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Washington to Virginia | Day 5

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A recap of day five of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing

Phew, day five done! Today, we traveled from Davenport, IA to Dayton, OH with a stop in Indianapolis.

*Note: I’m writing these at the end of each day, so I’m pretty tired when I do. I apologize if I rant or things read strangely.

We got up fairly early since it would be about a five hour drive from our hotel to my sister-in-law’s house in Indianapolis. Plus, we try and take fairly long breaks every two to three hours to let the floofs stretch their legs.

Kaani did pretty well at relaxing when he saw people during our breaks. He was still very alert, but as long as people were at least 50 feet away, it was fairly easy to redirect his attention.

Great Pyrenees snuggling during a long road trip | It's Dog or Nothing

But, it’s definitely not all good.

A few times, people walked by the parked car and made Kaani extremely upset. At this point, if he barks at someone, it’s usually just an alert bark (it used to be a very ferocious bark/growl). When the people came within a few feet of the car, the ferocious bark came out.

Once we’re not in the midst of moving, we’ll be able to actually work on these behaviors. Right now, we’re just trying to manage them. There’s only so much you can work on when you can’t create a stable, manageable training environment.

But, we’re still trying to turn every opportunity we can to create positive training experiences for Kaani.

Visiting relatives

We were able to take about two hours this afternoon to visit Nick’s sister, her husband, and their kiddo (who will be two later this summer). Luckily, they have a fenced in yard, so we were able to let everyone run around for a bit and burn off some energy.

Kaani didn’t meet the family because we knew it would be too much for him at this point. But he was happy relaxing in the shade in the yard after a quick zoomie session.

Two Great Pyrenees on a road trip | It's Dog or Nothing
“Hey, lady. We gonna hit the road or what?” – Kaani

Indie was in the house with us and wasn’t too sure about the miniature, squealing human, but she warmed up quickly. She even let him give her kisses—which was beyond adorable.

Here’s where I completely failed. I didn’t get a video of the adorable kisses. I didn’t get a video of the floofs running zoomies and checking out the neighbor’s chickens. I didn’t get a video of the adorable toddler holding Mauja’s leash and walking her around the house.

Mauja absolutely adores kiddos. She’s so gentle, relaxed, and easy-going. She’ll gladly follow little ones around, wagging happily the entire time. Atka and Kiska are also great with kiddos, but I thought they had too much pent up energy. My nephew loves dogs—and would even “woof woof” with them—but I still didn’t want him getting knocked over!

I went from, “I need to document everything!” to “I just want to enjoy this moment.” So, sorry I can’t share the adorableness with you, but we all have to take the time to be present.

Great Pyrenees tuckered out after a long day
Tuckered out after a long day

Since we’re going to be living closer, I’m sure we’ll get many more opportunities.

After a few hours, we had to hit the road again to finish our day. Thankfully, we only had about two hours until we hit the hotel.

Tomorrow, we head to my in-law’s house for the evening. They have a house on the lake and Atka absolutely loves the water. He’ll be excited to get to swim for a bit!

Learn about the rest of our trip

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

A recap of day five of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing

Washington to Virginia | Day 4

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A recap of day four of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing

On day four, we traveled from Kearney, NE to Davenport, IA. We had planned to stop in Des Moines to see my brother—where he is working on his PhD—but we managed to miss each other as he went home to see our parents.

*Note: I’m writing these at the end of each day, so I’m pretty tired when I do. I apologize if I rant or things read strangely.

This meant we had another shorter (7 hour) day. These days have been great for getting the dogs out and exercised. They’ve been living in a hotel/car for seven days, so they definitely need the extra moving time.

There’s not too much to update on today. We didn’t encounter anything too eventful, and we kept things pretty low key.

I’ve noticed that Kaani is more gimpy on longer driving days. I’m guessing this is because his arthritic shoulder becomes stiff from the lack of movement. It’s so hard to find the balance between enough exercise to keep his joints moving, and limiting his exercise to prevent his pain from getting too high.

We finally have everyone eating more consistently—thanks to the food topper from Dr. Marty. They all go crazy for the freeze-dried raw food.

