Holiday Memories with Petey

One Thanksgiving several years ago, long before we had given thought to blogging about Petey, our family decided to go to the mountains for Thanksgiving. My mother, both my sisters & their families along with John, me & Pete, made the trek to the mountains in North Carolina. It was great. Except for getting there.

This was also before we began drugging Petey before a long car ride. We didn't know how bad it could get. It was a drizzly night on a dark and curvy mountain road, with which we were not familiar. There was a little tension in the car due to that. I don't know if Petey sensed that and decided to add to the level of tension or just realized on his own that this was not a good situation. Don't misunderstand, we were never in any sort of danger. We were just looking for an unknown place, on an unknown road, in less than ideal driving conditions. Petey decided the thing to do would be to pace back & forth around the car - back seat, my lap, paws on the dash, back set, my lap, back seat, look out the back windshield, and on and on and on. It did not help the situation.

As stated previously we all got there and had a nice visit. Most of us stayed through Sunday but John could not. We had planned all along that he would leave early and take Petey with him. Needless to say, John was less than enthused about being alone in the car for all those hours with Petey, even before the fiasco of getting there. He would be leaving in the daylight hours, and driving on more familiar roads after dark, but still Petey can be quite demanding.

So, John came up with the bright idea to feed Petey turkey scraps before they left, hoping that it would have the same sedating effect on dogs as it does humans. Petey gobbled the turkey right up. (Get it?) John fed him a little while before leaving so that he could get nice & sleepy before the trip began. He bagged up a few extras and took a paper plate to feed him again along the way is the need arose.

Let's just say that we'll never know if the turkey made Petey drowsy or not because of the distress it caused his digestive system. The biggest problem was gas. Get the full picture here - John is in the mountains of North Carolina on a late November weekend - it was cold, with a capital C-O-L-D. We hardly left the warm, cozy cabin. John was in the car with the heat on and a gassy dog - serious gas. Besides the SBD's there were belches. I don't think either one of us had realized that dogs burped. Petey does - really stinky burps too.

John had no choice. If he was going to continue to breathe, he had to let the window down. He started by cracking the back ones hoping that a little ventilation would help. It didn't. The emissions came in waves, like time bombs. Just when he thought it was safe to breathe again, Petey cut loose. Before the poor man got off the mountain, he had the driver's window down and his head stuck out gasping for fresh air. Petey didn't care. He continued to befoul the air without a bit of concern for John's olfactory system.

We checked with the vet about medication for future trips for Petey, not us. Although, now that I think of it a little Xanax wouldn't hurt me...hmmm...