Saturday, October 25, 2008

I have returned, but will be away for a few more weeks

After flying (with delays) for nearly 12 hours, driving for 6, and outsmarting the dog twice, I made it back to Ohio on Tuesday!

I love having an extremely smart dog, though sometimes it can be inconvenient. He used to love his kennel, until he made the trip to AK. Then he took the approach of "HELL NO, YOU AIN'T GONNA GET ME IN THAT AGAIN!!!" After some work, and several pounds of liver treats, he seemed to forget about his aversion to the kennel, and got suckered into making a trip to Anchorage several months ago. Needless to say, he wasnt going anywhere near the kennel again when he got back.

Fast forward to Monday... He sees the kennel, at the airport, and instantly decides to lay down limp in front of it. With the flight 20 minutes away, I did what any self-respecting dog owner in a crowd would do... take apart the thing. With it apart, Kramer was like "ooh, let me go sit in the bottom half, maybe I'll get a treat!" With him sniffing about - I speedily trapped him, refastened the door and lid, much to his disgruntlement but just in time for the plane.

Three hours later we're in Anchorage, and since where we came from has no TSA, I needed to take Kramer through luggage check-in again. Again, I tried to coax him back to the built kennel. No Go. After taking it apart again, to the amusement of TSA, Kramer gave a "F-you" look and plopped down in protest in front of the bottom of the kennel. Feeling somewhat frustrated, I spotted a counter a few yards away. Since I can't pick up his 76 lbs butt up from the floor, I figured get him on the counter and I'll carry him to the bottom. He was so excited to be away from the kennel that he complied with my command to hop on the counter. I scooped him up, carried him to the kennel bottom, and as I was setting him in it, hear him sigh in resignation as I once again built the kennel around him. YAY! We both made it in one piece, meeting my husband at O'hare. Both me and the dog were so happy to see him!

After the 6 hour drive to NE Ohio, it was nice to be home again. I didn't realize until that night, how much I missed listening to the wind rustle the leaves, it was so relaxing. I'll miss AK and all the friends I made there, but I now know how being back home truly feels.

I'll be spending a few weeks at my parents in NC. I may post, but won't make any promises. In November, I'll be back in full swing! I'll also need to decide if I'll keep this blog name or find a new one - any ideas/suggestions would be helpful!

2 comments:

Rambler said...

I know that the dog was probably very frustrating at the airport, probably would have had me in tears BUT it is a very funny story! Glad you got back safe and with the dog (surprised you didn't gift him to TSA)!!!

Amelia said...

As amusing as leaving him with TSA would have been, I would miss his antics too much :). I was close to tears, had he not cooperated after being captured on the counter, I probably would have sat down beside him and cried! Kramer's been happy to be back in Ohio with a back yard to roam in!