Zuzu and Tootie's Trip to Canine Country

On a very nice Saturday afternoon in August, Val and Susan organized a Vizsla gathering at Canine Country in St. Charles County. Val and Diane arrived in their no room to spare expertly organized kennel van with their beautiful Vizslas, Tempo, Chile, Ready, and Spirit, as well as their two little guys that keep the Vizslas in line, 

Susan arrived, too, with her faithful old girl, Zeta. Her boys, Zolt and Dash, were on a hunting expedition in Jerome, MO with Paul.

And we arrived with our two eagerly cautious girls, Zuzu and Tootie. It was a reunion of sorts as well. After being bought from the puppy mill auction last November, Zuzu spent her first months of freedom with Val and Diane and their canine gang, and Paul and Susan welcomed Tootie into their home. The girls were very happy to see Val and the gang again.

Canine Country is a wonderful place where dogs can run free. A 223 acre farm converted in to a canine playground, "The finest dog playground in the entire St. Louis area!" boasts their website http://www.caninecountrykennel.com, offers amenities such as agility courses, walking trails, a lake for swimming and retrieving, and open fields for running, all completely fenced.

A couple with their dogs were at the water's edge exercising their three or four (I lost count) Vizslas, a short haired pointer, and a very happy Vizsla puppy, Swagger. It was amazing to see their canine gang dive into the water to retrieve the retrieving dummy.

Tootie and Zuzu were a little overwhelmed by the activity and commotion at the start, heading off to the tree line to explore.

And then heading off to the field...

But they didn't stay away too long. Tootie really wanted to join in the fun around the water. Zuzu was intrigued by the puppy, Swagger. Maybe she was wondering if it was one of hers.

Tootie finally got in the water. It was a warm afternoon, but not too hot. The water was refreshing, though. She really loves to swim!

Zuzu preferred the safety of dry land. She's not a natural swimmer as we found out when we went to Marvin Key, the sandbar/mangrove island chain in the backcountry off Sugarloaf Key, for the first time. She's all front paws thrashing about in the water before settling down and finding her stride. Tootie, however, is a natural swimmer.

Tootie enjoyed swimming in the lake with the other dogs. She didn't go after the retrieving dummy, but did manage swim around a bit in between retrievals. Below, Tootie and the other two dogs are not in the process of retrieving as they are headed in three different directions.

After spending some time at the lake, our gang took a walk around the lake. We stopped off at the dock, which is used for retrieving. You can train your dog to run off the dock and dive into the water. Our girls simply explored the dock. It must have reminded them of home. Chile, Ready, and Spirit followed them out to the edge. Spirit was ready to get into the water. She loved swimming over to the small island in the middle of the lake to hunt critters. Ready, however, was not into swimming. And Chile, the wise old guy, would stand in the water barking at the other dogs telling them what to do or how it's done.

We continued our walk around the other side of the lake. Zuzu and Tootie decided to run back to the dock to find the wonderful smell Zeta found to roll in. Our girls were a bit surprised to see us across the lake. Tootie, without hesitation, decided to swim across to rejoin us.

Zuzu, though, was not as eager to swim across to us. She was on the dock pawing at the water while eyeing us, worriedly, across the lake. Tootie was giving her words of encouragement and, after a minute or two, Zuzu decided to take the plunge and swim across to us.

Once she relaxed, lifted her back, and found her stride, she swam with confidence towards us.

Halfway around the lake, we lost track of Tempo. Val and Diane thought she went up to the barn to see the sheep, but when Wayne didn't see her up that way, Val was confident that she headed back to the van to rest. Sure enough, Tempo was in her kennel and came back down to the lake once we made it around.

After our walk, Tootie was full of energy and tried to engage Zuzu in play. The result was Tootie throwing her weight into Zuzu knocking her down.

We went back to the beach to cool and wash off. Tootie had a nice mud smear on her face from rolling in the wonderful smelly mud Zeta had found near the dock. 

Ready was all kisses and love. Tootie wanted in on the affection, too!

Zeta had a great time relaxing in the water and sticking close to Susan. She's a sweet girl.

It was time to gather our canine companions and head back to the city. Zuzu and Tootie had a great time. They loved seeing their foster brothers and sisters, and really loved seeing their foster moms! Tootie is showing her affection trying to give Val a kiss...

You know the outing was a success for the dogs when the sleep soundly all the way home. Tootie was snoring before we reached the highway...

and Zuzu was comfortably curled up in the seat sound asleep.

Thank you Val, Diane, and Susan for a great afternoon. We are looking forward to the next time!

Back in St. Louis

We left Sugarloaf Key at 3:00pm on Saturday, August 7 and pulled into mom and dad's driveway in St. Louis around 5:00pm on Monday. Mom and dad are at their house in Mesa, so they graciously let us park our motorhome behind their house here on the newly laid gravel RV pad. Zuzu and Tootie were checking out the large yard behind the house. There are a lot of critters and animals in this area despite the fact that it is the heart of St. Louis suburbia.

