Buster’s First Road Trip…

Back when Chili Dawg was still with us, Mom and Dad used to say I was “simple”.  Not anymore.  Now, I’m the genius of dog family.  Poor Buster.  He still runs into the screen door every single day.  In fact, this morning, he was so excited to go outside that he took the screen door completely off the sliding part (he can’t go through it, because Mom and Dad put pet screen on it from back in the day when I went through the patio screen door).

Last weekend, we took a trip up to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  I don’t think Buster had been on many road trips with his first family before.  Dad had to practically lift him into the van because he didn’t know how to get in.  Then, he didn’t know where to sit (we get the whole back seat of the van to ourselves!) and tried to sit in the driver’s seat.  Mom had to pull and Dad had to push to get him out of that seat and into the back by me.  When we got to Grandma and Grandpa’s, he couldn’t figure out how to get out of the van either.  I had already greeted Grandma and was in the backyard with Sarge and Burley before they got Buster out of the van.

From then on, we were a “Sea of Dogs”.  I am the oldest at 9.5.  Then there’s Sarge.  He’s 6.  In January, Grandma and Grandpa rescued Burley, who is a mastiff mix.  He lived down the street from them, and his owners wouldn’t let him come inside the house ever!  It gets COLD in January in Illinois, especially if you don’t have a thick coat, so my Grandpa knocked on their door and asked if they could bring Burley home with them- he didn’t even have an outside dog house!  His owners said yes, and Burley came home with them.  Grandma and Grandpa took him to the vet and got him healthy and he started gaining weight (he was skin and bone).  Now he weighs around 92 pounds and he’s a gentle giant.  And then, there’s Buster.  We all got along pretty well.  Buster and I did get Mom up at 6 AM the next morning, but she enjoyed the silence and sitting on Grandma and Grandpa’s deck.

Later that day, our human cousins arrived and everyone went strawberry picking.  It was hot out, so we got to stay inside in the air conditioning.  We were tired out anyway, from playing and wrestling with each other the day before.  Then, we had to leave to go home.  Dad had to again show Buster how to get into the van.  This time, he did go to the back seat.  Since he’s younger than me, I let him have a little bit of the seat, but I took up most of it.  Hey, that’s what Chili Dawg used to do to me, so now it’s my turn!  Then, we got home.  Oy!  Mom and Dad got the kids up to bed first.  Then, they came back and I got out the usual way.  Buster just sat there and looked at Mom and Dad.  Then, he decided to try to climb OVER the back seat and go out through the back hatch!  It was good that Dad was standing there to catch him!  I don’t know what that boy is thinking, but if he had just followed me it would have been so much easier!

I do have to say that it is nice to be the smart dog for a change.  This must be what Chili Dawg felt like all the time.

Author: finchy

I'm a 4 legged Boxer brother to my tripawd brother, Chili Dawg View all posts by finchy