We packed up our Aspen with 3 kids and our Sheba and took the journey. Sheba is so funny when she travels in our car, because she can't stand being in the third row by herself. I made sure I gave her the entire third row as opposed to half of it, but that didn't matter, she'd stick her cute little head over the seat, looking at everyone as if we were so wrong to leave her by her lonesome. She had food, her bed, blankets and toys back there, but that was not enough. We had her strapped in so that she wouldn't hurt herself, but loose enough so that she could look out the window.
She did great the entire trip, we got out in South Carolina and she took forever to tinkle, but that's just her Diva self...Sheba does not like to pee while on the leash. I don't know what it is, we can follow her wherever she wants, but she will take FOREVER to use the bathroom. Forget about a #2, that's just not going to happen. She refused to go at the hotel as well. Luckily there was an awesome dog park that we went to, so she was able to relieve herself both ways off the leash. The downside was Mary, a shepherd mix, that was very very mean to my precious baby! She was so excited to play with the number of dogs they had, both big and small. We let her in and she started to play, until Mary came over and started charging her while barking. This happened a couple times, with Mary's owner telling her to stop. She said Mary plays a little aggressive, but so does Sheba and she is used to this, I mean Sheba plays with pitbulls and had a great romp with a huge catahoula/ridgeback mix. After this happened, Sheba would NOT play with anyone, not even the tiny cockerspaniel mix. One of the huskies, which is usually a breed Sheba gravitates towards, did the little play stance and Sheba wanted no parts. While all the other dogs got together and were chasing an owner in the distance (something Sheba would normally have been a part of), she just stayed near us and sniffed around. Then she got in front of the gate door and looked at us and was ready to leave. My heart broke seeing her as the outcast. She'd stand with her tail between her legs whenever a dog would approach her, and that just wasn't her, not at a dog park!
We traveled to Virginia to see family and she got to meet her Nana. Nana has a fenced yard with some barking dogs for neighbors. Finally, Sheba relieved herself and although she kept coming into the house, she couldn't help but want to go outside to play or look at the other dogs. They only wanted to bark at her, but I think she gets a kick out of that.
We ended up staying at a hotel where we had to leave her for a little while, so we got her a ton of new chews and attached her to a chair that was moveable, but not with ease...we came back to her sitting on the bed attached to the chair LOL. At least she was comfy and was not able to chew through this leash like she did the one the night before. She ruined her $20 Martha Stewart LEATHER leash!
The next morning, we had to go to church, so we locked up Nana's yard (with actual locks) and when we returned from church, we were greeted with the neighbors holding our puppy. She managed to push the gate door just enough to squeeze through. I was so relieved that she was returned, hubby thinks I am paranoid and maybe I am, but not only am I afraid she'll run away in an adventure, I am scared someone would never bring her back! Definitely going to get her micro-chipped, because a rabies tag and dog ID tag can be discarded! As our dog expert cousin pointed out in surprise that we had a Shiba Inu, they are very rare to find!
All-in-all I think Sheba had a great adventure and did so well in her travels. Definitely need to find dog parks along the way next time so she can run more and won't have as much energy to spare when we get home, although it did rain the entire length home and I can not let her off the leash anywhere! That's just life with Sheba the Diva!
