Road Trippin' to Houston

There are times when I wish Morey could talk to me. I want to do what is best for him but sometimes it's hard to figure out what that is. For example, last weekend I had a rugby tournament in Houston. My roommate was working all weekend so my options were to leave Morey home by himself for 8 hours 3 days in a row (which he isn't used to) or bring him with me and subject him to the stressors of travel and rugby. I finally decided to bring him with me, for better or worse.

My Mazda doesn't have as much space as my old Astro did. Usually Morey sits on the back bench seat but when I have my rugby gear loaded up he has to move to the floor. He still has plenty of space and I put down a blanket for him but he seems to act like it is the worst thing ever to have to lay on the floor. It's about a 3 hour drive to Houston and I had to look at this face every time I checked on him!

What have I done to deserve this?
 

We were competing at a Natatorium and Recreation Center that was really nice. It had some big open stretches of grass along the building and between games I let Morey run, sniff and play ball there before putting back in his "house". I'm sure he would have liked to try out the Natatorium but I decided to save the swimming for another time!

Morey knows the rugby routine and he willingly goes in his den where he stays during our games. When I let him out he likes to go around and visit with each of the team members. He often attracts attention from the other teams and support staff and usually makes a few new friends at each event.

 

When I make hotel reservations I never tell them I will be bringing a service dog with me. I don't feel there is any reason to tell them and have never had a problem when I show up with well-behaved Morey. However, when I checked in at this hotel I did have a "first" when I was told that they had to change my room to one on the first floor. The woman told me they always put people with dogs on the first floor because they want to avoid people who are afraid of dogs having to be in the elevator with a dog. I didn't really care- it's actually easier not to have to bother with the elevator- but it seems like strange logic to me. If someone who is afraid of dogs sees a dog in an elevator couldn't they just wait for the next one or take the stairs? And just because my room is on the first floor doesn't mean that I wouldn't take Morey on the elevator to other floors. That often happens at tournaments when we have team meetings in our coach's room that might be on a different floor. However, I wasn't on the mood to debate the sensibility of that policy and so I just accepted my room key and went on my way.

 

 

One of Morey's favorite things about traveling seems to be the hotel beds. Because he doesn't sleep much during the day (even when he is in his "house" I don't think he gets much rest), he usually crashes as soon as we get back to the hotel. I have to be careful about where he settles down because if he goes to sleep before I do it is sometimes hard to get him to move and make room for me!