Weekend Troubles & Tribulations: Traveling with a Service Dog

 Traveling with a Service Dog on a Holiday Weekend

What started out on a road trip that we've made together hundreds of times, soon became a weekend filled with new experiences for Rockstar Azul the Service Dog. Most of you know that I visit my adult children and grandchildren in Illinois as often as I can. Most times, it's all about visiting family and friends and a little about PA and petting zoo animals. This trip was a bit different.

About 1/3rd of the way there, our transportation (my Kia) broke along the side of an expressway. This was a new experience for Azul seeing the cars wiz by us while we sat still. It didn't take me long to realize my car was in "limp mode" and I could drive at a snail's pace to the next exit and gas station to wait for assistance. I'm sure Azul could hear the stress in my voice as I first called my husband then AAA for a tow.

After about 15 min of phone calls and 20 min of going on a field sniff-a-bout, we saw the tow truck arriving. Azul gladly stood at my side as we watched the Kia get loaded from just a few feet away from noisy contraption. Once the car was loaded, I asked where the driver would like Azul to ride. This tow truck had a large backseat so Azul could stretch out and watch the road at the same time. Only he had to walk up 3 large, skinny metal steps that practically went straight up in order to climb in the cab. Azul paused the first time as if to say, "Are you sure?" but then walked right up the steps the 2nd time. 

This is one of the many reasons I get all my puppies, especially SD puppies to play on as many different playgrounds as possible. Playgrounds are filled with all sorts of different types of steps, made from both metal and plastic then add in slides, tunnels and wobbly obstacles too. The right playground can be a puppy parkour palace!

Our journey continued with greeting the mechanics and office staff at the garage who all wanted to say hi to the SD they had heard was coming in. They even provided Azul with a bowl of water which he didn't touch because he chose to lay down at my side where he was supposed to be. Here we could here all the sounds of the garage with power tools, large bay doors, and car chimes for doors being left open. This is why I expose my SD puppies to a wide variety of movies at home with all sorts of weird sounds such as Harry Potter, Marvel Movies, and any other unusual sounds I can think of.

From there we were picked up by yet another stranger and driven to the used car lot where we were renting a vehicle to finish our trip. This was pretty easy for Azul as he has ridden in multiple vehicles his whole life. The most unusual part of this experience was the bathroom at the lot that was basically for employees only and had an old accordion style door. Azul accidently bumped the door, opening it with more of me exposed then I would have been comfortable with if we hadn't been in an empty building. The guy helping us had come in on a day they were closed thanks to a call from the mechanic. Everyone treated Azul like royalty.

We made it to see family for dinner and play a bit before bed. Our trip started about 10am and we finally arrived around 7:30pm so it was much longer then our typical 5 hour drive. After such a busy day, we were ready for bed early.

Saturday we had a slow morning and played with Finn & Forrest on the Farm. Then after brunch, we headed out to errands. My daughter had an appointment so we took Forrest to a nearby park to drive tractors in the sand. Here we were pretty much alone but had people in the distance moving around. Azul had about 10 ft of longline to sniff around us in grass and sand, then found a shady spot to lay down and people watch. Once we retrieved Steph from her appointment, we went to a very busy playground filled with other kids. To my surprise, everyone respected the SD leash and reminded their kids not pet the dog because he was working. Azul and I moved throughout the park to be near Forrest but didn't try to play on anything since the park was so busy. Azul practiced tucking in shady areas taking up as little space as possible. We had 1 person come up and ask what bred Azul was because he was so gorgeous but that was the only person to interact with us. We did some light shopping, picked up a grocery order, stopped for fruit smoothies, and headed back to the farm for evening activities.

 

Sunday...should have been a day of celebrating Easter. Which we did, but I also had a really bad migraine. I was able to play with the grandkids calmly, but not with my typical gusto. Still we enjoyed brunch, an egg hunt, and checking out the baby farm animals. Then we made another trip to the park because it was so beautiful outside. This time Azul had to keep a closer eye on my and less on the kids playing. He did all his tasks with little or no prompting and was a total Rockstar. The sun and fresh air felt good, but I spent a lot of time with my head buried in my arm or in Azul's neck. Azul's big struggle of the day was when we tried to get pictures of the grandkids holding the baby animals. Azul is used to the animals being in their place...but their place was not "his" fenced in area that he typically runs off leash in. Being on leash while his "kids" played with baby animals quickly sent Azul over threshold and I struggled to keep him from dragging me to the kids. But once I sat down, Azul was able to lay almost calmly with his front legs and head on my legs where he could spring up at a moments notice if the kids needed him.

  

We spent an extra night with family to wait while my vehicle got fixed and had a nice slow morning on the farm on Monday. I enjoyed a nice walk with my daughter, Heather, which I hadn't seen much all weekend while Forrest drove his jeep and I walked Azul and Finn down a quiet road to nowhere. Yes, it was a great cardio and upper body workout walking two 70lb dogs that started out over-excited, but they eventually calmed down and feel into stride walking beside each other. Finn is a go-go-go kinda dog so it was great for him to see Azul's Go - Stop - Sniff & Repeat style of walking. After that we loaded up and headed home. Azul slept the whole way except for a few brief minutes at the mechanics while we transferred from the rental back to my Kia.

All in all, this trip cost me about $1000 for rental and car repairs. Not exactly what I wanted to be spending money on, but we did make lots of great memories! I'm most thankful that I carry a backpack in my car of the basic supplies I might need on any given day for any location. This made it easy to transition between vehicles this weekend without having to hunt through supplies and make sure I had everything I might need.