Cruising With A Service Dog....everything You Ever Wanted To Know!

[Miki_moto]

2 hours ago, wizard-of-roz said:

Thank you.  When I watch the groomer use a dremel it looks so easy.  I will check out Amazon.

High value treats are helpful!  
 

Pick a time the dog is relaxed.  I started out by holding the flat end of the Dremel (without the chuck for tools) and just touching it to the pads of the feet.  It wasn’t on or anything.  Do that and treat with every foot and call it a day.  After some time doing that, turn it on low, and touch the flat end on the paws.  Treat and quit.  Then touch it to their claws, flat end, treat and quit.  You get the drill - and they will too.  
 

Short sessions with treating.  I still treat - carrots works for Nico.  You’ll probably need a professional nail trim or two in the beginning but otherwise you’ll be doing it on your own.

[Plant]

I saw on TV recently a bald man who put peanut butter on his head and while the dog licked his head he clipped his nails !

I don't expect anyone here to try this!

[rangeley]

1 hour ago, Plant said:

I saw on TV recently a bald man who put peanut butter on his head and while the dog licked his head he clipped his nails !

I don't expect anyone here to try this!

Omg I saw that too! Lol

 

Maybe Roz can try it! 

[wizard-of-roz]

3 hours ago, rangeley said:

Omg I saw that too! Lol

 

Maybe Roz can try it! 

Honestly, if I thought it would work for Horty and me, I'd try it!!!!  

[wizard-of-roz]

6 hours ago, Miki_moto said:

High value treats are helpful!  
 

Pick a time the dog is relaxed.  I started out by holding the flat end of the Dremel (without the chuck for tools) and just touching it to the pads of the feet.  It wasn’t on or anything.  Do that and treat with every foot and call it a day.  After some time doing that, turn it on low, and touch the flat end on the paws.  Treat and quit.  Then touch it to their claws, flat end, treat and quit.  You get the drill - and they will too.  
 

Short sessions with treating.  I still treat - carrots works for Nico.  You’ll probably need a professional nail trim or two in the beginning but otherwise you’ll be doing it on your own.

Thank you, very helpful info.

[wizard-of-roz]

4 hours ago, Plant said:

I saw on TV recently a bald man who put peanut butter on his head and while the dog licked his head he clipped his nails !

I don't expect anyone here to try this!

I'd love to see this!

 

 

[wizard-of-roz]

11 hours ago, rangeley said:

I'd do it! I do Oaklands once a week. When we got Wexler, they insisted I learn how to do nails. I've been doing them ever since. 

One more reason for me to wish that we lived closer!!!!!!

[rpclmc]

Hello.  I have been MIA for a while.

 

Let's see.  February 29-March 5 went on the Carnival Paradise with my daughter.  Kind of different cruise.  Not bad, just strange.  The big CV scare hadn't started but it was present.  There was just a different feeling on board, can't really describe it, just was different.  The ports, Grand Cayman and Cozumel were switched days.  I wondered if maybe GC wasn't letting ships in.  Later found out so many ships where in each ports, they had us switch.  Didn't affect any of our plans.  The excursion, through Carnival - stingray city was cancelled, so my daughter and I chose the best of GC.  I am VERY limited on choices since I am in a wheelchair.  I thought the new excursion would be lame, it was really good, we really enjoyed it.

 

Got back from that and suddenly got very concerned about the CV news.  We decided it would be best to get a camp trailer and truck and drive from Florida to Idaho.  We really didn't want to deal with airports and airplanes and felt it best to get on the move before states really started closing down.  Only 3-5 states were closed when we left.  Plus, the governor of Florida was really starting to annoy us with allowing the craziness of spring breakers to crowd the beaches and towns and no respect for the residents.  It was really starting to bother me that it was about the money.

