We started out a little later than we intended to, but we made really good time on our trip.  We ended up stopping at a rest center in Vermont in order to feed the dogs and keep them as close to their feeding schedule as possible.  It was a little dicey taking them out of the car because there were lots of other people traveling with their dogs, and Delilah can get twitchy when she is on leash.

Chet took the dogs out for a stretch while I prepared their meals in the back of the car. We fed them on an access road and when they had finished Chet gave them a quick walk, while I went into the rest room and washed their bowls.   I was so happy to see so many people traveling with their dogs; as we were exiting the rest area, I suddenly remembered that I write a dog blog and hadn’t taken any pictures!  Immediately I took my camera out and kept it in my lap.

Sampson was somewhat unsettled after dinner and wanted to keep his head out the window, so I tried to snap his photo from the front passenger seat while we were speeding along at 75 MPH.  This is the best I could do.

In the meantime, Miss Delilah snoozed happily in the back.

We were traveling into some really dark clouds and could see the lightning in the distance; so I made Sampson bring his head back inside the car; a tornado had touched down in the area the night before so I was slightly nervous.

My sister had text me directions to get off the highway one exit sooner than we normally would; and take the back roads to her house.   She swears this takes about a ½ an hour off the trip, but the jury is still out on that one as far as I am concerned.   The rain had started slightly before we exited the highway, there are very few lights along the road, most of which came from houses we passed or the lightning that flashed over our heads.

The farther off the highway we traveled; the harder the rain came down, it came down in buckets.  There were times when we could only see about ten feet in front of us.  Chet was hunched over the wheel attempting to see and I was holding on to the ‘Oh Shit’ bar.  The road twisted and turned this way and that and then it started to hail.  The rain would left off and then it would come back with a vengeance.

We were greatly relieved to arrive at my sister’s house; although our initial entry was pure chaos with her three dogs and Sampson and Delilah reacquainting with each other.

Naturally as we began unloading the car the skies opened up and the rain poured down; the dogs stayed cozily in the house while Chet and I unloaded, by the time we had finished we were soaked to the skin.

It was while my sister and I were chatting that I found out something shocking; my sister has NO internet!!  OMG what will I do?  I have a blog to write!!   What I decided is I will still write every day, I just might not be able to post everyday.

Luckily for me my sister’s church has internet service, so here I sit, in the vestibule of the church; stealing their WIFI.

We are going to my sister’s house in New Hampshire this weekend.  It should be interesting because she has three dogs of her own, plus she has her 2-year old grandson until Sunday morning.  We should have some interesting stories to report. 🙂

When we travel with the dogs, they have their own suitcase/bag.  I choose this bag because 1) it holds a LOT.  2) The bright colors makes it very easy to find. 3)  The bag has “safari club” on it and it seemed fitting.

I like having all of their things in one place where they are easy to find.   This ensures that feeding time and any other situation that might arise has limited stress on my part.  So just what exactly goes into their bag?

1)  Their medical records (each dog has a three-ring binder that has their complete medical history in it.)

2)  Any medications they might be taking at this time (Delilah takes antioxidants and thyroid daily and since Sampson had his allergic reaction he is taking Benadryl.  I also threw some Benadryl spray in there just in case.)

3)  Their food bowls.

4)  A travel water bottle (with attached drinking bowl) filled with fresh water.

5)  My tick kit.

6)  My homemade flea spray.

7)  Their garlic tablets (which I use instead of topical flea/tick prevention.)

8)  Some toys (more than likely they will both lie down most of the trip, but just in case someone wants to chew something.)

9)  Their night-time snack.

If they were still on dry Kibble I would have packaged that up and carried that as well.  Since they are on raw now, that will go in the cooler.

I will also bring a bed for each of them, this doubles as a comfy place to relax in the car, and it also can be used in our bedroom.  I think it gives them a sense of security and peace to have some of their own things around them when we are away from home.

Flea and tick treatments are very costly, and in my opinion they are not healthy for your dog.

The health factor is more important to me than the money factor, although I don’t mind saving when I can. 🙂

I use Bug Off Garlic for my dogs, but I also use a topical spray when we go outside of the yard.  I have tried a couple of natural sprays that we found at the pet store and online, they work pretty good but they are somewhat expensive and then if you ordered online you have the added cost of shipping.

There is a wonderful woman, Sandy who has guided me throughout the raw dog food program and she gave me this flea and tick recipe to make at home.  I’ve just made up my first batch and will be trying it out this weekend in New Hampshire, but in the meantime I thought I would share the recipe here.

You need two lemons sliced thin, one sprig of rosemary, one quart of boiling water and three drops of Tea Tree Oil, which I picked up at Wal-Mart.

Place the lemon slice and the sprig of rosemary in a two-quart glass container and cover with the boiling water.

Let the mixture sit overnight. I forgot last night so I mixed it up this morning and let it sit in the fridge all day.

Squeeze the juice from the lemons into the container, transfer the mixture into a spray bottle.  I put a couple of the thin slices of lemon and half the sprig of rosemary into the bottle as well.  Add your three drops of Tea Tree Oil and shake the mixture up.  Keep the bottle in the fridge.

This has to be applied daily, but it is inexpensive and has a light fragrant smell.  I will let you know in a future blog how this works!