8 weeks 2 days
2011/03/21
We have to get up at 4:30 AM. This is 2:30 AM my-house time, so Sync is well and truly in a bad time-zone spot. We drive an hour to the airport in Detroit while I try desperately to keep her awake. She undoubtedly looks on me now as the worst kind of pest - she's trying to sleep and I'm poking, prodding, and generally annoying her. At one point I put her front paws on my shoulders and stand her up on her back legs on my lap, and she falls asleep in that position. We stop several times to run her around the car to empty her out and wake her up. We're failing dismally in the wake-up department. This is the last time she'll ride in a car without a seatbelt harness or a crate.
At the airport, I stuff her into her little travel bag, hook the travel bag to my rolling suitcase, and off we go. I check the suitcase because I've got my purse and the dog bag, and there are shampoos and conditioners in the suitcase for another dog - too much liquid to carry on the plane. That means I have to walk through the airport carrying my purse and the dog bag. She's up to 8 pounds now, which is, really, nothing, until I hook it over my shoulder and have to walk half a mile carrying it. By the time I get to the gate, I'm convinced that 8 pounds is about the size of a Smart Car. She's quiet the whole way - maybe the rocking as I walk is calming.
BUT when we get on the plane, she starts muttering in an increasingly loud and shrill voice. I let her lick a bit of kibble, but I don't want her to eat much in case she has to poop on the flight, and getting teased with it just makes her mad. She starts barking at it, so I give it to her ("Management deals with THIS behavior. Training deals with the NEXT behaviour." - Karen Pryor) and several more. It's hot in the plane, and even warmer in her bag in spite of the screens all around it. Soon the heat and the little bit of food overcomes her. She acts like a swaddled baby in the close, warm environment. She kind of glazes her eyes over and is absolutely silent until we've arrived at home. No trouble on the flights, no trouble in Customs. I step outside the airport and she pees immediately when I set her down. I've got a little rust-coloured harness and leash for her (complements her colour very nicely) which, aside from scratching at the harness, she doesn't mind.
I take a cab home, and she's still quiet. Take her out to pee and poop again, give her a long drink and another pee, and then turn her over to my husband and friend because I'm so tired my teeth hurt. I go to bed at 6 PM. Thank goodness for babysitters!
Sometime around 10 my husband puts the dog bag on the bed next to me with the sleeping pup in it.
At 1 AM she has to pee, so I take her out. Right back to sleep.
At 3 AM she's too hot in the dog bag, but I'm still comatose. I can't do more than take her out of the bag and hold her next to me. She sleeps until 6 and then mutters to herself until 7 when I get up and take her out. I really need to get her out of Elaine's time zone and into mine, and on the travel day she ate "wrong", drank "wrong", slept "wrong" and played "wrong".
I'll be a better owner tomorrow.
At the airport, I stuff her into her little travel bag, hook the travel bag to my rolling suitcase, and off we go. I check the suitcase because I've got my purse and the dog bag, and there are shampoos and conditioners in the suitcase for another dog - too much liquid to carry on the plane. That means I have to walk through the airport carrying my purse and the dog bag. She's up to 8 pounds now, which is, really, nothing, until I hook it over my shoulder and have to walk half a mile carrying it. By the time I get to the gate, I'm convinced that 8 pounds is about the size of a Smart Car. She's quiet the whole way - maybe the rocking as I walk is calming.
BUT when we get on the plane, she starts muttering in an increasingly loud and shrill voice. I let her lick a bit of kibble, but I don't want her to eat much in case she has to poop on the flight, and getting teased with it just makes her mad. She starts barking at it, so I give it to her ("Management deals with THIS behavior. Training deals with the NEXT behaviour." - Karen Pryor) and several more. It's hot in the plane, and even warmer in her bag in spite of the screens all around it. Soon the heat and the little bit of food overcomes her. She acts like a swaddled baby in the close, warm environment. She kind of glazes her eyes over and is absolutely silent until we've arrived at home. No trouble on the flights, no trouble in Customs. I step outside the airport and she pees immediately when I set her down. I've got a little rust-coloured harness and leash for her (complements her colour very nicely) which, aside from scratching at the harness, she doesn't mind.
I take a cab home, and she's still quiet. Take her out to pee and poop again, give her a long drink and another pee, and then turn her over to my husband and friend because I'm so tired my teeth hurt. I go to bed at 6 PM. Thank goodness for babysitters!
Sometime around 10 my husband puts the dog bag on the bed next to me with the sleeping pup in it.
At 1 AM she has to pee, so I take her out. Right back to sleep.
At 3 AM she's too hot in the dog bag, but I'm still comatose. I can't do more than take her out of the bag and hold her next to me. She sleeps until 6 and then mutters to herself until 7 when I get up and take her out. I really need to get her out of Elaine's time zone and into mine, and on the travel day she ate "wrong", drank "wrong", slept "wrong" and played "wrong".
I'll be a better owner tomorrow.