 

So, we found a trailer and truck and hit the road.  Plenty of food, tp and all self contained.  The plan was to take 3-4 days to get home with minimal to no contact with other people.  Best laid plans don't work out all the time.  We made it 6 hours the first day.  Made an appointment at the local Ford dealership in Pensacola, Florida to have the fuel filters changed.  2nd day, after the appointment went fairly well.  3rd day, not so much.  On the road early, hear banging.  Turns out front valance, bumper is loose and hanging.  Rich secures it enough to get to the next exit.  He went into a 7-Eleven to get some duct tape.  The news on the duct tape, not only got price gouged, it was old and not sticky.  Luckily he was able to find it wasn't bolted and the bolt was there, so he fixed that.  I reported the price gouging to corporate and they called me twice within the 15 minutes of me reporting it, they were VERY concerned.  

 

Still hear the banging.  Pulled over.  Found a window on the trailer was open and flopping loose.  Closed it.  On the road again.  Rich is now concerned about a tire that was loosing more air than he thought it should.  Starts feeling funny.  We find a tire shop and pull over.  They say it will take about 45 minutes to get to us.  In about 15 minutes they are looking at it and 5 minutes later have it fixed, a valve stem.  An no charge.

 

Back on the road again.  Finally making some good time.  Loud POP.  Rich thinks it is the tire.  He pulls over, checks all around the whole truck and trailer, he can't find anything.  So starts driving again.  No AC and truck isn't getting up to speed.  Pulls over again and it is the turbo hose off the diesel.  He puts it back on, thank goodness he knows mechanics and always has tools with him.  Sure enough, that was it.  2-4 miles down the road........POP.  The hose again, it won't stay on.  So we limp it to a NAPA - auto parts store.  He gets a new clamp, the guy in the store said same thing happened to him.  Rich came out and fixed it and we are back on the road.  Few miles down the road someone honks and gestures that we have something wrong.  Rich pulls over and find the ATV 4-wheeler's seat is flopping.  It isn't coming loose, but the person that motioned to us wouldn't know that.  Back to driving.  Someone else motions at us.  Rich pulls over walks around the trailer, the spare tire is dragging, 1 of the two bolts have come off.  He pulls over at the next exit and uses, get this, the old clamp for the hose that wasn't working to secure the tire up. 

 

In between all this, every fill up he made, the outside card reader wasn't working on the diesel pumps and he had to go inside to pay.  So much for a limited contact day. 

 

We drive a couple more hours and stop for the day.  13 hour day, only 400 miles.  Really pathetic drive day, but all in all everything was fairly minor and we were safe.

 

2 more days on the road and we got home safe and sound.  During the drive, Idaho governor ordered a stay in place.  Perfect timing for us.  

 

In the meantime, my daughter's graduation (from college) got cancelled.  She is still working, since she is in the medical field as a home aid to elderly and handicapped.  Also our outing for Jeff Dunham on April 25th was postponed to November 12th.  

 

So home for about a week and we have a 6.5 earthquake.  Now don't forget this is Idaho.  My first and I hope my last earthquake.  Scared the crap out of me.  Rich thought it was cool or as he put it, "awesome".  To say the least, I didn't sleep well after that.

 

Have applied for the small business benefits and finally caught up with housecleaning and office work and now checking in with everyone.  We are staying in place and just doing things around the Idaho home.  Rich is working to get me new, to me, car on the road.  65 Olds Cutlass convertible.  I will have to have hand controls put in it, but it will hold my wheelchair and be fun to drive.  I am just working on keeping the house cleaned, which is very hard for me, but I have nothing but time on my hands, so I just do what I can and then rest.

 

Have a cruise on May 18th on Carnival Inspiration from Long Beach.  Just waiting to see if it gets canceled. 

 

Linda and Halo 

[wizard-of-roz]

8 minutes ago, rpclmc said:

Hello.  I have been MIA for a while.

