Road Tripping with Kyle

Last Wednesday Kyle and I set out on a road trip that was supposed to cover 1034.42 miles in 15 hours and 20 minutes of drive time over a six day period. That estimate didn't even include drive times while we were at our destinations. Now that we are home, I can say that we covered that much distance, but thanks to road construction, we logged more time than that in the car.

It was with a bit of trepidation that I took Kyle with me on this trip. How well behaved can a puppy be in a car for hours on end? Let's just say that Kyle was a pro. Honestly, I have never met a dog that traveled as well as he did. I hope Kyle gets paired with a partner that loves to travel because he is the dog for the job!

When I first got Kyle, we had a contest of wills over where he would sit in the car. I am insistent that my puppies belong on the floor. He has learned his lesson, and sits on my passenger floorboard now. Thus, that is where Kyle started this trip.

(Kyle is smashed in a tiny ball on my floorboard.)

Eventually, I started to feel bad for his cramped position, so I invited Kyle onto the front seat. He sat well mannered and enjoyed looking out the windows.

(Kyle in a perfect sit on the front seat while he looks out the windshield.)

You never know what interesting things you will see on a road trip.

(A foot and leg are hanging out of the trunk of a car. I'm pretty sure they are fake because my family used to have one to use for Halloween and April Fool's Day.)

While I had good intentions of giving Kyle more space by allowing him on the front seat, he wanted to sleep more. Thus, he curled in a ball on the seat which offered less space than the floorboard. At one point I looked over at him and he had half fallen off the seat and was still dead asleep.

(Kyle is sound asleep with his front half on the seat and his rear end on the floorboard. His body is bent awkwardly.)

The towel on the front seat gives away the fact that I planned from the outset of the trip to let Kyle on the front seat eventually. However, I realized that he really needed even more space. Kyle never complained one bit, but I felt bad for him. About four hours into day one of our trip, I pulled over, got my emergency blanket out of the trunk, and covered the backseat so that Kyle could have more space. He loved that!

(Kyle sitting on the backseat with a lopsided grin and his tongue hanging out of his mouth.)

Truth be told, although I have cute pictures of Kyle when he was awake in the car, he spent almost all the car time on our trip asleep. That is what made him such an easy travel companion.

(Kyle is lying on the backseat half asleep.)

My favorite moments with Kyle in the car were when he wanted to keep enjoying the luxury or the back seat while being by me. On multiple occasions, he stretched so that his rear end was on the back seat, his front end was on my arm rest, and his stomach was suspended in the air. Talk about a good ab workout.

(Kyle has his head and both paws wedged on my armrest and his hind quarters on the back seat.)

(Kyle is tipped sideways on my armrest and falling asleep. This time he had fallen off the seat, so he was sitting on the floor.)

I'm amazed at how well Kyle did. Today as I traveled home, I actually talked to another raiser in my club who wants to take Kyle to the California Fun Day at the end of the month. I was happy to tell her that he is the perfect dog for that road trip. Between that trip and one we have planned to Colorado next month, Kyle is going to be a seasoned traveler before long.

The real question is how long it will take me to retrain Kyle to only sit on the front floorboard now that he has experienced the luxury of a back seat.