moving: the dog factor

the decision to drive cross-country came down to this: would the dog be able to travel with us?

when the geek and i got married, i called her my part-time pet because although she primarily stayed with us, officially she was the geek's family's pet. after years of having her with us though, we couldn't imaging moving without her.

we knew that flying would not be an option for the dog...not only is she old, but she's flown cross-country once and it did not go well. we decided to ask the vet for a recommendation. if a cross-country road trip would prove too stressful, the dog would stay with the geek's parents. if the vet deemed her fit for travel, we would drive cross-country.

not only did the vet declare the dog able to travel, the vet recommended the dog move with us. the vet felt it would be more stressful for the dog to be separated from us after living with us for years.

to prepare for the roadtrip, we had to solve the backseat problem. you see, the dog is not a fan of the car's backseat. she doesn't like the leather and she really does not like the shape of it. while it may be contoured for a passenger's behind, it makes for an uneven surface for the dog to lie on. unless we had a towel down, she never seems comfortable- continuously sitting and standing and stomping around.


we ended up getting a doggie car seat cover and strategically placing folded towels to level out the backseat. considering she slept most of the trip, i'd say we successfully solved that problem.

in addition to the seat cover, we also invested in a food vault. this was more to spare us from having to smell the dog's food than from protecting the food from the dog. we kept a sandwich size gladware of food and a small gladware that could be filled with water in the car for in-transit meals. we used larger gladware for food and water in the motel rooms.

prior to leaving, we refilled all the dog's prescriptions and got a copy of her medical file from the vet.

since we planned to stay in economy motels, we got the dog a small travel bed that was machine washable. it was convenient because once folded in half and buckled, it took up a lot less space than the dog's normal poofy, cushy bed. she liked the travel bed enough; however, it could not compete with her normal bed. she was a happy pup when the moving containers arrived with her bed.

here they are, reunited. it doesn't matter that she's in a strange house. or that there are boxes everywhere. she has her bed back, and life is good.

(not sure why the carpet looks pink...)