next weekend i'm leading a trip for the outdoor club, we're going to a ski-in lodge with several small cabins - totally off the grid, it's a great place. there will be 11 people on the trip, including me. it's also completed isolated so no dogs to go at mine like happened at the last place....

in the first few weeks i had teagan, she bit when i picked up a toy that was on the floor in front of her. over christmas, she got out of the cabin while i was in the washroom, and my brother was getting stuff out of the car. teagan is obsessed w/entering cars, and tried to do so, he grabbed her collar, and she turned around at him. he says she didn't bite, but that when he threw her off him he thinks a tooth sliced along his hand - either way, he had a small cut.

so that's the background. i am taking both dogs with me, and it is possible that one other member will be taking her dachshund, though she's not sure since it isn't exactly going to be skiing or snowshoeing along with her. teagan will likely see milo (the dachshund) as a fancy squirrel.

so. the cabin myself and the dogs are in is being shared w/one other person, who is familiar w/dogs that have some behavioural issues and who has been told about teagan and that she has a high prey drive and may not respond well if challenged. milo's owner has been informed as well.

my plan:
-the dogs stay in the cabin during meals at the lodge.
-dogs will go snowshoeing w/me during the morning, teagan will stay in the cabin in the afternoon while i go out w/luc again (her hips)
-i am the only one to handle teagan
-when dogs are in lodge, both will be on leads. teagan will likely be only on the traffic lead while there
-in addition, teagan will be muzzled while in the lodge
-if Milo is in the lodge and milo's owner is not comfortable w/teagan being there, i will put her in the cabin

thoughts? suggestions?

i'm not okay w/teagan being left home alone, and i don't think anything is likely to happen, but i'm not going to trust that the other people on the trip will know how to behave around her, and it's my responsibility anyways to ensure nothing happens.

i thought about bringing a collapsible fabric crate (everything has to fit on a sled behind the snowmobile, for 11 people it's one trip), but have not been able to find one teagan's size. as well, from reading on this site or the dvd's, i can't remember which, crates aren't recommended if the dogs are chewers. teagan is fine in a tent, but i'm in it with her. teagan does chew at any bedding put in her crate, so i'm not sure she wouldn't just destroy a collasible fabric crate.

teagan was obviously muzzle trained before i got her, but i'm having her wear it regularly now just as a build up to going away (she could care less, but like i said in another thread, she actually becomes a lot calmer when wearing the muzzle).

Where you able to find a fold up crate for Teagan? That's the only thing I'd worry about is keeping her in the cabin/lodge in the afternoon when you and Luc head back out.

i'm wondering about that too....she doesn't try to eat furniture when out, at my house or the cabin we were at over christmas, it's always the dog beds :errrr: i just bought her new soft dog beds and she's pulling all the stuffing out!

of course, she's never bothered furniture, but she's always supervised. i could also just relax in the afternoons (i guess ) and that way i wouldn't have to worry about her in the cabin alone.


(btw, i've been emailing w/maureen - what a lovely person! i get a great vibe, and she said i could come visit whenever and as often as i want, even though i'm looking at a date relatively far away. i'm really impressed. i may go out in march if i'm recovered from the move just cause i'm excited!)

oh, and i'm getting teagan a new muzzle tomorrow....since she doesn't use it when active, i went for style and got a hot dogs alldressed muzzle....we have a powder blue one right now and we're getting pink tomorrow (girly!)

i'm one of those people, i know. but i found the company through the bully rescue, b/c 'pit bulls' are required to be muzzled when in public in ontario (boo), some bully owners use them since they're disarming and not 'scary' muzzles.

teagan is a sweet girl, so i don't want her to look too scary. of course, i'm taking her to a couple of pet stores (regular and dog boutique) so she's going to be wearing her muzzle while in them (all i need is for a small errant dog to get within mouth range....not taking the chance, especially if i'm looking at collars and didn't notice or something).

....and completely off-topic, but it's been windy here, and luc's been chasing leaves in the park! he's playing!!!

Sounds as though you have this trip well planned out, I hope everything runs smoothly for you next weekend.
BTW Luc's is looking great, his fur is so shiny in that pic, and nice to hear at least he's enjoying himself in this awful windy weather.

thanks terra. i hope i've covered everything. it helps i've been up there before, i've known the owners since i was teenager, and i know the layout.

thanks re: luc! he lifted his leg when he peed today! whoa!

just wanted to say things went well. the other dog didn't come, and the dogs weren't allowed in the lodge, so i didn't have to worry about the close quarters interaction w/teagan.

she was generally polite and good with people. everyone seemed to prefer luc, who is all goofy and happy and gets excited when people make a fuss over him, whereas teagan loves to get attention if it's attention she's demanded, but tends to react to a fuss with a 'are you talking in a high-pitched voice to me?' face, or a 'i don't remember asking you to pet me' move, so she's not as cutesy.

luc actually did very well with the 10 yr old daughter of my friend - we snowshoed in together and luc 'pulled' her up all the hills and then they raced together and ran all over the place. she just loved him, and he was so good with her.

my cabin mate gave them treats all weekend (i made her cut down....she kept saying 'oh, they're hungry'....no they're not) so the dogs thought she was nice, and she let me handle teagan so that worked out fine. edit: actually, teagan did show behaviour issues w/joanna - she would jump up on her (repeatedly, if allowed) every time jo came in, i told jo to knee her but she kept trying to pet teagan down, so i tried to grab teagan and did some obed. with her when jo came in.

teagan did react a couple of times - only to men, i noticed. but she responded well to me telling her to stop/correcting her.

she had a bit of trouble w/peeing and her hips between the weather (it was -30C without the windchill today) and extra exercise, but was okay. she's been sleeping well

....otherwise, the other thing i'll have to watch for - i've suspected for some time that teagan understands door handles open doors. but she's not really given the opportunity to go around opening them. well, in the cabin, she learned how to lift the latch to the door, but as she didn't have opposable thumbs (ha!) she wasn't able to open it. my cabin mate said everytime i left the cabin teagan ran over to the door, lifted the latch, and tried to get the door open!