The only one still struggling with eating is Atka. He definitely shows his stress by being clingy and a lack of appetite. It’s not unlike him to go a few days without touching his food when he’s stressed.

It doesn’t help that it’s the summer and it’s getting hot—which always causes the floofs to eat less.

Even with our walks, everyone is definitely getting stir crazy—Indie included—so we were glad our hotel was on the bigger side tonight! The floofs definitely miss having a yard to run around in. Check out the zoomies from everyone.

Well, everyone except Mauja, that is. She’s six and has lived in five houses/apartments and countless hotels. She’s a moving pro at this point!

Tomorrow, we’re going to stop and see Nick’s sister, her husband, and their kiddo. This will be the first time I’m meeting my little nephew! #militarylife

It should be interesting visiting them. We’re super excited to see them, but having four dogs (one who is terrified of people) and a cat makes life more difficult. Thankfully, they have a fenced in yard, so the dogs should get some good zoomie time while we catch up.

Learn about the rest of our trip

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 5

A recap of day four of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing

Washington to Virginia | Day 3

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A recap of day three of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing

Whew. I have mixed emotions today. On one hand, I’m thinking, “How are we already at day three?” On the other, “How are we only on day three?”

*Note: I’m writing these at the end of each day, so I’m pretty tired when I do. I apologize if I rant or things read strangely.

We decided to make our move from Washington to Virginia a seven-day trek. This way, we’re doing shorter days—meaning we can take longer breaks and get the dogs out for more walks. But we’re also going to be passing by family and plan to take quick visits on our way through.

On day three, we traveled from Rock Springs, WY to Kearney, NE. We tried to get an earlier start since we knew we’d be losing an hour due to the time change, but it definitely takes a while to get four dogs fed, walked, and packed up in the morning.

A recap of day three of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing
The SUV set up. Room for Mauja and Atka to stretch out, and Indie’s crate with her box.

Plus, it’s day three of traveling with five animals. We need our sleep!

Stress is building with all of the animals (and us), and it definitely shows with Tikaani. This is surely a lifestyle he isn’t used to.

Kaani has a few behaviors we’re working on. The obvious one is fear reactivity toward people, but he has also started chasing cars.

He started “acting out” more today than usual. Normally, when we end up next to a car at a red light, he looks alert but doesn’t make a noise. Today, he decided to bark at every car we stopped next to. I would be shocked if it wasn’t attributed to increased stress (but we’re still going to work on it regardless).

While more stressed he also showed more of his goofy side today. He enjoyed sticking his head out the window, letting his jowls flap in the wind.

We took a break to stretch our legs at a beautiful rest stop in Wyoming. Nick had Mauja and Atka and I had just gotten there with Kiska and Kaani. I looked up and saw how amazing the view was.

Me: “Hey, babe!”
Nick: “Yeah?”
Me: “Step, like… 5 feet to your left.”
Nick: “Why?”
Me: “Don’t ask questions!”

And that’s how I got this beautiful shot. I just wanted to get the rest stop building out of the way 😉 Although, I wish I had my actual camera on me rather than just my cell phone.

A recap of day three of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing

It’s not just about Tikaani

I know these updates have mostly been about Kaani, but that’s because he’s the one who we knew would struggle the most. At this point, Mauja is a moving expert. She’s six and has lived in five houses and countless hotels at this point.

Atka is a pretty go-with-the-flow dude, but hotel living definitely stresses him out. He doesn’t show stress in the same way Kaani does, but he struggles to relax in the evenings. Lots of snuggles and his favorite blanket (that he’s had since 10 weeks old) definitely help calm him down.

Things are up and down with Kiska. Being a service dog, she’s pretty easy-going. However, the bopping in and out of hotels does take a toll on her. She becomes less “puppy” and more clingy—a lot more clingy.

Overall, I’m extremely impressed with how they are all doing. Moving across the country is a lot—especially for a breed that lives by a routine. I mean, you move one piece of furniture a foot to the left and they get upset.

I couldn’t ask for better travel companions!

