Sleepless in Salina

You might be thinking that you're about to indulge in some cheesy novel. I promise you're not! It's more like a real life account of being an anxious, panicked helicopter dog-mom! Yikes. Buckle up and hang on tight because you're getting the real deal here. I'm not sugar-coating anything. 

I'm likely the stereotypical dog—mom you have pictured in your head. The crazy, obsessive one that annoys the shit out of you talking about her dogs and constantly bombarding your social media feed with, well you guessed it—my dogs! Go me! Where is my dog-mom of the year award? In all honesty, I'm just a slave. My dogs have me trained so well. It's unreal. Something went terribly wrong when they were little. Oh wait, it was me—treating them as if they were little humans and not the dogs they actually are. Please don't tell Kelty and Sierra that they are actually dogs. I don't think they know. They are littermates and have been inseparable since birth. Aww, so cute, right? WRONG! It's terrible. It has been incredibly difficult. The separation anxiety that accompanies that, is like none other. We created monsters—quite literally. For almost the past decade they have slept in our bed and are regular fixtures on the couch when not out hunting or running around. I believe spoiled rotten is the term used to best describe them! 

As for our new pup, Sage, well we are doing the right things with him so we shouldn't run into the same issues. He has been crate trained and travels in his kennel, which we have learned is the safest way for him to travel. Kelty and Sierra—as you can probably imagine, they are not a fan of being in the kennel. But it's our fault, not theirs. I couldn't stand the whining when they were little so I immediately caved and got them out. As a result and to our demise, we now have two dogs that put up an endless fight! And I mean endless. 

Fast forward to present day. We planned a hunting trip out to Kansas, right after Thanksgiving. Let me rephrase because I shouldn't say we. A group of guys that are friends of ours, planned the trip and invited us along. We were thrilled to join them. It would be the first real experience of wild birds for our dogs. I had no involvement in the planning, but rest assured I constantly bombarded Nick with questions that went seemingly unanswered. We assumed more than we should have and had a communication breakdown somewhere along the line. 

The guys booked a house, for which we agreed to split costs. Since we were both going, we had to pitch in the most—but that's fair. Once I finally got information about the place, I was browsing the website and realized that pets were not allowed. I freaked the hell out. Who in their right mind books a place that doesn't allow pets when our sole purpose of going out to Kansas is for the dogs? I was losing my mind. Nick assured me that the dogs were allowed in the barn, so they would be out of the cold and elements. I wasn't happy about this by any means, but I agreed to give it a shot. PS—this meant the dogs would have to sleep in their kennels. Fun times ahead!

We get out to Kansas and the house is beautiful. I totally get why pets aren't allowed but that doesn't change the situation. The barn looks great—it would definitely fit our three trucks no problem and would keep the dogs warmer-ish. Prior to leaving for the trip, Nick did everything he could to make sure the dogs would be warm and comfortable in their kennels. Purchased bales of straw and a moving blanket to help with insulation. Did he secretly know what was coming and just not tell me? I don't know. We won't cross that line now.

Anyways, we were sitting around the table chatting, when I inquired about pulling the trucks in the barn for the night, as the temperature was steadily dropping into the teens. One of the gentlemen texted the host and stated her response was that no one was allowed to use the barn. Are you fucking kidding me? We drove all the way out here for a hunting trip, paid all this money to stay at this place, and our dogs would have to suffer the night outside in their kennels? I was livid. Although I maintained a plastered 'it's all good' look on my face, I was fuming on the inside. So many thoughts raced through my head. None of which were good.

The guys assured me the dogs would stay warm in their kennels, despite the temperature dropping to 9 degrees overnight. They had all done this before and the dogs do just fine. Just fine was not enough for my momma heart! Kelty and Sage were in their kennels in the bed of the truck—so truly outside. They both had sweaters on and lots of straw inside. Plus the kennels were covered with a blanket for extra warmth. They should be fine, right? Sierra was in her kennel, inside the cab and also full of straw with a blanket covering hers as well. If you know me, you're probably picturing the agony that I was going through dealing with this situation. It felt like the dogs belonged in one of those Sarah McLachlan SPCA commercials—someone please pay money and save us from this horrible life we live! You know the one I’m talking about—tugs right at your heart strings. Yep, that was us—well me.

With Sage being crate trained, we never heard a peep out of him. He handled it like a champ! When he was smaller he spent the night in his kennel in our room. He knew the drill, even though we've never made him sleep in a kennel outside. Kelty on the other hand—he was a hot mess, to say the least. His anxiety was a chart topper; a level I have never seen. The poor thing literally barked for hours on end. It never stopped. I'm not sure how anyone slept. Maybe they didn't. 

As I restlessly tossed and turned in bed, all I could hear was Kelty barking and whining. I felt like I was failing him as his mom. I told Nick that our breeder would be so pissed to find out we were doing this. This is not how dogs should be treated! He kept telling me the dogs were fine and warm. I'm not naive to think he wasn't nervous and pissed too, but he wasn’t as vocal or emotional as I was. They just weren't used to being in a kennel. Fine. I get it. Even so, I was not ok with the situation. I grabbed my pillow and blanket and marched out to the truck. I had this brilliant idea that me and the 3 dogs would fit in the backseat together and sleep through the night. I know, you're laughing right now and rightfully so. What the hell was I thinking? It lasted a whopping 5 minutes before I texted Nick to come out and help me. My plan was foiled! Ugh—I hate losing.

