Show tsie the roges Go faU allery ery NEIL STAFI FORi takes the doy dog along PET dc V aft lif ga k xa it k that I 1 asked our new dos dog said she by NEIL STAFFORD I 1 T HAVE been looking into the statistics department of commerce tourist and dog division and come upon the following reports out of every 25 touring families including those in trailers 24 of them leave the family dog at home and write back asking how he is the other family takes the dog along thus storing up plenty of trouble for everybody we were half way through our last and most recent motor tour the missus and myself and had bad about miles to go and at that point we carried no dog our regular dog was safely at home waiting for us to return out of a clear sky the missus decided she was lonely and wanted a new dog and before you could say doberman pincher she bought one and appeared with it on her aim arm it was an eight weeks old eight inches long and one of a litter of four ilow how we got the pup that I 1 asked our new dog said she well its too young as anyone can see you take it back to its mother and sisters otherwise it i will die of loneliness you know nothing of puppies explained the missus and she definitely refused to take it back so we have a new pup eight weeks old Is it your intention to try and take that pup home with U us in the he motor car I 1 ventured to inquire certainly three thousand miles A care where it is aekes like motor cars you drive jand and I 1 will take care of the dog rolling stones gather moss that was an idle dream at one once e I 1 began to discover why sensible persons never tour with a young dog in the car my own luggage consisted of a kit bag a golf bag two small zippers and a typewriter in its modest case the missus had a couple of bags and a couple of boxes and all there being excess space in the back of the car but after we started rolling west we commenced adding items and the car slowly filled with strange objects none of which had any real part in a motor trip first we had to pause in in a 1 large city and buy a dog basket made of what for I 1 naturally inquired A small puppy cannot sleep in that tin box no air the doi dog would choke well take her out then I 1 said and let her sleep on the floor so we at once bought the wicker dog basket and it took up space the rear of the sedan began to take on a crowded look we next were forced to purchase two thermos bottles not one two by this time the dog had find a name we must keep milk warm the miss missus explained the other bottle is to carry fresh water you cannot give a puppy just any kind of water some of the drinking water in these places is full of germs and would kill anybody gets out we roared steadily across th the broad land there is another irritating feature about traveling with a young dog you have to stop the car I 1 mean you have to stop the car so often you would scarcely believe it you are whirling along the highway at a pleasant 60 miles per hour trying to reach sandusky or somewhere by supper time and the missus leans over and says wed better stop has to get out so you pause by the side of the road and all the devilish trucks which you have just defeated in a brisk brush rush sneeringly by you at 45 and you know you have to pass them all over it appears that if you do not escort a very young into a bacan vacant t field and let him or her gambol on the green the doggie will get sick and have stomach trouble sometimes I 1 personally led into strange meadows by the roadside and on several occasions the owners asked me what was I 1 doing on their property and would I 1 mind leaving likewise you must feed a small dog on a motor trip just as you would a small baby and in passing I 1 may say that a small baby a lick more trouble than a small they require the same foods the same recreations same sleeping hours same holding on your lap the only difference being that you do not have to change diapers on a disrupts everything I 1 gradually began to grow rather irritated though I 1 am an amiable and cheerful person under normal conditions I 1 like to make time in a car four or five hundred miles a day and you cannot do that with a popeyed pop eyed on the rear seat you have to stop too many times and go walking in fields for exercise it got so I 1 get back into tile the car once I 1 stepped outside the sedan filled up owing to circumstances over which I 1 had little control for example we had to buy a rubber chewing bone although she has only baby teeth and coming out anyhow we bought three red baus balls and ill never know why then we had to purchase a small stove so we could heat meals on the run it was a tin can stove with some stuff inside looking like jellied tomato juice to which you applied a match and after that you walked away and sat under a tree we bought a large bag of dog crackers greenish in color with enough crackers inside for 32 police dogs and a horse and they were of little use to she having no teeth to mention we therefore had to break up these crackers buying a hammer at first we des them on the car floor but with poor results later on we stole a large flat rock from a ia farmer rm and used that necessary baggage our next purchase was six cans of I 1 dog food in case we motored into some rough uncouth country where they had no dog food a mechanical mouse with clock works inside a mechanical non mouse with a whistle in its stomach a rubber dog a red blanket a pink cat made of wool and a sleeping bag by this time nobody could get in or out of the car when we rolled into Chi chicago caga I 1 was slowly cracking up and decided to strike I 1 said no matter what you think I 1 am not going to drive this pooch clear to california I 1 am already worn to a frazzle either the pooch quits or I 1 do 1 I believe said the missus missus eagerly that you had better quit you are not very much use and if you will kindly step out and take a train home I 1 shall be much obliged and will be able to go ahead in peace you mean that 1 I surely do without another word I 1 drove hastily to the railway station n leaped out seized my bags and went home on the train in comfort western transcontinental railway trains do not stop anywhere tor for the purpose of feeding or watering pooches poaches or letting them run around in fields in the name of exercise a bell syndicate service |