As you know I just got back from 9 days at Priest Lake, Idaho. There will be more to come about Priest Lake it is one of the reason I think Idaho is the greatest state in the USA and I hope we can live there one day (right Jay)? Anyways, we took our 5 year old Portuguese Water Dog along with us for our trip. We have traveled with him a ton. This poor dog has flown in a plane from Nova Scotia Canada (I don’t even have a clue where that is maybe Ang would know) to Seattle and has had 3 cross country car rides, not to mention has went to on so many vacations with us it is hard to count. He has been my pal for the past 5 years and I wouldn’t have it any other way. So we know how to travel with him, bring a dog bed, stop for potty breaks and water, bring a few of his favorite toys, always travel with the food he has eaten from home, don’t leave him alone the minute you get to a new location, and most of all exercise him more than you would at home. It keeps him sleeping in the car and also if you leave your cabin he will just snooze the day away. But the lake was a new adventure for us. This post sums up a few things, must haves for the lake, getting your dog to try paddle boarding, how to deal with the dreaded “Swimmer’s Tail” and when in a bind and there is no grocery store around how you get an awful smell out of you dog.
Prepping for the Trip we found these great products I recommend for any river, lake, or ocean trip.
Everlasting Treat Ball- great chew toy to keep your dog busy. Waterproof Chuck it toys- we literally have every Chuck It toy created Arson loves them. I love them cause they float and they don’t get all soggy like a tennis ball. They are also great cause you can wash them off. I also recommend the flying squirrel it floats and it’s like a frisbee. Lifejacket– Ok this next one didn’t really get used, our dog is an amazing swimmer but we thought he wouldn’t love the paddle board as much as he did and we figured he would want to swim around with us while we paddle boarded. I trust him swimming for short periods of time, but a 15-20 min swim makes me nervous is a very deep lake so we got him a lifejacket in the case he was going to be in the water for a long period of time with us. Needless to say he was OBSESSED with the paddle board and had a panic attack if it left the boat without him on it. So we didn’t use the lifejacket at all. We did use it once and I liked this one cause it wasn’t bulky at all and the two straps made it super easy to pull him back on the boat. | Portable Water and Food Bowls– great for the boat or on a hike, your pup always needs water! Waterproof Collar– We have a non shedding dog for a reason I hate dog hair and I also can’t handle the wet dog smell and even worst a wet collar smell. So I opted for a fully waterproof collar. This was a great decision! |
Proof of his LOVE/OBSESSION with the stand up paddleboard. For those of you introducing your dogs to a SUP we started by letting him see it on shore, then we paddled around on it for awhile as he watched us from the boat. He then started whining so I paddled the board towards the boat and before I could even grab the side of the boat Arson launched himself onto the board. WHAM BAM he was a SUP dog! It’s his genetics I think!
The rest of the trip went well until the final few days. Arson often gets “swimmers tail” and when I was talking to some of my GF’s who own labs they talked about their dogs getting swimmers tail as well. He gets it about once a year and to save you from a $150 vet bill here is what works best for us.
Here is what swimmers tail looks like:
Here is what swimmers tail looks like:
It is extremely painful for our dog, he literally cries every time he tries to lay or sit down. It is the saddest thing. What it is is an inflammation at the base of the tail and spine that makes it difficult and painful for the dog to carry his tail up or move it normally. Some dogs can’t sit or lie down comfortably. Its like the human equivalent to Sciatic Nerve pain. What we find works best for Arson is 162 mg (that’s a 1/2 tablet) of uncoated aspirin (we have also given him Ibuprofen). Arson is 55 lbs so we give him the 1/2 tablet once in the am and once before bed, the pain is usually worst at night when he is trying to lay down for long periods of time. Aspirin sometimes hurts his tummy so make sure you dog has eaten before you give him a tablet. I am not a vet so don’t quote me on any of this, but this is what works for us. He gets it about once a year and after 2 days of aspirin and ALOT OF REST he is usually back to normal.
(we were worried about his nails ruining the boat seats I’m happy to report that the boat seats were perfectly fine)!
The second issue that arrived while at the lake was Arson rolling in something dead or some type of animal poop, whatever it was he smelled like a pig farm/death and it was awful. We obviously didn’t have dog shampoo and we were in the middle of nowhere in Idaho so tomato juice and any other things were over an hour away. My mom suggested bathing him in dawn dish soap, we tried that first and it kinda worked, but not really. The second bath we bathed him with laundry detergent, this seemed to help a little more so we soaped him up twice with it. Still he had hint of the “bad smell” so for the fourth bath of the day we bathed him in spearmint mouthwash, we put it on like a shampoo and scrubbed him then washed it off. We didn’t leave it on the skin and I recommend you don’t. Also with all of our methods be careful of the poor pups eyes! Needless the say the mouthwash did the trick! I’m not saying this is the best way to get a awful smell out, but if you are on the fly and don’t have anything to use these items worked for us.
He can’t wait to be back at the lake next year and mostly he can’t wait for next month at the ocean! Happy travels with to you and your pups!
Jess
The second issue that arrived while at the lake was Arson rolling in something dead or some type of animal poop, whatever it was he smelled like a pig farm/death and it was awful. We obviously didn’t have dog shampoo and we were in the middle of nowhere in Idaho so tomato juice and any other things were over an hour away. My mom suggested bathing him in dawn dish soap, we tried that first and it kinda worked, but not really. The second bath we bathed him with laundry detergent, this seemed to help a little more so we soaped him up twice with it. Still he had hint of the “bad smell” so for the fourth bath of the day we bathed him in spearmint mouthwash, we put it on like a shampoo and scrubbed him then washed it off. We didn’t leave it on the skin and I recommend you don’t. Also with all of our methods be careful of the poor pups eyes! Needless the say the mouthwash did the trick! I’m not saying this is the best way to get a awful smell out, but if you are on the fly and don’t have anything to use these items worked for us.
He can’t wait to be back at the lake next year and mostly he can’t wait for next month at the ocean! Happy travels with to you and your pups!
Jess