Saturday 10th May 2025
Prolog
Before the trip to pick up Boomer I had installed some fans that fit on the headrest to blow air in the back. I also bought a kennel, that I hid in the shed so the grandkids didn’t see. I was up at 2am and on the road by 2.20am. Heading for Harmony NC, with a full tank of fuel and plans to stop just once for fuel.
I got to Harmony right around 9am, as planned. I met Boomer at the campground, running around with his adult. He came over and was a little apprehensive, I picked him up and he had that puppy smell. The guy didn’t want to have a long goodbye, and left quickly. I put Boomer in the kennel on the back seat, snapped a couple of pictures and sent to my daughter and left.
This was the first time he had been away from his parents and siblings so after driving about 20 minutes down the road I stopped and took him out to have some bonding time. He stayed close to me, walking around and between my legs. It was also the first time he had a collar and leash on. After about 10 minutes of play we got back in the truck and continued our journey. After about 5 minutes he settled down, I assume he took a nap.
A little later down the road my daughter called and said that my eldest granddaughter, Sophie, had seen the pictures on her phone. She had been sworn to secrecy and not to tell her younger siblings. Sophie said “liar, liar pants on fire” because the day before she had seen me mobbing my get home and medical bags off the back seat of my truck. When asked I said I was going to North Carolina to see a friend and needed the back seat. I just didn’t elaborate 😊 My daughter also asked if I liked the name Boomer, stating that she never really asked me, even though it was going to be my dog. I was more than happy with the name.
I stopped after about an hour for gas, as soon as I lifted him out and put him on the grass he peed. I gave him a little water, not wanting to give him too much for the trip, and after about another 10 minutes of play I again lifted him into his kennel and we continued. He settled down after just a couple of minutes. I was able to drive about two more hours before he woke up, so we repeated the stop, out and pee and some play for about 10 minutes. The next stop I needed fuel so we repeated the process. I was about three hours from home and had a full tank of gas, more than enough for the two hundred miles remaining. I fully expected to have to stop again but Boomer didn’t wake up until I got home, around 4.30pm.
Everyone was in the back yard as I pulled in. When I got Boomer out and took him to the grass he immediately peed. Then began the slow process of introducing him to everyone, which took a while as he had never been around other people, let along small kids. Of course my daughter’s dog, Sadie, was curious too but was good and stayed back for a while. Eventually Boomer let everyone pet him.
However, the other pet in the family, Shadow, was not impressed in having another dog in the house. Boomer ignored her 🙂
Later in the afternoon I gave him a quick bath and brush. He looked much better. I also put his kennel in my camper. It wouldn’t fit through the door but fortunately I had a cargo area at the front with a large side door so I was able to get it in that way without a problem.
Than evening around 9 Boomer and I went to my camper and I put him in his kennel. He had got quite used to going in and out without too much of a fuss. He whined for less than a minute and I settled down to do the pneumatic leg therapy for my lymphedema, which I had not done for a couple of days, and they really needed it from all the driving.
While I was doing that I watched some training videos from Florida K9 Unleashed. A friend had recommended him. I had listened for a few on the way home and this time I was taking notes. In fairness to the guys business I will not be detailing the training but needless to say from what I’ve seen so far they are excellent. Training would start tomorrow.
On the way home I had been thinking of what language I wanted to use to train him in. Having decided I had researched some of the commands in that language on the way home using Siri. I wrote some of them down in my notebook after watching some of the videos.
After completing my leg therapy Boomer was already asleep. I went to bed exhausted from the early morning, long drive and a very long day. I wondered how much sleep I was going to get tonight.