Road Trippin'

Tailor is an excellent road tripper! We took a week long trip which included driving 5 hours to/from VT, staying in 3 different hotels and him riding behind our bicycles for hours.

He still chews seatbelts and such in the car so we got a crate for him. He quickly realized we were on a long road trip so he fell asleep after a few minutes on the freeway. We stopped frequently at rest stops, so he'd potty, thank his adoring fans for also stopping at the rest stop to greet him, and we'd move on.

Our first hotel wasn't anything fancy since we were just there for a night. However, it still had a lake, so I was hoping he'd try swimming. No luck.

We rode our bikes from hotel1 to hotel2 and Tailor tried his trailer for only the 2nd time ever. We quickly learned that he was fine as long as one of us cycled behind the trailer so he could see one of us. Otherwise he'd howl...and it was true, ear piercing howls. The only time one of us didn't have to ride in back was when Tailor would fall asleep.

Hotel2 really made me think of New England. We had a cabin right on the lake and were surrounded by acres of grass. The grass included an excellent golf course, fine dining, tennis courts, children's daycamp, and more, but still had plenty of doggy running space. Again I was hoping Tailor would try swimming but he didn't want to. On one day, per the recommendation of some other dog owners, we chose the tough love approach. We walked him out on a dock and threw him in the water. He was only a few feet from shore so it was easy to swim back, but he wasn't crazy about it. For the rest of the day if we walked near the water he'd back up and not get near it.

That's it. We've officially traumatized our dog.

Tailor really took to the trailer and people thought it was adorable. Brian had a different opinion. Often he was the one right behind the trailer comforting Tailor. While we were sweating and torturing ourselves up hills, Tailor would look at Brian, lay down, give a slight yawn and go to sleep.

He was quiet in the hotel rooms. I'd typically give him a chewy treat to work on while we slipped out of the room and by the time he realized we were gone, he was ready to sleep. Hotel3 actually provided a plate of treats every morning for Tailor, so I think he liked hotel3 the most.

Our cheaper trailer taught us that you really do get what you pay for. Our trailer weighed twice as much as a high-end one and didn't roll as smoothly, which effected us on the hills. The spokes weren't even so we suffered through tire bulges, slight tire wobblyness and a fun-filled flat. The zipper wasn't durable so Tailer chewed it before we even started on our road trip to VT. On a positive note, it was easy to clean as evidenced by Tailer throwing up inside of it, and there were ample mesh windows providing good ventilation. Oh and we rode on a really rainy day and the inside of the trailer didn't get wet even though Brian and I were soaked through our water resistant cycling clothes.

07/13/07 Note: I'll add pics when I get on the other computer.