Traveling with Ted can be a production. In order to assume our normal lap-sitting set-up, JG and I have to run through the following sequence of events:
- I get in the passenger seat and make sure that both of our cell phones and wallets, the CD case, directions, and toll money are all easily accessible.
- I buckle up my seat belt and then drape an old towel over my lap. (Too many times, I have forgotten the crucial seat belt step, and it is not pretty.)
- JG walks Ted out to the car on his leash, and then lifts him up onto my lap.
- Once I have a firm grip on Ted’s collar, I close my door, unhook the leash, and drop it into the side compartment on the door.
- After JG gets situated in the driver’s seat and closes his door, I relax my grip on Ted’s collar and let him get comfortable.
Thankfully, Ted sits relatively quietly, and I can even catch a few winks if he dozes off on my lap. On the way up to New Jersey over the weekend, Ted was quite the pleasant seatmate, and the three hours went by without incident.
On the way home, JG decided to see how Ted fared traveling in his crate so that I would be able to sleep a little and lessen the next day’s exhaustion. He strapped the crate to the center of the back seat so that Ted could see us over the center console, and we gently nudged him in. For the first half hour, Ted scratched at the wire grate and whined, but he quieted down eventually. We hoped that he had figured out that we were right there, and that he could just lie down and sleep, if he wanted.
Presently, I heard what can only be described as a squishy sound.
“Did he just throw up?” JG asked.
Yes. Yes, he did. We pulled off to a rest stop, and JG pronounced that the crate was beyond cleaning with the half-full bottle of water I had in my bag, so he switched our luggage to the back seat and put the crate in the trunk. I took Ted back on my lap with a certain degree of trepidation, and resigned myself to getting no sleep for the rest of the way home.
JG remarked that Ted has gotten sick in his crate any time he’s gone in the car inside of it, even on short trips to the vet. He thought that maybe the highway wouldn’t be as bumpy, but now we know. Ted is an adventurous road-tripper, as long as he can be a lap-sitter.
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10 comments
Ted is lucky to have parents who let him sit on their lap even after he just threw up.
Yeah they tend to do that. I think it’s harder for them to adjust to the unpredictable movements of the car. He probably feels better being close to another body though.
How bizarre that he only gets motion sick when he’s in his crate! I guess it bumps around more than a person. But really, that’s okay because he is SO CUTE on your lap.
Possibly the cutest Ted pictures yet!
So nice of you to let Ted lap-sit in the car. Our dogs are just too big, but they enjoy having free reign in the back seat–but the windows must be cracked or Q will get sick!
I love that bottom picture of Ted’s ears — so cute!
Sorry about the puke, that is never fun. When my parents take their dog camping, they have to give her half a dramamine (wrapped in cheese!) or else she’ll throw up on the mountain roads. I’d recommend you do the same for Ted, but my parents’ dog is 60 pounds, and if half a dramamine is enough to make her loopy, I don’t think it’d treat little Ted very well. Maybe if you pick up a pill, set it back down, and then let him lick the dust off your fingers it would be an appropriate dosage.
Love the pictures! Sorry about the throw-up, though (my cat used to do that… ick)
This strikes me as funny, even though I’m sure it was not at the time. It’s just that dogs, well, they are the boss. It just takes us awhile to get used to that fact.
Boyfriend and I put Edie in her new crate for the first time in the car yesterday on the way home from puppy class. It broke my heart hearing her cry and whine. She was so scared
Ted is super cute!
At least he didn’t throw up in your lap! That would be really terrible.
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