Doggie Heaven Hotel

Carsick Canines

 Oh...I need an Alka Seltzer

Dogs love to ride in cars, right?  Moondoggie comes almost everywhere with me, and is perfectly at home in the dog bed in the back of my car.  How many of you have “lost” the dog, only to find that your loyal companion simply snuck back into the car? 

Surprisingly, however, there are exceptions. Did you know that a small percentage of dogs get carsick? The good news is that this is more typical in puppies and young dogs because their inner ear structures are not fully developed.  Many dogs that suffer carsickness as puppies grow out of it.  

But if they don’t, there are things you can do to help your dog feel better.

The Strange Dogs of Costa Rica

They have really weird dogs in Costa Rica and they ate all my bananas.

Why Do Dogs Love California?

Dogs love California because they can go to the beach in late November and it can be sunny and 70 degrees. Humans like it too.

Walking down to the beach with three excited dogs.

Moondoggie has the ball while Judah and Poppy wait their turns.

The boys look happy but Judah looks happier running after a tennis ball

Doggie Suitcase

We have a great idea here at Doggie Heaven Hotel.

Dog pack deal

It is the all-in-one doggie suitcase. I was lucky enough to find this nearly new doggie backpack at an estate sale this weekend for almost nada—yet it fit my dog perfectly.

Moondoggie waiting for the shuttle

Then my husband pointed out something I hadn’t noticed.

For dogs that don't quite fit in your purse.

The backpack is not only good for hiking and camping; it’s good for a doggie get-a-way. It holds everything your dog may need for a weekend trip, including, well, your dog.

Are we there yet?

A Day At the Beach With Doggie Heaven Hotel

Walking at the beach with Juda, Moondoggie, Willie and Mozart

My kids were both at camp.

My husband and I felt unexpected freedom to do what we wanted. The only catch was, we had four dogs.

What to do? We decided to take them to a dog beach in Davenport, let them run and cavort until they were tired and then go out to lunch. 

We went to one of my favorite restaurants, The Davenport Roadhouse, which I discovered on Mother’s Day. I know I should have been enjoying my family, but really it was more the food being served, eating everything I wanted and above all having someone else do the dishes.

Oh, so I had to find a parking spot where I could watch the dogs from the restaurant window: a spot in the shade. I found the perfect one, and I started to pull slowly into it. There was a lady, her son, and two dogs standing near it. As I pulled closer, she looked up from her cell phone and said to me, “I’m saving this spot, my husband needs to park here so we can watch our two dogs.” 

As the words left her mouth she peered into the back seat of my car and shut her mouth, as the four furry faces peered back at her.

I subdued the urge to run her down and park on top of her, and found a spot across the street. 

Juda and Willie look a lot like sealions

The dogs did so well that after lunch we journeyed to another dog beach, up the coast in Half Moon Bay. A beach where dogs run free and waves get high. Who knew that a beach that is famous for it’s big wave surf competition would be home to a great dog beach?

The locals joining in the fun with Juda and Willie

Yes Sir, when you’re not being sucked into the surf watching the Maverick’s Big Wave competition, you can run your dogs along the beach.

Juda has the ball.

A fun day was had by all.

Oh, Henry—Day Two

 
Henry trying to hide as he senses the camera is near

Today I took the elusive Henry, with my dog Moondoggie, to the first annual Dog Jam in Santa Cruz. The Dog Jam is a stand up paddling event—with dogs.

The event is the brainchild of Neil Pearlberg who runs the stand up paddleboard program at Vasona Lake here in my town, Los Gatos. The proceeds from the Dog Jam went to the SPCA, proving that Neil is not only cool but a really great guy and a dog lover.

Three Border Collies and a strange stuffed something (could it be an alien?)nervously riding their board

I had several goals for this trip. The first was to find out if Henry was an alien. I have had a hunch that he was an alien ever since the camera incident.

After I noticed that Henry was camera shy, I started to notice other things as well. Henry is way too smart to be a dog. He seems to be able to communicate with other dogs without making a noise.

He also has the power to make humans fall in love with him with just one look of his two different colored eyes.

In fact, I think he is a special alien hybrid dog, because I have never before seen a dog that looks like Henry.
 

He also sneaks under our bed.