 

Let's see.  February 29-March 5 went on the Carnival Paradise with my daughter.  Kind of different cruise.  Not bad, just strange.  The big CV scare hadn't started but it was present.  There was just a different feeling on board, can't really describe it, just was different.  The ports, Grand Cayman and Cozumel were switched days.  I wondered if maybe GC wasn't letting ships in.  Later found out so many ships where in each ports, they had us switch.  Didn't affect any of our plans.  The excursion, through Carnival - stingray city was cancelled, so my daughter and I chose the best of GC.  I am VERY limited on choices since I am in a wheelchair.  I thought the new excursion would be lame, it was really good, we really enjoyed it.

 

Got back from that and suddenly got very concerned about the CV news.  We decided it would be best to get a camp trailer and truck and drive from Florida to Idaho.  We really didn't want to deal with airports and airplanes and felt it best to get on the move before states really started closing down.  Only 3-5 states were closed when we left.  Plus, the governor of Florida was really starting to annoy us with allowing the craziness of spring breakers to crowd the beaches and towns and no respect for the residents.  It was really starting to bother me that it was about the money.

 

So, we found a trailer and truck and hit the road.  Plenty of food, tp and all self contained.  The plan was to take 3-4 days to get home with minimal to no contact with other people.  Best laid plans don't work out all the time.  We made it 6 hours the first day.  Made an appointment at the local Ford dealership in Pensacola, Florida to have the fuel filters changed.  2nd day, after the appointment went fairly well.  3rd day, not so much.  On the road early, hear banging.  Turns out front valance, bumper is loose and hanging.  Rich secures it enough to get to the next exit.  He went into a 7-Eleven to get some duct tape.  The news on the duct tape, not only got price gouged, it was old and not sticky.  Luckily he was able to find it wasn't bolted and the bolt was there, so he fixed that.  I reported the price gouging to corporate and they called me twice within the 15 minutes of me reporting it, they were VERY concerned.  

 

Still hear the banging.  Pulled over.  Found a window on the trailer was open and flopping loose.  Closed it.  On the road again.  Rich is now concerned about a tire that was loosing more air than he thought it should.  Starts feeling funny.  We find a tire shop and pull over.  They say it will take about 45 minutes to get to us.  In about 15 minutes they are looking at it and 5 minutes later have it fixed, a valve stem.  An no charge.

 

Back on the road again.  Finally making some good time.  Loud POP.  Rich thinks it is the tire.  He pulls over, checks all around the whole truck and trailer, he can't find anything.  So starts driving again.  No AC and truck isn't getting up to speed.  Pulls over again and it is the turbo hose off the diesel.  He puts it back on, thank goodness he knows mechanics and always has tools with him.  Sure enough, that was it.  2-4 miles down the road........POP.  The hose again, it won't stay on.  So we limp it to a NAPA - auto parts store.  He gets a new clamp, the guy in the store said same thing happened to him.  Rich came out and fixed it and we are back on the road.  Few miles down the road someone honks and gestures that we have something wrong.  Rich pulls over and find the ATV 4-wheeler's seat is flopping.  It isn't coming loose, but the person that motioned to us wouldn't know that.  Back to driving.  Someone else motions at us.  Rich pulls over walks around the trailer, the spare tire is dragging, 1 of the two bolts have come off.  He pulls over at the next exit and uses, get this, the old clamp for the hose that wasn't working to secure the tire up. 

 

In between all this, every fill up he made, the outside card reader wasn't working on the diesel pumps and he had to go inside to pay.  So much for a limited contact day. 

 

We drive a couple more hours and stop for the day.  13 hour day, only 400 miles.  Really pathetic drive day, but all in all everything was fairly minor and we were safe.

 

2 more days on the road and we got home safe and sound.  During the drive, Idaho governor ordered a stay in place.  Perfect timing for us.  

 

In the meantime, my daughter's graduation (from college) got cancelled.  She is still working, since she is in the medical field as a home aid to elderly and handicapped.  Also our outing for Jeff Dunham on April 25th was postponed to November 12th.  

 

So home for about a week and we have a 6.5 earthquake.  Now don't forget this is Idaho.  My first and I hope my last earthquake.  Scared the crap out of me.  Rich thought it was cool or as he put it, "awesome".  To say the least, I didn't sleep well after that.

