Trudy

Ryan took as much Evo as he did other foods. Was his foster home feeding lamb? If so, I'd try a non lamb based food this time around

They are actually still in the car a bit - we'll be in a hotel room tonight and then back to the B&B tomorrow until 12 July when we hope to have our stuff delivered and at least partially unpacked and in our own house. But we have been taking them with us when we leave the B&B as this room is kind of small - the one we go into tomorrow night when we come back has much more room for us all and we can leave them more while we run around and find things. Jet is still running to the car every chance she gets. She's not so sure that we are home yet

Common mode of canine transportation in Kodiak most seem to be leashed in

Try 1 at getting a photo of a bald eagle yesterday. Well, try 2 really. First try was in the Yukon and we couldn't get the camera out quick enough. Through the window of the car. We will still have about 3289323 more trys ahead of us though

Let's see... Greytalk has how many active members? How much do each of you want to pony up to help with the purchase and keeping it up until we can find some other sucker to buy it in 2 years?

Here are more pics of that one - looked at it online yesterday http://soldonkodiak.com/index.php?option=c...4&Itemid=26

Owner is stationed in OH. He's hoping to transfer back up here in a few years. So he hasn't actually seen it, just the images we put in the photobucket album for him to look at. Tomorrow we'll head back over with notepad and camera in hand to write down all the issues and take pics of everything

That's because they had 4 large dogs barking at them through the fences.

not mold... DIRT and moss. Not sure about the nasty corners on the walls in one room, but it is only there, so it may just be more crud. so, all of you that wanted to come visit.... bring your rubber gloves and cleaning stuff, primer, paint, paint brushes and rollers.... your invited to work

oooh, and this one...

Here are a few pics we took today - only a few, our cable net connection here sucks the cat poop in the closet - yay! yard junk how do you get crud on the ceiling?? ok, was able to get more uploaded finally LOL

I have been the positive one about this - hoping for something decent, knowing it could be crap and we'd have to deal, but HOPING for at least decent. We have driven most of the roads east of the base. I haven't found decent yet. Sure, we've seen some very nice houses, but you look in front, behind or to the left or right and there is a giant **hole next to it. ALL OF THEM. I was told about it and really didn't expect it to be as bad as it was (they tell you not to rent sight unseen, make sure you get pics of the places around it and somebody you trust drives by. We had somebody do that for the house we planned to rent. They thought the neighborhood was decent and outside looked decent. Neighborhood isn't that bad, but the house next door is a bit run down (not bad, but not good either) and what you can't see from the road are the 2 giant outside dogs behind the house with full run of their yard and the other 2 outside dogs stuck in a kennel. Guess you can't hear them either. And you can't tell if they will quiet down when they get to know us and the dogs. We moved out of our house a week after it was packed up and shipped. But our house was SPOTLESS when we left. The new owners didn't need to do anything other than move their stuff in. Every surface was cleaned and was CLEAN. This house... there was cat poop IN THE FRIGGEN CLOSET! Now why on earth should I have to clean that when moving into my new house?? Why should I need to scrub the walls and then go get some primer and paint to make them decent? Why should I have to attach lighting fixtures to the ceiling. I didn't make the mess on the stove, I shouldn't need to clean it majorly before I move in. I expect a house to be move in ready, not go get some rubber gloves, a hazmat suit and clean and paint before I move in. I just spent 21 days on the road cooped up in a car with my husband and 2 stinky dogs... we all want to relax, not work our butts off so we can get our house ready to move our stuff in. We looked at a house 3 houses down from this one - built at the same time. House is in beautiful condition (heck, it's 7 years old, why shouldn't it be in great condition - no recent tsunamis here), but it is about 700sq feet smaller and I just don't know that our stuff will fit. The potholes here are going to KILL my car - it doesn't need any extra help. The pretty stuff... yeah, that's all the areas humans haven't trashed yet. We don't get to live there, we get to live where humans have touched and tarnished. Yes, we were greeted. I was easy to pick out from the crowd. The one running down the stairs of the boat with 2 greyhounds... 1 of which just wanted to get off and 1 of which hadn't peed in 16 hours and was in desperate search of grass. That was the best part of today... greeting came with a welcome to Kodiak gift bag which had some really good cookies in it! If Ryan finds them and eats them, I'm kicking his butt. Waiting 2+ hours to get our car off the boat was great fun. So glad the dope who had a huge truck and trailer/camper that couldn't be found to get his vehicles off the boat... yeah, I offered to move your vehicle for you and not mind if there were dents created in the process. You held up a lot of people. They finally started moving stuff out around him to get the rest of the passenger vehicles off the boat. At least it wasn't raining like it had been for the past few days here. But I've not lost all hope... we get to explore the west side of base tomorrow! Where there are sides you need to worry about if you get sun at all in the winter (mountain blocks any sun) or if the well freezes. Yeah, great times! I want to say it can't get any worse, but.....

ah, but penguins aren't in the north, so that would be a problem

Jet will pee at will anywhere, so she will be fine. Ryan will hold it as long as possible until maybe he decides it is ok to pee on the deck with all the other dogs. If not, it is 22 hours... he's gone that long before without going. As long as the weather is decent, they should have pet calls every 4-6 hours or so - otherwise they stay in the vehicles. Stuff... Volvo is pretty much already packed to capacity - we picked up some filters for Jeff's bike today and I bought a couple of books at Barnes and Noble tonight, but other than that... the truck is already pretty much stuffed with what we brought with us (dog stuff, our stuff and some stuff that the movers wouldn't take). I have friends that offered to send care packages of things we can't get up there if needed. But we can find most stuff online... shipping will be the only issue... even places that ship anywhere in the US seem to forget that AK is a part of the US

Fenced and safe area to let them stretch their legs sounds good. There is a park a couple blocks from our hotel that will work for potty trips, but it would be nice to let them get some off lead exercise after 2 weeks in the car if we can. We'll probably pop into the store tomorrow or Wednesday - what are the hours.

