This weekend I took a trip to the Olympic Peninsula with the weiner dogs. When we go, sometimes we stay with friends and family. Other times we camp in the car. This was a car-camping kind of weekend and Gretel’s first stay in the El Coche Motel (aka the 4-Runner).
I LOVE sleeping in the car. I am the kind of crazy that would rather sleep in my car than in someone else’s home. Next to the couch, it’s my favorite place to sleep. Chester and Gretel don’t care about the car but LOVE sleeping where ever I am.
The three of us slept in my mummy sleeping bag. It’s the kind of sleeping bag that cocoons you so there is not much room to spare. It takes some maneuvering to share that tiny space because Chester and Gretel don’t like to touch. Well, really, it’s Chester that doesn’t like Gretel to touch HIM. When she gets about a foot from Chester his radar goes off and he moves.
When we sleep in my bag, Chester always skootches up next to me and I tuck him to my side with my arm while we sleep. Gretel gets the legs, which she prefers anyway, so they don’t have to touch. Did I mention that there was also a big-dog sized wire crate in the back of the car we had to squish around? So anyway, I am crammed in a small bag barely bigger than I am with two dogs that, when the temperatures are still mild, practically sweat me out of the thing.
About 3 am I woke up and was freezing. Chester was still snuggled up to my side but my feet were cold and I couldn’t feel Gretel down there. I squiggled my feet around at the bottom of the sleeping bag expecting to find her tiny body crammed into a far corner of it to no avail.
Still half asleep, I bolted upright and frantically looked around the car for her. She obviously couldn’t have let herself out and the doors were locked so no one could have opened to door to take her in the middle of the night. I turned the light on and looked closer at the front seat, next to my bag and in the corners. In a little bit of a panicked voice I called her name but there was no movement.
I am not sure why I did, but just then I peaked inside the sleeping bag at Chester. You know what I found? Chester and Gretel WERE TOUCHING! What I thought was Chester at my side was actually the two dogs twisted together.
I am not sure what happened here but I suspect it had to do with the freezing temperatures that had woken me up at 3 am in the first place. Maybe they WERE cuddling out of necessity and not because they liked each other but it’s still progress. Nothing like a little say at the cramped El Coche Motel to bring a family together.
jme says
hahaha our dogs won’t touch either, unless ablanket is involved. sometimes the layer has to be between them, and sometimes when covered, they forget that fur is touching fur and get over it! let’s hope this is a big step for them both- although perhaps it will just be one night which they won’t speak about again 😉 i got cold just thinking about this!!
adventureweiner says
Oh….I thought dogs normally like to snuggle. This the first time I have ever had two. Maybe its just a dog thing and not an indication of how Chester feels about Gretel after all 🙂
Bruce Kime says
My Doxies are sisters but not littermates. They snug together if no human is avaiable. They do sun together @ the patio door. @ night they are extensions of your body, I love DOXIES!!
adventureweiner says
We love Doxies too! Were were joking the other day about getting another one. I think two is enough to handle for us though. At least for now 🙂
Chester and Gretel do sun nearby each other but usually the only time they touch is when Gretel plows past him on the trail.
didiwright says
Hiya, I don’t own a Doxie, but I like them a lot. I understand your position on people telling you what YOUR dog can or cannot due based on their prejudices and misinformation. I own a whippet and I have to fight the same problem all the time. Some people think that whippets are skinny, fragile dogs who would break if you touch them, others think they’re only good at running or would chase, catch and kill anything, including little dogs!! How wrong they are: my whippet is like your dogs, an “all-terrain” (love the term!) dog who’s been camping, running on the beach, jumping off dunes, racing through forests and hiking up the Lake District. The only thing he will never do is go swimming because he hates water. But hey, nobody is perfect, right? If you’re ever considering featuring hikers from other breeds, let me know 🙂
I love your blog, anyway, and your dogs are gorgeous. Love the names, too. I’ll visit you again.
Didi