 

Have applied for the small business benefits and finally caught up with housecleaning and office work and now checking in with everyone.  We are staying in place and just doing things around the Idaho home.  Rich is working to get me new, to me, car on the road.  65 Olds Cutlass convertible.  I will have to have hand controls put in it, but it will hold my wheelchair and be fun to drive.  I am just working on keeping the house cleaned, which is very hard for me, but I have nothing but time on my hands, so I just do what I can and then rest.

 

Have a cruise on May 18th on Carnival Inspiration from Long Beach.  Just waiting to see if it gets canceled. 

 

Linda and Halo 

What a beautiful picture!  And, an amazing traveling log.  It would make a great book if it weren't so filled with one incident after another and seemed so unbelievable and, at moments had me laughing [I'm glad it wasn't me, and am so happy you're all home safely.]  One of those incidents would have made me nuts or scared me to death.  You guys handled it all with great ease, and I don't know what Rich's formal training is but he's definitely a "keeper!" And, has earned a gold star from me!!!!

 

You have earned a relaxing vacation, that's for sure!

[rpclmc]

Roz, Rich and I own a commercial construction company.  I do the bookkeeping.  He has a degree in construction management and has worked construction the majority of his adult life.   He self taught himself how to work on cars.  I am sure his training in the military as an aerospace mechanic helped, but he only did that for 6 months.  He actually put himself through college by rebuilding total loss cars and then reselling them.

 

Our travels always have "adventures", so this is nothing new to us.  It was surprising how calm we both stayed on the really bad day, we were exhausted when that day was done.  Halo couldn't figure out why we stopped so much and so many times didn't let him out.  I think he was just as happy as us to get home and bet done with the road trip.  He was a trooper, as usual and so easy. 

 

Here is the photo we were going to use for Riki's graduation. 

 

Linda and Halo

[wizard-of-roz]

38 minutes ago, rpclmc said:

Roz, Rich and I own a commercial construction company.  I do the bookkeeping.  He has a degree in construction management and has worked construction the majority of his adult life.   He self taught himself how to work on cars.  I am sure his training in the military as an aerospace mechanic helped, but he only did that for 6 months.  He actually put himself through college by rebuilding total loss cars and then reselling them.

 

Our travels always have "adventures", so this is nothing new to us.  It was surprising how calm we both stayed on the really bad day, we were exhausted when that day was done.  Halo couldn't figure out why we stopped so much and so many times didn't let him out.  I think he was just as happy as us to get home and bet done with the road trip.  He was a trooper, as usual and so easy. 

 

Here is the photo we were going to use for Riki's graduation. 

 

Linda and Halo

A stunningly beautiful picture.  

 

Thank you so much for sharing your adventures with us.  And, please give Rich a HUGE hug from me.  I was married to a wonderful guy who the whole family used to call Mr. MacGiver because he could fix almost anything and could start a motorcycle with the foil of a chewing gum wrapper [something he did on a beach in Mexico, when he lost the key.]  I truly appreciate folks like Rich and I know you must think of him as your hero.  

 

Halo is very lucky to have you guys in his life!!!!

Edited April 9, 2020 by wizard-of-roz

[Caribbean Chris]

Linda, thank you for that travel adventure story. Gorgeous photos of you and Riki. I’m glad to know you got home safely. Our dogs are great at rolling with the punches, aren’t they? I always figure Raylene is happy as long as we’re together and she’s getting fed on time.

 

We had a camper van and then a slightly larger RV and had great, unforgettable trips around the US and Canada for about 8 years, and had so many road-repair episodes. But never so many as you had in one day!! I always felt lucky, too, that Bob can usually figure out the problem and either fix it or know what type of fix to seek out.

 

My keep-productive project this week has been sorting and purging old, pointless photos going back 40 years (You know the ones - ten of the same scene or group, but there’s one worth keeping). Brings back great memories and is part of the long-range downsizing of Stuff.  Very satisfying, though dusty - even though they were in nice decorative cardboard boxes.
 