Learn about the rest of our trip

Day 1
Day 2
Day 4
Day 5

A recap of day three of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing

Washington to Virginia | Day 2

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A recap of day two of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing

We decided to keep day two fairly short because we were expecting a call from our realtor that evening. (Our house in Washington just went on the market, and he wanted to give us an update.)

*Note: I’m writing these at the end of each day, so I’m pretty tired when I do. I apologize if I rant or things read strangely

The drive itself was smooth—and we had another great experience with Kaani.

Mid-drive, we stopped at a gas station to fuel up and stretch our legs. I beat Nick, Mauja, and Atka there, so Kiska, Kaani, and I went out for a walk.

A recap of day two of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing
Ready for day two!

What normally happens on a walk?

You run into people.

Kaani’s threshold is about 50–100 feet away—depending on the situation. Any closer and he starts to bark, then growl (at about 10 feet), then lunge (between two and five feet)—unless he can get away. He also typically does better when I have his Gentle Leader on.

A woman walking toward us, and I wanted to start testing a new method for fear reactivity that I learned from Behavior Adjustment Training 2.0. We started walking in her direction, and I watched Kaani’s body language very closely. As soon as he started to get too alert (but before barking started), we gently turned and walked the other way.

He made it within 15 feet of the woman without making a sound.

I could have jumped up and down squealing, but that probably would have freaked him out 😉

He got all the treats and praise as we got everyone back in the car and ready for the rest of the trip.

A recap of day two of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing
Miss Independence is not nearly as enthused with the long car ride as Atka 😉

We finished the drive and everyone was amazing again. We had about an hour and a half before we needed to chat with our realtor, so we found a nearby park to go for a walk.

That had its own set of challenges.

Turns out this park in Wyoming is full of prairie dogs—who I’m pretty sure are used to dogs and like to taunt them. This meant we had a lot of training opportunities for everyone!

The biggest struggle today was acclimating Kaani to a Gentle Leader. I had a Freedom Harness for him (which I love), but this was before I knew he had a shoulder injury. We searched for a new harness, and decided on the Hurtta Padded Y-harness.

This harness has been great, but I’m still not 100% confident in the fit for him. The location of his injury makes wearing a harness difficult. So, we switched to a Gentle Leader. We’re still training with him—because he’s definitely not comfortable with it yet.

Kaani’s confidence

I’ve noticed Kaani becoming more confident in the few weeks we’ve had him. The first few times I took him outside, his tail was tucked and he was over-alert to his surroundings.

A recap of day two of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing
Kaani makes a great co-pilot!

Now, he’s definitely more eager to explore, but he has his limits. It only takes a 15 minute walk before he’s ready to hide out in the car (or hotel or wherever his space is at that time).

And that’s what happened tonight.

He was fairly eager to explore the new area where we took them for a walk, but after about ten minutes, he was over it. Once we were walking in the direction of the car, he started dragging me. At one point, he even laid down with his head under the car begging to get in.

A recap of day two of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing

He just breaks my heart sometimes.

We loaded everyone back up in the cars and headed to the hotel to relax and waited to chat with our realtor. Everyone was pretty exhausted from the walk and settled in quickly.

After a late night potty walk, we got everyone settled in to bed. At about 1 am, Kaani started yipping in his crate. It’s unlike him to do this in the middle of the night, so we got up and went outside. He did his business and everything seemed fine.

Then about two hours later, he had me up again. Like last time, he did his business and everything seemed fine.

After another two hours, he had me up again. This time, he went outside and just laid down in the grass. At that point, I realized he didn’t need out in the middle of the night. He was hot.

The a/c at our hotel was out, but the evening was very cool, so we put a fan in the window to bring in the cool air. We also had a fan in the room to help everyone stay cool.

I was more coherent the third time I took him out, and I could immediately feel the temperature difference. We were able to put a fan on him and get a few more hours of sleep before we had to hit the road for day three.

Learn about the rest of our trip

Day 1
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

A recap of day two of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing

Washington to Virginia | Day 1

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A recap of day one of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing

Day one of our move from Washington to Virginia went well! We had some good experiences, some not so good experiences, and some frustrating experiences.