The motorhome fits nicely on the pad. Dave did a fantastic job laying and leveling the gravel. We later learned that he even wired an outlet for the motorhome to run the AC, fridge, and lights. Since we are staying in our house in Benton Park, we shut everything down and closed up the RV for short term storage.

Zuzu and Tootie seemed happy to be back at the house on Wisconsin Ave. in the City. The last time they were here was mid-February. After spending six months on Sugarloaf Key, the Florida house is probably more their "home", but they seem perfectly content to hang out here in the small Benton Park house.

Although, when we first arrived, they did gravitate towards the bathroom, which is where they spent their time when the first arrived in our lives. A bit of regression? Probably not, just a comfortable and familiar environment. We now keep the bathroom door closed to encourage them to spend time with us in the office or the living room. They have been joining us in the office when we are there, but they also spend a lot of time sleeping on their bed in the bedroom. We are still working on showing them that they are welcome to hang out with us on the sofa.

Katie (our niece) threw a birthday party for her fiance, Kyle, out at her grandfather's lake house. We took the girls out their for a small road trip (it's about an hour from the house) and to expose them to a new environment and adventure. The more experiences, the better is our mantra for Zuzu and Tootie. Riley, Katie and Kyle's dog, was there to great the girls. He's a wild and crazy guy!

Katie took us out for a boat ride on the pontoon boat. It's not the first time the girls have been on a boat, but the first time they have been on a pontoon boat gently cruising around a lake. They are used to moving a little faster. They enjoyed exploring the boat and looking out at the other boats and swimmers in the lake.

Zuzu and Tootie are enjoying their visit in St. Louis. We only have a few days left before we hop back in the motorhome and head off in search of new adventures. We'll keep you posted!

Our First RV Adventure!

We've been talking to Zuzu and Tootie about our upcoming motorhome trip for a few weeks now. But, until the day of departure, they avoided this large box on wheels that makes strange noises sitting ominously in the yard (well, Tootie did anyway...Zuzu warmed up to it once she discovered a clever little rodent building a nest in our radiator compartment. No worries, we permanently evicted the little critter.) 

When we were ready to go, they surely didn't want to be left behind and happily leapt up the stairs and found a comfortable perch on the sofa. Are they ready for the adventure?

So, with the house all shuttered (she looks so sad closed up) and the boat on its blocks in the yard...

we headed for the motorhome for departure.

Tootie, who never misses an opportunity to lay down and sleep, was already getting used to traveling in an RV. Zuzu, looking all regal and princess-like, was contemplating her first stop...or maybe her next meal.

Leaving MM17 at 3:00pm, we made the always beautiful drive northward towards the mainland. It was a beautiful day, an excellent day to be on the water along with the other 10,000 boats we saw. We made it to Florida City by 5:00pm, and made steady progress up the turnpike through Miami-Dade and Broward. We stopped for the night at the West Palm Beach service area. It was a bit noisy with truck traffic, but the girls quickly became used to the noise and settled in for the evening.

The next morning, we made it back on the road after breakfast. After passing through some nerve-rattling thunderstorms (Zuzu doesn't like thunder) in Orlando and Clermont, the turnpike led us to I-75. 

It always seems that Zuzu or Tootie will head for the RV door after we pass a rest area. It appeared that Tootie was rather serious about her desire to go outside, so took the next exit and found a grassy area next to a gas station for her pooh pooh emergency. She was much happier post-poop and quickly resumed her nap on the bed.

Zuzu, however, made sure we were safe whenever we stopped. Our fearless Vizsla protecting her rolling home. Good dog!

As we made it further north, the scenery changed and the critters were more abundant. Especially the furry ones with fluffy tails. It has been six months since Zuzu chased her last squirrel. I didn't miss it, but I'm the one at the other end of the leash being pulled towards the tree we can't climb!

We spent our second night on the road in north Georgia near Dalton. It is an expansive rest area with lots of great smells for our canine travel companions. We thought this was a good photo opportunity with the motorhome parked in the background.

We were parked near the dog walk, the place with the BEST smells. Tootie was doing much better with the truck and traffic noise emanating from the other side of the tree line.

Zuzu was always curious about the goings on outside. Tootie, however, was content with her digs inside the RV. Here, she's waiting patiently for her sister to make her observations before they both head back to the bedroom for the next leg of our journey.

We looked forward to stopping at various rest areas along the way to give Zuzu and Tootie an opportunity to take in the new odors and scents. Here, we took a break from the road in the rest area on top of old smokey...or whatever the "mountain" is called just north of Chattanooga on I-24.

Happy dogs!

Very happy and comfortable traveling dogs!

We stopped to feed the RV propane tank and fill the fuel tanks.

Zuzu looks like she's enjoying the trip. It was getting warmer, though. They were spending less time outside and more time in the AC.

After three days on the road, we made it to St. Louis. We'll stay here for a couple of weeks before heading East to the greater D.C. area to visit family. Stay tuned...