My longterm goal is to winnow the paper pics way down, scan, and create some new Shutterfly photo books online, like those I’ve made after major trips since the digital age dawned. It’s amazing from old pictures how much you forget - names of people and places - but the photo book captions solve that problem. I love looking at them and they take up much less space. 

[rangeley]

Omg Linda that was quite the adventure! Glad you arrived safe and sound. You are lucky your husband is so handy. I never had one of those.  Lol  I became the handy one after my divorce. Somebody had to do it. 

 

What beautiful pictures! Thanks so much for sharing them. 

[rangeley]

Hope everyone is doing well. We are doing good. Been lucky to get everything we need delivered. Haven't been out to a store in a month. 

 

Roz any news on your cruise? I heard something today that the cdc want to extend the cruise ban past the May 11th date, and the cruise lines aren't happy. I would not step on a ship at this point. 

 

[wizard-of-roz]

2 hours ago, rangeley said:

Hope everyone is doing well. We are doing good. Been lucky to get everything we need delivered. Haven't been out to a store in a month. 

 

Roz any news on your cruise? I heard something today that the cdc want to extend the cruise ban past the May 11th date, and the cruise lines aren't happy. I would not step on a ship at this point. 

 

Believe it or not, as of this date the Golden Princess will be setting sail on May 30th to Alaska from Los Angeles.  I've called Princess and my TA's office to get the final word and all they say to me is nothing has changed, yet!!!!  We'll see.  I find it very hard to believe that it will happen, so I was inquiring about the next Alaska cruises on board the Golden for this year and were given two more dates in August.  I'm going to keep my options open.  

 

Actually, who know's when it will be safe to be in large crowds again without a mask on our face?  And, will I ever travel again without feeling suspicious of everything and everyone?

 

I wish all of you a Good Friday and and a Happy, Safe Easter! 

 

[Wendsong]

Well, Jazz is finally using the "box" I set up for the cruise through the Panama Canal on the Island Princess (cancelled of course). I took the legs off of a kids swimming pool, put in grass, plants and his fire hydrant and today he finally decided to use it.  Next week, the plan is to start removing everything a little at a time, until he will use it with just the mulch in it. It's a big leap and hopefully he will be all ready for when the ban is lifted. Looks like another 100 days, though. I'm thinking to be safe - next year.

[wizard-of-roz]

1 hour ago, Wendsong said:

Well, Jazz is finally using the "box" I set up for the cruise through the Panama Canal on the Island Princess (cancelled of course). I took the legs off of a kids swimming pool, put in grass, plants and his fire hydrant and today he finally decided to use it.  Next week, the plan is to start removing everything a little at a time, until he will use it with just the mulch in it. It's a big leap and hopefully he will be all ready for when the ban is lifted. Looks like another 100 days, though. I'm thinking to be safe - next year.

Go Jazz Go!!!!!  Brilliant work!  Now all we need are cruise ships to cruise on!!!!!!!  Will cruising ever be the same again!

[rangeley]

15 hours ago, Wendsong said:

Well, Jazz is finally using the "box" I set up for the cruise through the Panama Canal on the Island Princess (cancelled of course). I took the legs off of a kids swimming pool, put in grass, plants and his fire hydrant and today he finally decided to use it.  Next week, the plan is to start removing everything a little at a time, until he will use it with just the mulch in it. It's a big leap and hopefully he will be all ready for when the ban is lifted. Looks like another 100 days, though. I'm thinking to be safe - next year.

Yay Jazz!!! They get it eventually. 

[rangeley]

14 hours ago, wizard-of-roz said:

Go Jazz Go!!!!!  Brilliant work!  Now all we need are cruise ships to cruise on!!!!!!!  Will cruising ever be the same again!

