Making plans, changing plans!!**New 6/18 Link to the TR page 14**

[mrsksomeday]

PTR # 4 Finding a Dog Boarder

We never had to even worry about Ace on our previous Disney trips. We would just say the words “Animal Crackers” and he would jump over us to get to the door. He loved the place, we loved the place, it was very affordable, and we felt he was safe that he was taken care of there. We do NOT want to board him at the vet’s where he would spend many hours in a cage. That is NOT going to happen .

Yes, we know he is a dog, but he is also our baby, our lovely, cuddly, neurotic furbaby. Why neurotic you ask? Because all of the sudden is he horribly scared of thunderstorms, I mean so scared he is visibly shaking, panting, and looking for places to hide. He had never done this until one day at the end of March when Bill was at work and there was a huge lightening bolt we could see through our balcony door and then we heard a huge thunderclap. Ace usually hangs out under Bill’s desk any time he is feeling nervous, there or the under the dining room table. It threw him off that Bill was not here to protect him. Same goes for the vet’s office, he runs right for Bill after the evil vet gives him shots. So now we have to find a place where our baby will feel safe.

The owner of AC told us her mom might be taking a select few boarders, we would be on that list. Ace knows her mom because she is the one that groomed him. She lives 14 miles from us, normally that would be no big deal, but our trip is in November and the roads to her house are not on the main highway and it are many hills. If we got bad weather, there would be no way to get him there or pick him up so we are looking closer to home.

There is a huge bonus with the new daycare facility, Lady Pug (Ace’s doggie girlfriend) goes there now too. Lady Pug’s mommy recommended this place and we trust her.

I asked Sarah, the owner of AC if she knew of any other boarding places and if so, what were her thoughts. She told us about one that seemed very promising. I went today with a lot of questions.

How much human interaction do the dogs get? I ask this because I am one of those people that talk to our dog, yes talk to him like he is human. Just because he doesn’t speak our language doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand it. After all Ace is bilingual, he understands English and Cerebral Palsy .

How much outside time do the dogs get, if the weather permits? Is there an inside facility for them to play? If not they are immediately off the list.

How many potty breaks? Are there people are on site at night time to watch over the dogs etc?

I know these questions seem odd to some people. Ace is just a huge part of our lives and we would be devastated if something happened to him while we were gone. I don’t think I could forgive myself if that happened.

Ok, now I am done with the dramatics. A new boarder was found and we seem ok with them for now. Ace spent some time there today and will be going tomorrow. He will be spending Sunday through Thursday there because Bill has a work conference in Springfield IL. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Next installment… What am I supposed to do while Bill is learning things at his work conference? Come up with touring plans of course !!

 

[Native NYer]

Hi!!! Dropping in to catch up

 

[team weasel]

I hope the boarders work out for you.

If all else fails, you can just crate him and ship him to me in GA. I can't promise you will get him back though.

In all seriousness, you are not alone in the fact that you talk to your furbaby. I have two, and talk to them just like they are human. Regardless of what Cesar Millan says, I think they can understand me just fine. Maybe that explains some of the behavior issues.

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Hi Tracy! I totally understand the boarding problems. That is the biggest concern for us each trip. I hope it works out for you this week - sounds like a good situation. Have a great week planning! We'll be waiting for an update.

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

I completely understand about finding a place for the dogs.

Usually, our friends watch our dogs for us, but we have lots of trips coming up and we feel like we'll be taking advantage if our friends watch the dogs every time.

So I will be conducting many Tracy-style interviews at boarding facilities all over Phoenix in the coming weeks. In fact, I am going to steal some of your questions!

 

[kindakrazy2]

Hey Tracy. I totally understand the need to find a good doggie hotel for Ace. He is part of the family and deserves the very best!

 

[scottny]

I totally understand how you feel. it is very important to find the right place for a dog to stay at.
I stay at my clients houses because they don't want the dog going anywhere.

 

[retiredkid]

Hoping this new place works out for Ace. Dogs are children too..

