My Dog Barry: To Grandmother's House We Go

I can't really express how disgusted I am by the weather in the upper Mid West. I haven't been to other parts of the country lately but I've heard other areas are having equally awful weather experiences. The Chicago area and Southern border area of Wisconsin are having a brutal, horrible and maddening winter. It's not letting up. We had a couple of days where the sun came out - but it was still cold. Another couple of days appeared where it was nearly 50 degrees - but it was accompanied by thirty mile and hour winds and no sun. The snow melted and things were looking up even though it was windy we could see Spring in the near future. Until the next day when the temps dropped to single digits and all that melted snow turned to an accidental ice skating rink where all the ice skaters weren't trained properly and weren't wearing ice skates.

Mmm... More snow!

It was time for a change of scenery. A weekend away. Just a quick trip to Wisconsin where we could let Barry run around in Grandma's yard and get some good outdoor time, exercise and fresh air. I had the strange idea in my mind that it would be nicer during our weekend away. That the snow would be melted and it would be warmer out. I was quickly brought back to reality when we pulled into Grandma's driveway. My delusions are usually fleeting and typically I become hastily aware that my idea is a delusion and not reality. I blame the weather for my mind no longer distinguishing reality from fantasy. Like I said, this weather has been maddening.

We were very prepared in other ways for our trip this time vs previous trips. We had some toys ready for Barry to help keep him occupied and we gave him new calming treats that have been reviewed highly. In the past we never thought to give him a toy to chew while we were on our way. So we prepared a couple of toys that Barry seems to like quite a bit. This and this.

Those are great road trip toys. You can stick treats in them and keeps Barry busy for quite some time. The calming chews we gave Barry were these.

I'll do a review another time on the different calming chews, drops, methods we've given Barry. I know that many people think giving your pet something to calm them seems mean or wrong but I've done some research and these are safe and the ingredients are all things you've heard of. It doesn't cause Barry to become drowsy or lose mobility like some other types of medication could. This is simply a calming treat for him. To help him cope better with the drive and so he doesn't get so upset or antsy. He's still completely alert and I think this helps him enjoy the ride so much more. If you have a dog that gets anxiety at all you'll understand. Not only that, we only use these for things like travel because Barry's anxiety has pretty much gone away, except for when we travel.

The weekend was nice! Even though it was cold out and there was snow on the ground Barry still had a blast running and galloping all over the yard and pretending he was a wild beast.

He would forage and live off the land eating of the local flora and wild growing grasses.

And lose a purple bootie somewhere in the thick of the wilderness
during his forage for nourishment.

He would hunt and scavenge for meat such as birds, rabbits, and squirrels but definitely mostly squirrels.

Sniffs the ground for signs of life.

Sniffs the air and he catches a scent...

It's either up the tree or behind the tree... Okay, maybe he's not the best at hunting. So he went back to the wild growing grasses and also he's a peaceful dude and would rather not actually hurt his prey.