We were so lucky to get our cruise in this year. Even though we don't have one planned until next year, I have my doubts we will be going on it. I will be very sad if we can't ever cruise again. 😢

[wizard-of-roz]

5 hours ago, rangeley said:

We were so lucky to get our cruise in this year. Even though we don't have one planned until next year, I have my doubts we will be going on it. I will be very sad if we can't ever cruise again. 😢

Not to worry pretty maiden, there will be lots and lots of cruises to take.  The ships will pull themselves together and make offers to the public that will be very difficult to refuse. 

 

We're old sea hags, we know that once this cruising bug bites you......as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow......we will cruise again, I promise!!!!!  😘

[rangeley]

13 hours ago, wizard-of-roz said:

Not to worry pretty maiden, there will be lots and lots of cruises to take.  The ships will pull themselves together and make offers to the public that will be very difficult to refuse. 

 

We're old sea hags, we know that once this cruising bug bites you......as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow......we will cruise again, I promise!!!!!  😘

 

Did you just call me an old hag? Well I never..... 

 

I hope you're right. But the thought of it is scary right now. 

[springredheadsdd]

Happy Easter everyone 🙂 Hope everyone is doing well. We did our yearly Easter tradition with the dogs today. We hard boil eggs and die them with food coloring and then "hide" them in the yard for the dogs to find. We started doing this with Tina my 4 or 5 year old mutt was a puppy. She loves it. It has now become a tradition in our house. We hide the eggs in the yard and each dog gets 2. They have to peal the shell off to get to the hard boiled egg inside. This was Bella's first time doing it and she finished first. She does not get table scraps as a rule but eggs are good for dogs. She loved it. Sasha(our 2.5yr old) finished second and Tina finished last even though she has had more years to do it. It is all fun and the dogs love it. 

[wizard-of-roz]

7 hours ago, rangeley said:

 

Did you just call me an old hag? Well I never..... 

 

I hope you're right. But the thought of it is scary right now. 

If the "hag" fits wear it!  Anyone can call me a Sea Hag anytime......and, I'm proud of it!

 

I'm expecting to hear from Princess, any day now, about my May 30th cruise.  Haven't heard a formal "cancellation" from Princess or TA, yet!   I'm not going anywhere and will be ready when they are. 

 

You live long enough, you see and hear enough and pretty soon nothing can scare you anymore, NOTHING!!!!!

 

Take care of each other, be good to each other and we'll see each other, hopefully, on the other side of this nightmare!  Who knows, maybe we'll cruise together sooner than later!

[wizard-of-roz]

46 minutes ago, springredheadsdd said:

Happy Easter everyone 🙂 Hope everyone is doing well. We did our yearly Easter tradition with the dogs today. We hard boil eggs and die them with food coloring and then "hide" them in the yard for the dogs to find. We started doing this with Tina my 4 or 5 year old mutt was a puppy. She loves it. It has now become a tradition in our house. We hide the eggs in the yard and each dog gets 2. They have to peal the shell off to get to the hard boiled egg inside. This was Bella's first time doing it and she finished first. She does not get table scraps as a rule but eggs are good for dogs. She loved it. Sasha(our 2.5yr old) finished second and Tina finished last even though she has had more years to do it. It is all fun and the dogs love it. 

Happy Easter to you too!  

 

What a cute idea.  I'm sure the pups had a good time.....definitely a different form of enrichment for them.

 

It takes all my imagination to think of things to keep Horton interested in daily life.  Show him a piece of kibble and he's ready for anything!

[S.S. Cruisers]

Bahahaha.  Sea Hags, describes me to the T right now.  I have been trying to go out and pull weeds to get fresh air.  We have these gorgeous "plants" with purple flowers on them they grow fast and get large.  They are actually weeds.  The name is Scorpion Weed.  They have a "sting" if you touch them or even rub against it.  I have to keep them pulled so the dog doesn't get it on their the and bring it in the house.  Not sure they are still spraying for weeds or if they are closed down.  We have had so much rain the weeds have gone wild.  I will have to call and see.