Avoid the hotels in Canada we stayed at like the plague! First night, Williams Lake, BC (Frasier Inn) - hotel under construction - you got high just walking in the place Second night, Smithers, BC (Hudson Bay Lodge) - designated pet room - no AC - stunk, beds harder than concrete - and they charged an arm and a leg - oh yeah, mosquitoes were crazy Third night, Middle of Nowhere, BC (Bell II Lodge) - nice cabin, in the middle of nowhere (really, the town had no name, it wasn't a town, it was just the lodge for heloskiing in winter) - more mosquitoes there than the entire population of the world and then some, you would be carried by them to the hot tub - but the room was nice Fourth night, Teslin, YT (Yukon Motel) - it was an overpriced hotel room with 2 beds. They charged us $30 for the dogs. I told the dogs they could make a mess and I wouldn't care

It was still light out at 11:30 last night when I went to bed. It was light out at 4:00 this morning when I woke up. 200+ miles took just over 4 hours. Other than maybe Bell II Lodge paying mapquest to make it take longer, we have no idea why it was supposed to take so long. Gas stations have been few and far between - we saw plenty of signs saying next gas was 230 or more kms away. We've seen gas here in AK for $4.79 already... yay!!!!

Yes, we travel with muzzles. With 5000+ miles done already, I haven't even had to show it to Jet - and that's all it takes for her, to see it and if she has been getting snarky, that stops. She knows it isn't tolerated. Her muzzle is used for me to dremmel her nails. She's not worn a muzzle in the car in years.

I suggest borrowing a crate if you can in the beginning until you decide if you really want a crate and it will be used. Then you have time to find what you want and a good deal on them. Online places are normally cheaper than what you will find at a local pet store. Food - if your dog is being fostered, food may already be figured out. Start out feeding what the group or foster home is feeding. Being new to the home, a 5lb bag won't be enough to really determine if a food will work. I'd give a full 20 pounds or so for a new food to decide. But again, hopefully the dog is doing well on a food in the foster home. Bed - anything works. If you want the dog to stay off your furniture... start those rules day 1. Hard to break that habit later. collar/tags. Martingale should come from the group or should have one available for purchase. Premire (sp) collars are pretty standard and not spendy and readily available (or online if not so readily available). Or you can check out the pet merchandise forum here on GT and there are plenty of collar makers listed in the pinned merchant thread - collars and more collars all just a click away. humane choke and leash - your martingale will be a humane choke collar - you won't need another type of collar unless you just want a tag collar. Leash - see above... group should provide or sell one, or any local store will have a leash. Collar merchants often have matching leashes for collars as well. 4' or 6' is up to you. Most won't suggest a flexi lead, especially for new owners. Leather/Nylon - again, your preference Muzzle - NGA.org (I think that's the addy) - cheap, multiple colors and sizes and quick shipping grooming glove - again, your preference. I personally like the rubber finger brush like things. Last one we bought was at Black and Decker - works great, easy to clean, my dogs love it. Elevated food/water - can probably find that at a local pet store. Pretty much $$ for what they are anywhere. Or you can make your own - plant stands that are about 12-15" high or so that will hold a bowl, crates upside down, wood to build your own - lots of options for buying or making Dental care - toothbrush and paste - get them used to it early Frontline - depending on where you are, you will likely need some type of flea/tick control for the summer - your vet can help you decide as well. I use frontline or frontline plus Toys - foster home can tell you if they play yet and if so, what type of toys. Stuffed ones are the big ones here, but balls and other materials work too - but not for all dogs. Trial and error on that. Other must haves... heartworm prevention - depends on where you live, but most of the US, you need it at least during the warmer months of the year, if not year round - again, check with your vet. PetEdge is a good site to look for "stuff" and others will be along that can suggest other sites for purchases as well. And take a look at the pet merchandise forum - lots of GTers there that sell stuff you might want/need/don't need/don't want/etc Welcome to Greytalk

Thoughts for today from the back seat passengers... why did the chicken cross the road? The Alaska Highway (getting closer!!) more of the same nothingness, pretty, but really, in 444 miles today, we didn't see any more than 10 "houses" some smaller glacier action - GNP has nothing on this stretch of road! My car needs a bath after today's trip

The middle of nowhere has been officially found. It is in northern BC. It has no town name. It's where we stayed yesterday - with no phones, no net, no tv. No, we didn't kill each other And Mystella... there isn't a Tim Horton's around for many many miles. In fact, we've not seen one since we left Smithers yesterday morning We are now in Teslin, YT. Saw another bear today having some lunch beside the road. Haven't looked at the pics, but best case, Jeff got a pic of the bears butt while he was running back into the woods Didn't get a pic of the one we saw walking along side the road yesterday either.

Good luck with your meeting - start writing down questions you have and bring the list with you.

We saw 6 walmart trailers today Crossing the border some random waterfall in the mountains snoozing puppies Jet view from our room. Hotel is under construction and you can get high just checking in

And with some new treads, we are ready for it anyway new tires

Jet very much enjoyed Lori's store. Jeff had a treat in his pocket that crumbled by the time we got back to the hotel and when he pulled it out, the crumbs fell to the ground. I don't think that girl has ever eaten crumbs off the ground. Lori has made Jet an addict for these - click