 

[MRYPPNS]

Hoping this new place works out for Ace. Dogs are children too..

That should be a bumper sticker

 

[Piper]

I really hope the new dog boarder works out. I totally understand. Right now I don't have a dog because I couldn't meet its needs--but I do have a very, very shy Siamese cat. She was abused before I got her and is very spooked around other people.

She is extremely loving with me and as sweet as can be, but hears every noise. Fortunately, (or unfortunately, if you like excitement) my life is very calm. She hates our vet--who is a cat specialist.

I am really debating what to do with her--so I understand how anxious you are. Good Luck!

 

[jordanyosh]

I'm glad you found a new place to board your dog....I know how important it is for you to feel like ACE is well cared for.

 

[mrsksomeday]

Hi!!! Dropping in to catch up

Thanks for dropping by!!

I hope the boarders work out for you.

If all else fails, you can just crate him and ship him to me in GA. I can't promise you will get him back though.

In all seriousness, you are not alone in the fact that you talk to your furbaby. I have two, and talk to them just like they are human. Regardless of what Cesar Millan says, I think they can understand me just fine. Maybe that explains some of the behavior issues.

I told Bill about your idea to ship Ace to GA, he said , but thanks for the offer . I think they do understand us and I will continue to talk to him .

Hi Tracy! I totally understand the boarding problems. That is the biggest concern for us each trip. I hope it works out for you this week - sounds like a good situation. Have a great week planning! We'll be waiting for an update.

Hi Michelle. We had a good time, I will be updating right after this props post.

I completely understand about finding a place for the dogs.

Usually, our friends watch our dogs for us, but we have lots of trips coming up and we feel like we'll be taking advantage if our friends watch the dogs every time.

So I will be conducting many Tracy-style interviews at boarding facilities all over Phoenix in the coming weeks. In fact, I am going to steal some of your questions!

Hi, I hope my questions help you find the right board for your dogs. It just gives you peace of mind when you know your furbabies are taken care of.

Hey Tracy. I totally understand the need to find a good doggie hotel for Ace. He is part of the family and deserves the very best!

Hi Sarah!! You are so right about him being of our family. I miss him when we are gone, but not enough to keep me from going!!

I totally understand how you feel. it is very important to find the right place for a dog to stay at.

I stay at my clients houses because they don't want the dog going anywhere.

Hi Scott, that is awesome that you take such good care of your clients dogs!! I wish we lived closer, I bet Ace would love you.

Hoping this new place works out for Ace. Dogs are children too..

Hi, Ace is our spoiled rotten child .

I do have a very, very shy Siamese cat. She was abused before I got her and is very spooked around other people.

She is extremely loving with me and as sweet as can be, but hears every noise. Fortunately, (or unfortunately, if you like excitement) my life is very calm. She hates our vet--who is a cat specialist.

I am really debating what to do with her--so I understand how anxious you are. Good Luck!

Hi Piper, my xmil used to have a very shy Siamese that had been abused too. She loved me and xmil, but did not like men. Good luck on finding a place she will feel safe.

I'm glad you found a new place to board your dog....I know how important it is for you to feel like ACE is well cared for.

Jordan , he was well cared for. He had a great time and likes the animals better than the people, but he is always like that. He was ready to come home. One of these days I will video how he is when we pick him up. It is hilarious.

 

[mrsksomeday]

The night before we left Ace got a treat of his daddy sitting on the couch with him while I had the wheelchair apart completely cleaning it:

Well, Sunday April 27th rolled around and it was time to go to Bill’s work conference. The van was packed, Ace was dropped off at the new daycare/boarding facility and off we went after paying $3.68 a gallon for gas .

It was a very relaxing, easy drive to Springfield. We checked in at the hotel and decided to go down to dinner. Dinner is where we discuss Disney, EVERY DAY!! I don’t think we do a meal without discussing Disney, it has been our routine for as long as I can remember.

