacing, and jumping on furniture. I worried he would accidentally hit a control and set the coach in motion.

Necessity is the mother of invention. I quickly found a way to leash him to a set of double doors to keep him safe. And I stayed with him the entire time, softly speaking reassurances that he would be okay. I'm not sure it did much good.

I think something in Hero's past triggers this highly emotional response. When Geoff leaves the rig does it remind Hero of being abandoned in the storage unit? Is he afraid of being alone and neglected again? 

I'm hoping in time Hero understands we will never abandon him. And perhaps a good anti-anxiety prescription will help as well. These are issues we will try to resolve before the "big" trip in January. After all, we will need to leave them alone for a few hours to run errands.

In the meantime, we plan to take several short, local trips to help them adjust to this way of life. We love having them with us, and I'm (fairly) certain, they enjoy tagging along.