If Sparky weren’t so busy trying to get the squirrel (she didn’t by the way, the tether did it’s job), she probably would have given me her unmistakable confused look–you know, the one where she tilts her head to the left, then to the right, the back to the left.

It’s a good thing that I love Sparky! And thank goodness for Drew–he took good care of me. Thankfully he lives by the motto “Always be prepared” and he had a first aid kit in the truck. He fixed me right up, and despite the burning sensation for the rest of the night (and in the shower the next day!) we had a great time.

All in all, the trip was fun. I’m thinking that since Drew and I love camping so much, we’ll probably be bringing Sparky with us. One of the things that we’re talking about is looking into a dog fence system that can travel with us.

From the moment Sparky got out of the car in the parking lot of the veterinary clinic she was terrified. It was like she had a sixth sense or something. Let’s just say things didn’t get any better until we were climbing back in the car to leave.

Sparky is such a friendly dog. She normally loves meeting new people. Apparently if you’re wearing scrubs and smell like other animals, that’s a different story. Sparky wasn’t mean, she just seemed to be terrified of the veterinary assistant. The poor girl couldn’t have been over 23 years old and it didn’t look like she had a mean bone in her body. But by looking at Sparky, she was a 250 lb man wearing a black ski mask trying to attack her mama!

When Sparky finally warmed up to the vet assistant (which took several treats and lots of baby talk), they had to do the blood test for the heart-worm medication. Sticking a needle into her didn’t sit well with Sparky. It ended up taking two veterinary assistants to hold her still while the vet did the blood work. When it was all said and done, more treats were needed to get everyone back on Sparky’s good side. She sure knows how to get yummy treats out of people.

The nail trimming was next. Once again, three people were needed: two veterinary assistants and myself. I helped one assistant hold her still and keep her distracted ,while the other clipped her nails. He squirmed and wiggled and whimpered the entire time, all while giving me this look like “Mom, why are you doing this to me?!”

Finally, the whole ordeal was over. Sparky took one last treat from the assistant and made a b-line for the door. She was in such a hurry to get out of there that once we hit the lobby I nearly forgot to pay and get the flea and tick treatments from the woman behind the counter!

Thankfully puppies don’t hold grudges. As soon as we were in the car pulling out of the parking lot, all was forgiven. Within seconds Sparky was perched in her seat with her head out the window, seeming to have forgotten about the entire incident. Of course I didn’t forget that easily.

I don’t know when she got to be smart enough to connect the words “car” and “ride” with the actual experience of taking a car ride, but now it’s as though I have a three year old child and can’t mention the word “nap.” If the words “car” and “ride” are put next to each other in a sentence, Sparky’s little ears hear them! It doesn’t matter if she’s half asleep with her stuffed duck, busy playing with her toys, or out on a walk in the neighborhood–she’ll perk up in a flash when I ask her if she wants to go on a car ride! I say it, she hears it, and it’s a done deal.

Who knew that a car ride could seem like winning the lottery to a dog? Does anyone else out there have a dog like Sparky who loves taking car rides this much?

I was having a rough day–things just weren’t going right for me. I broke a bowl this morning when I was having breakfast. I had to chase Sparky away from the spilled cereal and milk since it was laced with a bit of broken ceramic. My day at work was mediocre at best–I spent quite a bit of time doing data entry, which in itself isn’t terrible, but it was fairly boring nonetheless. Actually, it wouldn’t have been so bad if our coffee maker was working.

Drew surprised me by stopping in at the office and bringing me a cup of delicious coffee and a dozen roses–for no reason whatsoever! There I was, trying to figure out if I had forgotten an important day…it isn’t our anniversary and it isn’t one of those hallmark holidays, so I think it’s safe to say that he is just a straight up amazing guy who somehow sensed that my day wasn’t going well.

He’s my favorite. I’m so blessed!

Anyone else out there have a dog that needs a paci to fall asleep? I’m starting to believe I’m the only one.

Other than the duck, we have come across some toys that stand the test of Sparky’s excessive chewing and ultimate ability to destroy whatever she finds. And yes, she destroys a lot of things, but her adorable puppy eyes make it impossible for me to stay mad for long. Yes, even after she ate my favorite book.

She certainly chews on a lot of things, and I often try new toys to see what will prevail as indestructible. But regardless of the money that I spend on Kong chew toys or GoughNuts chew toys, I find that my Sparky would prefer to shred to pieces a stuffed animal carcass (that’s what I call those stuffed animals without the stuffing) over the chew toys. However, I’ve been extremely pleased to find that both the Kong chew toys as well as the GoughNuts chew toys are pretty amazing.

We met up at one of the city parks. I brought a Frisbee—thinking back, I’m not really sure why, Sparky hasn’t quite figured out how to fetch just yet. She definitely likes to chase flying objects, but then she picks them up in her mouth and runs around as if she has a trophy. So that basically meant that I spent a lot of time throwing the Frisbee and then chasing Sparky. Regardless, it was a good day.

Sparky got along great with Sonny; they just played and played for a couple hours, wrestling around and chewing on one-another’s ears. I’m pretty sure that Sonny might have been somewhat annoyed with Sparky’s unending supply of energy! When we got home, Sparky collapsed on his dog bed and slept for a long time! I take that as a sign that she had a great time with her “cousin.” We’ll have to do it again sometime.

Perhaps I should start over… Riding in the car with Sparky isn’t too bad anymore. Had I mentioned this a couple months ago the story would be quite different. When we first brought Sparky home, she wanted to be on my lap all the time. This isn’t a huge deal if I’m in the passenger seat while Drew is driving. He doesn’t really approve of it, though. He frequently says, “Sparky! Get in YOUR seat!” while pointing to the backseat. My problem was that Sparky tries to sneak her way onto my lap while I’m driving. Obviously that wasn’t the safest thing in the world–I mean it would be different if Sparky were a smaller lap dog!

It didn’t take too long to…convince Sparky that her place is in the back seat. We actually taught her to stay in the back seat by bringing a travel gate with us in the car. We placed the gate on the floor that separated the back seat from the front ones. After a while, she knew that she wasn’t to come up to sit on my lap and we no longer needed to bring the gate with us.

I think the thing that Sparky loves the most is sticking her head out the window as we’re driving. She loves the wind in her face. If the car is moving too fast for her liking, she sits facing the window and puts her snout right up to the cracked window. We can always tell when she’s doing this because she sneezes a lot. It’s funny. She’s funny.

While this blog isn’t intended to push the products, I should make it clear that the fence systems that I review are available at an online store called “……” I’ll give you my honest feedback on various systems and products through a paw rating system. I don’t receive any compensation through the …… store, but I do have the pleasure of knowing that perhaps my advice will help others who are thinking through the options out there.

It’s true, I was extremely apprehensive of using a dog fence system. But now I’m confident that it is the best decision that we could have made for Sparky. Not only only am I assured that she won’t run away, I am really happy that she has the freedom to run around and play in our back yard without being on a chain.