*Note: I’m writing these at the end of each day, so I’m pretty tired when I do. I apologize if I rant or things read strangely 🙂

On day one, we traveled from our house south of Seattle to Boise, ID. With four dogs and a cat, we’re taking our time getting across the country. This gives us time for long midday walk breaks and early evenings to get them out moving again.

We took the dogs on a quick walk in the morning and then hit the road. We have an SUV and a car, so we had to decide how we were going to transport the animals.

The logistics

It made the most sense for Kiska and Kaani to ride in my car—partially because they’re the smallest, but also because Kaani is closest with Kiska. We figured that pairing would be less likely to have issues.

Plus, Mauja and Atka wouldn’t have to deal with puppy shenanigans in the SUV and could relax. With the extra room, we decided it would also be the best place for Indie.

A recap of day one of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing
Kiska started the trip as a seat hog, but Kaani always sleeps in odd positions.

About 30 minutes into the drive I got a phone call from Nick.

“Indie got out of her crate.”

Awesome. At first, we thought she chewed her way through. But we stopped to check, and the little nugget managed to work the zippers!

It ended up being the easiest to leave Indie out of her carrier. She was much calmer and happy being Nick’s co-pilot, relaxing quietly on the passenger seat.

The drive went smoothly, and we arrived at the hotel fairly early. This meant we had more time to walk around. And that’s when things started to get interesting.

A recap of day one of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing
They figured it out and napped the day away.

The good, the bad, and the frustrating

When we arrived at the hotel, we decided to take the dogs for a quick walk. Nick, Mauja, and Atka wandered off, and I was a bit behind with Kiska and Kaani.

All of a sudden, I saw two kids sprinting toward us squealing about the dogs.

I immediately put Kaani in a sit behind be and told the kids that he was nervous around new people, so they couldn’t pet them. It took a few times, but eventually, they nodded and walked a few feet away—where I saw their mom.

The kids then ducked behind the cars to stare at the dogs while calling them and making noises. I kept Kaani close and we continued to walk away.

I was extremely proud of his behavior here. While he was definitely upset, he stayed composed and mostly focused on me. I was frustrated that the mom never stepped in and told her kids to walk away.

Later that evening, a man really wanted to pet the dogs (I’ve noticed that Kaani is best with kids, followed by women, and worst with men). He walked toward all of us, and Kaani immediately perked up and started watching the guy as he came toward us.

He redirected away from the man very well, and we were able to continue our walk.

The not so good

The “not so good” part came when we were relaxing in the hotel (and it was totally my fault).

Kaani has to be crated in the evening because that’s when he tends to get “grumpy.” He was in his crate and kept yipping at me. This is something he does frequently, so I wasn’t too concerned.

But looking back, I imagine like the conversation went something like this.

Kaani: Bork, bork.
Me: Shh, it’s okay. Relax puppy.
Kaani: Bork, boooork.
Me: It’s okay, sweet puppy. It’s bedtime.
Kaani: YIP!
Me: *sticks hand in crate for comfort*
Kaani: Awooooo, yip!

At this moment, Kaani stood up in his crate and started peeing. Welp, that’s what I get for not listening to him!

Nick ran him outside while I cleaned up his crate. The amount he pees versus the amount he drinks just doesn’t add up to me— but I had the vet run tests on him, and everything came back normal.

If you’ve had a dog that pees way more than they drink, let me know. It could be normal for him, but it could also be something I’m not thinking of.

During that walk, we ended up passing a large rock (probably about three feet long and two feet tall). The second Kaani noticed the rock, he started barking. Then he flattened to the ground—tail tucked—trying to get closer and check it out.

We backed away and let Mauja and Atka walk up to it to help him realize it was no big deal. Kaani slowly crept toward the rock, and after a few seconds, decided it was completely okay.

It seems little, but that’s a huge step for him.

After a late night walk, everyone settled in for the evening and slept the night away. We definitely needed a good nights sleep to prep for day two!

Learn about the rest of our trip

Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

A recap of day one of our move from Washington to Virginia with four Great Pyrenees and a cat! | It's Dog or Nothing