I couldn’t find him anywhere the first time it happened and then I spotted a few telltale tuffs of white hair sticking out from under the bed. My theory is that he is waiting for us to go to sleep and then he will take over our bodies. I make sure never to fall asleep while Henry is under our bed.

Henry tends to sleep under my husband’s side of the bed, so hopefully he will be taken first.
 
Henry has a habit of disappearing and then suddenly reappearing.

He is either sneaking off to use some kind of communication device to transmit information to his alien comrades or perhaps he is teleporting himself to his spaceship and back.

I was a little more successful photographing the alien dog today.
I’ll let you know if I ever get the money shot.

Henry communicating with another alien dog at the Dog Jam

More about the Dog Jam coming soon.

Mean People Suck

The Haute Enchilada
I blame the economy for the following events:

If the economy hadn’t gone south, then I wouldn’t have started my dog-sitting business. If I hadn’t started my business, then I wouldn’t have started my dog blog. If I hadn’t started my dog blog then I wouldn’t have started this section on Doggone Vacations.

When I named this section, I didn’t realize the definition of doggone. Used to describe feelings of annoyance, surprise, or pleasure.

I think that is fairly apropos for traveling with dogs.

Even though I have been spending a lot of time lately researching places to go with dogs by actually going places with dogs, I try not to be obnoxious about it. Or at least I thought I wasn’t being obnoxious.

We were in Moss Landing geocaching and exploring.

It was getting close to dinnertime and I didn’t feel like cooking.
For heaven sakes I wasn’t staying in a five star resort, I might as well get a little reward and I didn’t feel bad about spending money on dinner since we were saving so much on accommodations.

We walked by this restaurant, Phil’s Fish Market & Eatery.

Phil’s claim to fame was that he once appeared on Bobby Flay’s TV “Throw Down.” It was supposed to be a fairly decent restaurant and I had already eaten at the Haute Enchilada (or that would have been my first choice) besides we weren’t standing in front of the Haute Enchilada.

I asked my husband to see if we could bring our dog to dinner. My husband, (who loves to talk to people he doesn’t know) walked right up to the hostess while I hung back with my dog and asked her if we could indeed bring Moondoggie.

He returned to tell me that the hostess said yes, as long as we ate on the covered patio and not inside the restaurant.

I asked if we should make reservations. He said, "Naaaaaaa, this place is huge.” There was a lady listening in on our conversation. She sat on a bench in front of Phil’s, while she held her yapping Papillion’s mouth closed. She said that of course they would let our dog on the patio and of course we wouldn’t need a reservation.
I found out later that they don’t take reservations anyway.

We went back to the RV. I fed Moondoggie and freshened up a little, which meant putting on my least dirty pair of jeans, least dirty pair of shoes, and least dirty jacket.

When we arrived back at Phil’s, it was packed and there was a band playing. My husband and two kids disappeared into the crowd. I stood there with my dog and a foreboding feeling.

I couldn’t see a single empty table. I did see however, two tables with dogs tucked under them while their masters ate dinner. That gave me some sort of comfort.

My husband was now running toward me with an excited look on his face. “I found a table in the very back behind the band.” He turned and moved quickly in the other direction toward the band.
I was still standing at the front of the restaurant with the sinking feeling that I now was going to have to follow my husband and walk with my dog down the center of the aisle between many, many family style tables filled with patrons who were almost certainly not all dog lovers.

I don’t even know why I did it. If I’d had my wits about me, I would have walked out the entrance and around the patio to the back door and snuck into the table behind the band but as it turned out it didn’t matter.

Doggone vacation

The Beach at Moss Landing

I am still on my doggone vacation kick. We took our RV on a micro-vacation, as I like to call them, Meaning we were only gone for a few days and we stayed close to home. Going to places that were close by, but we’ve never explored.

I wanted to do this for three reasons. One, I wanted to take my dog and then write about it. Two, we didn’t have much time. Three, we don’t have any money. Four, my kids love our RV, much more than I do, so for a little money, it keeps them entertained, plus, they were so excited to have the dog along.

And for a freaky, squirrely, skinny, herding dog, Moondoggie was quite at home in, what I lovingly refer to as the Clampettmobile.

I had seen this RV Park in a place called Moss Landing. It looked intriguing.