The lighter side of life – staying in touch with friends and family by celebrating the ordinary.
Feeling Stuck in Florida (Florida Boating, Post 7)
Thursday afternoon, February 4
On Thursday we drove east across the northern part of Florida, and then turned to head south. It’s becoming more scenic as we go south. We had no issues with the trip Thursday except for personal issues at home!
At one point in time some months ago my friend Sandy and her daughter Daphne were considering adopting our dog, Kai. They did a lot of dog sitting for us, and then around the time our sweet old dog Rosie passed away this summer, Kai started living mostly with Sandy and Daphne. All was good for some time, but then Sandy got a new job and decided she didn’t want to take him when she moves this spring. We arranged to have Kai live with Serenity (aka Darren) in Boise starting in May when Sandy moves.
Then while we drove through northern Florida yesterday, Sandy texted asking if we could transfer Kai to Serenity sooner. Apparently Kai’s behavior has been going steadily downhill, to the point where I can’t believe it’s the same dog. Sandy is understandably frustrated.
I don’t know what to think. Kai had been doing well with Sandy since this summer. But she says that recently he’s taken to stealing their stuff and chewing on everything and threatening to bite them when they try to get their things back! And he licks them non-stop. I’m wondering what’s wrong with him? And he’s howling non-stop, apparently trying to get them to give him more food! He’s always liked mealtime, but I can’t imagine why he’d be so out-of-line demanding. He was never like that.
I don’t know what’s wrong. Kai has always needed a firm hand and not everyone likes being a disciplinarian. They have occasionally bribed him with food to get him to quit howling or give them their stuff back. Is he just seeing what he can get away with to score extra food, or is there more to it than that?
Kai has been extremely well behaved for 15 years and I can’t imagine him losing all his training just because he’s in a slightly more indulgent household. I can hardly believe he would be that bad unless there was something wrong with him. As we listen to Sandy describe Kai’s recent dramatic personality changes, John and I are wondering if Kai might be getting dementia. There’s no cure or even effective treatment for that – he would eventually have to be put down.
I don’t know what to do. We had thought that Sandy and Daphne had wanted to keep Kai through April. But no one anticipated that Kai would undergo major personality changes over just a few months. Here we are, driving along in Florida, wishing we could simply go and get Kai and try to figure out what’s wrong with him. If he just needs some firmer limits, I could get him straightened out in a few days. If it’s dementia, I would not be able to do anything to fix it. It’s so hard to figure out what’s going on when we’re not there.
He went to the vet recently for regular shots and he seemed fine, but he’s probably going to have to go again to see if the vet can figure out what’s wrong. I’m sending Sandy doggie aspirin, in case Kai’s strange behavior is due to pain. It’s often hard to tell when dogs are in pain.
We could try to send Kai to live with Serenity asap rather than in a couple of months from now. But I’m not sure how to get Kai from Albuquerque to Boise. Originally we were going to drive him up there at the end of April. But it’s only the beginning of February and we’re in Florida. Typically it’s possible to fly pets – I know at least United and Delta have pet shipping services. But I just looked on the internet and both of those airlines have stopped providing this service during the pandemic, apparently due to scheduling difficulties more than any actual covid concerns.
I also wonder if I should burden Serenity with a potentially senile dog, but Serenity is an experienced dog owner and has known Kai for Kai’s whole life, having lived with us for longish periods of time during these past 15 years. However I also just found out that Serenity is currently having major roommate drama, and I’m not sure how that will play out. Maybe I shouldn’t be sending Kai to Serenity right now after all! I feel helpless out here driving across Florida. I’m not in the mood for sailing or vacationing right now, not with difficulties at home!
If I’m not careful, this blog is going to become some sort of therapy journal rather than an interesting account of our travels. I don’t think I’m a very good traveler, lol. Or maybe no one likes hurtling down freeways all day long and staying at truck stops for nights on end while things are going down back home!
Whew, sorry to dump all that on you. Here, have a beautiful picture of Florida. There will be more beautiful pictures next post!
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