Torrey and Maple's 3000 mile Thanksgiving trip

["J. Renee Brooks" <jrbrooks@cs.utah.edu>]

Well, we did it.  Our first *very* long car trip with the dogs, 3000
miles in total once we were done, and the dogs did great!  

First we headed down to the desert near the California, Arizona,
Nevada junction.  That was a three day drive, but we stopped at rest
areas and ran around with the dogs on lead.  We found that bones were
a great way to occupy the dogs, but for the most part, they just
settled in and slept.  Finding schools or parks with fenced in
playgrounds was also a lifesaver, as we could throw the ball for
awhile to wear them out.  Before we left home we had made reservations
at hotels that took dogs.  During the trip we stayed at 2 motel 6 and
one Best Western.  If you travel with your dogs, Motel 6 always takes
"small dogs" but be sure to call to see if they will take goldens (or
two dogs).  The best western was a much nicer place but most of them
don't take dogs.  

We rented an RV in San Bernadino and then drove on to meet up with a
gang of friends.  Six days in the desert, miles from a busy road, so
the dogs had pretty free range.  There were about 16 people and 7 dogs
in all.  The sand there was a mixture of course sand and gravel that
is pretty rough on dog paws so we picked up some "Bark'n Boots" from
www.Ruffwear.com before the trip.  See the photo below.

http://www.cs.utah.edu/~stoller/stuff/dopey-duo-desert.jpg


These things worked really well!  At first the dogs did the little
dance where they try to pick up all their feet at the same time. 
However, as we started to throw the ball and play with them, they
forgot all about them.  Torrey did especially well, but Maple tried to
pull off the velcro when she laid down.  Every morning I would take
them on hikes and they ran and ran without any problems.  Our dogs
both wore large.  We also got Beacon lights so we could see them
blinking away as they wandered around at dusk.  

After the desert we headed over to Santa Barbara for Thanksgiving. 
Again, the dogs did really well in a small house with lots of people
and kids.  The three year old just loved bossing around the dogs and
hugging them.  I was a little worried since they don't spend that much
time around little kids, so I kept a close eye, but they are goldens
and they put up with everything.  

I think they were really glad to be home, but we're ready to do
similar trips in the future with them.  Anyone else have tips for
traveling with dogs? 

Renee and Leigh