After endless tears—I'm pretty sure I cried every tear I had, and a very heated discussion about how to resolve the situation, Nick agreed to sleep out in the truck with the dogs. Obviously not in the backseat because I learned that wasn't possible. Not a peep out of Kelty from that point on. He got to snuggle Sierra and daddy was in front seat. Sage remained in his kennel because he wasn't bothered by anything and was snug as a bug. 

After about 5 or so hours and shortly before first light, Nick came inside, shivering uncontrollably. He said he couldn't stay out there any longer because he was too cold. I felt so bad. I was thankful that Kelty was comfortable but never at the expense of my husband freezing! It was also his birthday. I'm the worst wife ever. I know he did it to calm my nerves and I appreciated it so much. He left Kelty and Sierra in truck for maybe 2 hours before we were finally up for the day. 

I don't think the guys had any idea of how our first night went. It was brutal. I just wanted to go home! We made no mention about it and went along with the day. After a full day of hunting, we came back to the house and the dreaded plans of night 2 would ensue. Ugh—here we go again. I must admit, the guys were right—the dogs were warm in their kennels. Maybe even too warm at times, but I checked on them every 2 hours on the dot.

For the second night, we agreed to put the Kelty and Sierra back in their kennels, because being cold wasn't their issue. That calmed my nerves a little. They were just annoyed and anxious about being in a kennel. Once again, Kelty barked and whined until he was completely hoarse. I felt terrible for him. It was like he was being punished. Even though Nick was opposed and felt it would make Kelty more anxious, I asked him to put his bark collar on. If nothing else, it would ease my mind and let me sleep because I wouldn't hear the non-stop whining and feel like a terrible mom. It worked! Not a peep the rest of the night. Well, kind of. Guys—I'm not kidding when I tell you I still heard barking. It was just in my head though. I was literally going crazy. I was still hearing Kelty bark even though he was absolutely silent. Great, now I'm going fucking nuts! This is just fantastic. He finally slept and that meant so did we, just in short spurts, however. I checked on them religiously throughout the night.

The 3rd night was a little better, especially since Kelty was tired from hunting for the previous two days. With his bark collar on, he took the night like a champ. Since I knew the dogs were warm, I extended the amount of time before checking on them. So 3 hours instead of 2. They were fine. Every time. I just worried to worry. The coldest night was the first night and that was behind us. No need to freak out anymore. But it was my job to freak out and be nervous. I'm the mom. 

After multiple days of hunting, the dogs were sore. I proposed an idea to Nick that I didn't think he would be thrilled with—allowing Kelty and Sierra to sleep together in the backseat. No kennels, just snuggled up together. Let me explain why Nick would be opposed. Kelty has a history of chewing up our leather seats in the truck when he is pissed. Remember that whole separation anxiety thing I mentioned? It's real. Last year around this same time, Nick went to sight in rifles at the range. The dogs were in the back for maybe 15 minutes, after running at the sundog fields. Kelty literally feasted on the entire front passenger seat. Heating/cooling element and all—left nothing to spare. That earned him a Gunner Kennel for Christmas. What parents punish their dog with a $1,000 kennel setup? We do—we are those parents.

Although I really wanted Nick to say yes for their sake, I was secretly nervous about them staying warm. Would blankets be enough? Nick nearly froze to death the first night. To my surprise, he agreed to give them a chance. In return, I agreed to check on them throughout the night while he slept. I gave them about 3.5 hours. They seemed warm and snuggly when I checked on them but the mom in me still worried. So, I turned on the truck and sat in it for about 15 minutes to let it warm up. I felt much better about leaving them until sunrise. They did awesome and seemed to love it! Ahh—yes I get some points because everything was unscathed and the dogs woke up ready to tackle the day. 

We let them spend the remaining nights of the trip like this. Even though it seemed like we were doing it for them, it was really a piece of mind for us and it allowed us to get some sort of sleep each night. There wasn't enough caffeine each day to keep me going. It's amazing what you can do on little sleep! Exhausted was an understatement—physically and mentally drained. Now you want me to try and shoot a bird—yikes!

I'm telling this story for multiple reasons. The first being that everyone saw my daily social media posts from Kansas and were probably incredibly jealous but in reality had no idea what we were truly experiencing. The second reason is to express the importance of crate training with dogs. Even though our dogs our fortunate and don't spend their days in a kennel, it's important that they learn it's ok to be in one. 99% of our issues in Kansas would have been solved if we would have crate trained Kelty and Sierra as pups. You live and learn I suppose. For us, it was unfortunately learning the hard way. We had zero issues with Sage. He loves being in his kennel. As a matter of fact, he thought the straw was the greatest ever. He created a little nest and was so content in there. I was amazed! The third reason for telling this story is despite what our nights consisted of, we still had an incredible time. I would go back in a heart beat, with some changes though. It was an experience that I will forever treasure. Watching the dogs do what they do is simply incredible! 

The sleepless nights in Salina were well worth it! There are plenty of other stories from the trip and they might very well end up in another post. 

It’s also worth noting that since our return from the trip, I purchased 3 temperature sensors which are now placed in each kennel. We can now monitor their temperatures from our watches. Just an extra, extra peace of mind. #helicopterdogmom