We went to order our food from the waiter and had to give each other “the look”. The look that says “OMG this is going on the pre trip report”. He was a rather large gentleman in height and in pooh-size. I am pooh sized myself, but I can get around fairly quickly. Him, not so much . He lazily walked over to our table and asked if we were ready to give our order. He acted like he didn’t know what kind of soda they had, he asked us to “wait a second until he woke up” before giving him our order at 5:15pm . We ordered an appetizer and the entrees. He stated it might be a bit for my salad as he had to make it up. There was only one other couple in the restaurant?? Why would it take that long? Ok, no problem just give us our drinks if you can remember what the heck we ordered.

The dinner seemed to drag on and on, more people were coming in the restaurant. I thought for a bit he forgot about our entrees. The couple at one table over were not happy about anything, the drinks, the bread, the salad, NOTHING. I was hoping they would leave soon, even talking about Disney didn’t help the bad vibe they were giving the place. I stopped the waiter as he went by to tell him the dessert order, I knew it would take him forever to get it so I thought I was being proactive. I saw him use the touch screen at his podium to order it.

The grouchy couple decided to leave and it was much better after they left. We finally got our desserts and then I asked for the check. The desserts weren’t on it. I told the waiter about it, he said “yes they are”, I handed him the check back and he got this horrified look on his face. I think we both came to the realization at the same time that he charged our desserts to the grumpy couple . He stated he “was going to have to find a way to fix it” . We got our corrected bill and got the heck out of there.

Long installment short here, we went to the conference, met some incredible people, saw many diverse disabilities, ate chicken many different ways (no pics, I figured it would look odd of me to take pictures of the food there), and we learned a lot from the sessions.

There was a march to our State Capitol:

Here is Bill in front of the Governor’s office:

Here is the ceiling of the dome (I know I like to take weird pictures):

We then headed back for dinner at the Red Lobster and then to a comedy concert featuring Josh Blue. He was the 2006 winner of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. He has Cerebral Palsy. I haven’t laughed that much in years. Bill’s co worker said her cheeks were hurting from laughing so much. He is fantastic you ought to check him out on YouTube.

After the concert, we got to go to a Meet and Greet with him. Here he is talking to Bill:

First posed pic:

After that picture Bill got a hold of his right arm (the one he calls wild thing) to put it on his tray.

Josh saw this and looked really concerned and said “man are you holding your arm down? You don’t have to do that”. We told him we joke about Bill’s arm and I get hit from time to time by it. He looked at Bill and said “we are the only men that can hit our women and get away with it”. We thanked him for his time, he thanked us for being so patient. One of the organizers gave us a signed poster from the show. Bill’s co worker had wondered what it would take to get Josh to do a show in our area for fundraising purposes, so we took that opportunity to ask the organizer for her information. We got her email addy .

Bill’s boss said she would really like him to be one of the people to organize something like this. They talked about some time in the fall. She also wants him to present the website in August to the Board of Directors. This make Bill think they might be keeping him around. He does not want to get his hopes up. Beth, the co worker that was at the conference with us says she doesn’t want him to go, no one at the center wants him to go, and he fits in perfectly.

We will see. Everyone I have a favor, see if you can spare a little pixie dust to toss Bill’s way won’t you?

Next installment…WDW when the heck is SSW, seriously when are you releasing the dates??

 

[Hedy]

Pixie dust to Bill.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Here you go Bill:

Hope that helps!

 

[retiredkid]

and some more

 

[team weasel]

I have some too!



And some of these too...for good measure:

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Glad you and Bill had a good conference Tracy! Sending prayers and pixie dust your way!

I love that you guys talk about Disney at dinner! Great idea!

 

[Poohtigeey]

Hey Tracy! Pixie dust and prayers to Bill!! Sounds like a great conference and an "interesting" meal! How did Ace do? A day is not complete w/ out a little Disney conversation!

 

[GeminiAngel]

Wow! looks like you guys had a great time!! I love the pictures of the inside of the dome. I like detail like that. I photograph light fixtures. Lots of different ones in the hotels and casinos here in Vegas.