Day Six: Feeling the Burn

Another hot one... of course it is. High 90s. Isn't PA more south than both Sioux Falls and Fargo? Why is the hot weather following us? Piper started having diarrhea today. We have been wondering if this would happen. Since we got her as a young pup now over a year and some months ago - she has had diarrhea maybe ten to twelve times. We have ruled out her food, and we do not feed her any new foods, nor is she eating foreign objects or licking things outside - so we are now guessing it is anxiety.

We have been struggling to decide what is best for her for the upcoming months. You see, when this idea or journeying into the unknown developed, it was always going to be the three of us. We were going to seize the day, use the present reality of remote work to go the road less traveled, literally. Then time happened and conversations were had, realizations were made. Alex and I are different people. We have different strengths, we have different desires and different passions. We decided what is best for one may not be best for the other and compromises don't need to mean one sacrifices beyond their comfort level. We decided to do this trip together differently.

Alex wants to be mostly based at home in PA, while I will be based mostly on the road. He will come in and join whenever he wants (and where time and money permit). By me continuing to drive around these states, it actually allows him the freedom to see so much more than if we both flew into these parts together. Take Fargo for instance: would we really ever fly from PA to Fargo for an extended weekend? There are no direct flights - at least none that we want to afford. How much time would that take geting to and from there? How much would that cost - 2 tickets, renting a car, giving up vacation days? If we are lucky, how many of those long weekends would we be able to do in a year? Would we only get to cities and miss small towns and small cultures along the way? Or more likely, we would never go to Fargo. Or Sioux Falls or....

Piper is caught in between two lifestyles. I offer the more active and stimulating lifestyle. I have done the majority of the training (I even taught her to ask for "help" when she needs a toy that is stuck). He is going to offer the more consistent and familiar lifestyle. Ah, home sweet home.

Oh but sweet Piper - God bless that one. What do we do with the dog that loves "adventure" but has anxiety? That was one of the first words we noticed she learned without being specifically taught what it means. As a nanny, to make my car rides with the kids fun - I always called them "adventures". In truth, most of the time we went in the car - it was fun! I wasn't taking them grocery shopping or to lectures at the local college - I was taking them to science centers and parks. We adopted that terminology for going somewhere in the car with Piper. "Piper, want to go on an adventure?" She will run to the garage door and then once inside the garage she will hop right into the car. We don't think her stomach issues are car related.

She mostly hides that she may have anxiety well. Over our last year of having her, it has been a weird game of "what caused this". Eventually, we can rule out many of the typical catalysts for the unfortunate bowel issues. Now, we can identify what anxieties she may have but only in hindsight. One time, her first time at a groomer, the groomer gave her an "outstanding" report card. The groomer called and spoke about how surprised she was with how well Piper acted. She said "Piper was just perfect"..."I can't believe it's her first time". Wow! Great! 24 hours later...

Traditionally, when she has "stomach issues" - it is not just a one and done. It will go one for days unless you do something. Often times, it also involves one if not multiple "stomach issues" in the fort (crate) we keep her in - that's a whole ordeal of course. The only thing that clears it up is days of being on a bland diet (boiled chicken and mashed potatoes we then have to make in bulk quantities) then transitioning her back to her normal food.

So does she stay with me? An active life with plenty of adventure and lots of change or a more sedentary life with routine and home.