It was a big day for Echo and I.
I am "wrung out", and make no promises about getting to the end of today's story.
As mentioned in yesterday's post, the main thing I had to accomplish was oversee the movers "packing out" my oldest son's storage space.
I had packed as much of Echo's stuff as I could, the night before.
About 7, I got up did my morning routine, and started packing Echo's stuff in the truck.
In hindsight, probably, my biggest mistake of the day was taking the original crate that Echo had come to our home in, as opposed to the one that she has been using, lately.
Anyway, I packed Amy, Echo and I into the truck for our day.
By the way, given her previous experiences in vehicles, I did not feed her before getting in the truck. I didn't want to add "fuel to the fire:, so to speak.
On the way to dropping off Amy at work, Echo threw up, with lots of accompanying drool.
Once we got to Amy's workplace, we cleaned everything up, and got Echo back in her crate. We drove across town (even further than we had gone before) with no incident. No vomiting, or, even significant drooling. Echo just curled up and went to sleep. She wasn't real happy about it, but she gave no signs of protest, either.
We arrived at the storage unit shortly after 8, and parked. She didn't stir.
The movers were supposed to arrive between 8 and 9.
The showed up minutes before 9.
Echo and I spent the time in the truck. After a bit, I shut the truck off. Nothing seemed to phase her. She was asleep.
I did what I had to do with the movers. In general, I was checking on Echo, in her crate, in the truck, about every 5 minutes. ... Nothing. ... She shifted a bit, from time to time. But, she had assumed the "dog doughnut" position in her crate, and that was it.
I was torn between: waking her up, and getting her used to new things; and letting her get "comfortable" being in the truck without throwing up. I chose to let her feel comfortable in her crate, in the truck.
She was comfortable in the crate, in the truck, until about 11:30.
When she woke, I took her out, and walked her around the storage facility. In general, her tail told me she was "nervous" or "frightened". The only place she acted normal was the back of the facility. It backs up to a residential section, with a decent sized "green zone" between the storage facility, and the residential. She liked that area.
I had problems getting her to drink water, but she had no problems eating.
After that, we did another circuit of the facility. On this "lap", she seemed much more like herself. The tail was up, and she was, at worst, "curious". Normally, the tail was up, and when we got to the back of the facility, the tail wagged.
Then, we got back around to where the packers were.
Before that, she didn't care for the noise of the traffic on the busy street in front of the facility, but it was not a problem. She didn't care for the side street to the west, leading into the residential section, but it wasn't a problem. The activity in the parking lot to the east was a distraction.
If I let her go where she preferred, we ALWAYS ended up near the "green zone" to the south.
Back to the packers ...
So, we got back to the truck. My truck was parked in such a way that the tailgate was facing the packer's working area. I put the tailgate down, and sat us both up on the tailgate to watch the packers.
Echo was intrigued. She followed every movement with her eyes ... watching, contemplating. At this point, I noticed two thing: a) she REALLY did not like the sound of packing tape coming off the spool; and b) she was shivering, A LOT.
About the time that I began to try to soothe her "nervousness", (as the shivering would indicate), I realized that my rear end was beginning to become a bit numb, BECAUSE WE WERE SITTING ON A METAL TRUCK TAILGATE, WITH NOTHING TO KEEP US WARM!
So, I went and got the wool blanket that Amy had packed for us, and put it underneath Echo and I. Next to me, she did a perfect "sit", and did what I call a "large dog lean". (Forgive me, I have had, mostly dachshunds for the last 17 years. I forget what "large dogs" do.) I put my arm over Echo, and, while it was a good "sit", she put most of her body weight against me. She looked me in the eye, once or twice, and licked the end of my nose, once.
Then, she settled down onto the blanket. Sometimes curled up next to me, Sometimes on my lap.
The only thing that disturbed her was the sound of packing tape being drawn.
Finally, about 2, the packers were done.
She was reluctant to get in her crate, to leave. But, I had to do it.
I ran few errands, and we came home about 4. (By the way, over the course of those two hours, the only time she vomited was while navigating from downtown Olympia to west Olympia (lots of twists and turns, and "ups and downs" ... and that was after 2+ hours in the truck.)
I let her and Gimli run in the backyard. Hopefully for them to "do their business", but, also, given Echo's day, for her to run and play.
About this time, I might have pushed things too far, but I was faced with a choice: a) put Echo in a crate, in the house alone, and go get Amy; or b) put Echo in a crate with me in the truck, and go get Amy.
At this point, Echo began to rebel at getting into the truck. (She was fine with things, once she was in the crate, in the truck.)
Once we were there, she did not want to get out of the crate. (She was fine with things, once I got her out of the crate, and the truck. She seemed to be happy to see Amy, at her workplace, and meet Amy's co-workers.)
Getting her back into the truck was a struggle.
Once home, and she KNEW we were home (I could hear Gimli barking), coaxing her out of the truck was an issue.
Once out the of the truck, she was READY to go inside.
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I will try to remember to talk about our "deck night" later, because there were some interesting things that happened there.
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However, my PRIMARY concern is how the day ended.
For most of the day, she traveled well with me. Little, or no vomiting. Some drool. ... But, in general, things were fine.
The end of the day bothers me.
When we ended, we were faced with two things: a) she would not get in the truck willingly; b) once in the truck, she would not get out willingly.
On one hand, I want to say that the pup, by the end of the day, had hit "overload". ... Given her relative success traveling with me in a vehicle, that is plausible. (Echo has thrown up in my truck, over the course of MULTIPLE trips, what is it? ... 4 times, total. ... Echo threw up 6 times in the 30-minute drive to Kathy's house. (She spent over 9 hours in and around my truck today, by the way.))
Not to put too fine of a point on things, but, if she has true "car sickness", she should have been spewing like Linda Blair in "The Excorcist" from the time the truck started moving at 7 this morning. THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. (By the way, we tried the "wrap" on the drive to Amy's workplace. That is the first of two times she threw up. ... After that, I didn't use the "wrap".)
Between the way the day ended, and the circumstances around when she has thrown up in vehicles, I am REAL SURE it's not "car sickness".
That's my concern. ... "Car sickness" is, relatively, easy to fix.
I think Echo's problem is deeper, and is gong to involve a much more complex answer.
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