This past holiday season was certainly an adventure for little Winnie. First, in early December Carolyn and I went down to visit my grandfather in the US for a week. Former foster family Kathy and Co. (Thanks again!!!) graciously agreed to take her in for that time, joining their two and new foster Loki. From all indications Winnie had a great time there, but she was certainly glad to see us and resume her position as only dog in the house! However, we were only back in Kingston for a few days before we headed out to Winnipeg for the holidays.
The trip to Winnipeg was Winnie's first time flying, but we were all prepared (having flown previous years with Carolyn's cat). Carolyn maneuvered Winnie into the soft-sided travel carrier with the help of some treats and headed into the terminal, me following half a minute behind with the luggage ... only to enter and see Winnie's head popping out the top of the bag! We had forgotten to zipper up the top opening of the bag, and she had decided to poke her head up and take a look around. More treats helped to get her back in fully and settled, and aside from that little incident and a bit of barking when I walked past her in the departure lounge, she was a model traveller, charming check-in agents, security screeners and flight attendants. In honesty, she probably enjoyed the flight more than either of us, given that she had a tartar chew to keep her occupied the whole flight and even slept. The trip back at the end of the holidays went just as smoothly.
Our holidays in Winnipeg were split between Carolyn's and my parents. Winnie settled in pretty well at both places, though it took a bit of time for her to get used to Cammy (my parent's Vizsla) and Britt (Carolyn's parents' black Lab). At first, Winnie would sometimes got a bit riled up by their moving around the house, especially in the evenings, but after a while she got used to this new routine. She also demonstrated remarkably resilience to Winnipeg's legendary winters, at least for going out to do her business - no hesitation at all in running outside straight into a cruel north wind! Going for walks was a bit more problematic, though, in part because of her paws getting cold (as she refused to wear booties), so more than once it was a short walk followed by being carried back home. We have some paw wax now, though truth be told we weren't too eager to go walking in that weather either!
Carolyn's dad and another veterinarian at his clinic gave Winnie a checkup, including an ultrasound to make sure she doesn't have any more bladder stones. The scan was clear and overall they gave her a pretty clean bill of health - great news, especially when you think about all the medical work she went through in the past year.
The link below has some photos from the trip:
http://eudaimonia.ca/Eudaimonia/My_Albums/Pages/WinniePug_in_Winnipeg%21.html