Behind the Scenes: Boston Beach Week
Last week we headed south to Ocracoke Island, NC with the pups for a little R&R. David and I have retreated here a number of times but this was the first time with all three pups. Traveling with three dogs certainly changes things. For one, it requires you to slow down, way down. This is especially true if you have a elderly pup like we do...
We had decent weather and made sure to give the pups beach time everyday. Ollie, our youngest, loved exploring the beach and chasing the sandpipers. He was the only one of our crew to join me for my sunrise walks everyday. Murray, our 15 year old, was surprisingly active on the beach. He liked exploring the sand dunes, wading in the waves and lazing around. Annie found a volleyball the first day and obsessively played keep-away with David before passing out on his lap. I’d say everyone enjoyed beach time.
For those of you planning a summer trip with your dogs, here are a few things we’ve learned along the way:
1. In the car: This time we used a car seat cover with seat belt clips and beds for each of them. They had their own space and were safe.
2. At the rental house: We brought 2 large crates – 1 for Ollie and 1 for Annie + Murray to share – so that when we left them at the house, they were confined. Crate training certainly pays off when you travel, especially with sensitive dogs like ours. They were safe and comfortable and so was the house!
3. Out and about: I find attaching heavy-weight carabiners to the loops on their leashes to be very helpful. This way I can hook them together or easily tie their leash around a tree or pole to secure them when necessary. I also brought an extra long leash for Ollie to use when we did our long sunrise walks. They love to run around but going off-leash is not an option for my pack (any images without the leash above have been retouched).
Water is also really important. We always kept cold water, a portable dish and bag of treats on hand wherever we took them.
(what we usually look like - top image; a rare moment in the bottom image)
4. Emergencies: I’d love to say that our trip went off without a hitch, but no. Travel can be stressful for animals which can lead them to act out of character. Ollie and Murray got into a little scuffle over who got the sunshine filled dog bed on the front porch. Murray took the brunt of that on his nose and we ended up at the local vet’s office to make sure he would be ok. Luckily all he needed was a cleaning and a little antibiotic ointment.
So...it’s a good idea to look up vet services before you go and bring a first aid kit for dogs. We also brought Benadryl for stings and eye drops/ear cleaner to rinse out salt and sand.
All in all it was a relaxing, stress-free trip. It's so important to take time out to reset and remember why we work so hard in the first place. I’m so grateful for my crew and spending quality time with them. I’m pretty sure they enjoyed it too despite the grumpy faces in this photo…
