Camping with an OCD Dog is NOT Fun!

Lake Elsinore

Camping?  Is it supposed to be relaxing? Is everyone supposed to have fun and get warm fuzzy feelings about each other?  Well, our family camping trip this past weekend at Lake Elsinore was filled with a high-level stress that left us irritable and snappy at each other. 

We are just stupid.  We are so damn stupid!  We purchased a brand new 8-person tent to go with the 4-person tent we already had.  We had never set up this tent before so it was extremely bright of us to arrive at our campsite at 730 p.m. to set up this tent in the dark. Who does that? Dumb asses!  It took awhile for us to set up the campsite.  It did not help that we had Buddy.  The moment Buddy saw the water, he would not calm down.  He huffed and puffed and pulled on the leash with all his might.  I finally let him go, and he raced to the water. When Buddy sees water, he becomes OCD.  Lance was frustrated.  I was frustrated, but at the same, it was funny.  It was just a freaking mess!

 

Campsite finally set up

 

When Lance and Dylan finally set up the tents, we made some grilled cheese sandwiches.  I had to get Buddy out of the water, but he wouldn’t listen to me so Lance got him out.  We then had to tie him to the boat trailer, and he was being completely obnoxious.  He would not sit still and was pacing everywhere and knocking sh*t over.  He would not just sit still.  Bella, on the other hand, was perfect!

When we finally went to bed, the dogs were wet from their swim, and I thought they would just lay on the floor of the massive tent we bought.  It was huge.  But, nooooo, our dogs are wimps and quickly jumped onto Lance and my bed.  They were wet and got the blankets soaking wet.  I slept with wet blankets in a distorted configuration because I was smushed by 80 lbs of wet dog.  Lance slept on the hard tent floor because the Buddy had pushed him off the bed.  What was wrong with us? Did we actually expect our dogs to sleep on the hard floor?

 

Inside the tents ready for a sleepless night with wet wimpy dogs

early morning

Before we went to bed, we both said we were not staying another night.  It was our plan to make this a two-night camping trip, but two nights was not going to happen.  Hell no! Not with Buddy.

We woke up very early as the sun shined through the tent.  Lance made us eggs and bacon on this new awesome grill we bought.  We sat by the water’s edge and watched the kids and dogs play.  Buddy swam in circles. Annoying.
 

Yummy BBQ with our new awesome grill!  We had coffee too!

Enjoying coffee by the lake side--yes, we may have been smiling, but we were irritated by Budster.

Lance and Dylan later took the dogs out for a ride on the lake.  I was so happy to be away from Buddy.  Mia, Brandon, and I played by the water’s edge and just relaxed at the campsite.  It was heaven without Buddy.  Peace.  Peace.  Peace.

 

They returned an hour or so later and took all of us to a nice private cove they found on the lake.  It was so perfect.  We wished we had camped there because it was so isolated from everyone and everything.  Buddy again swam in circles. 

 

trying to relax and yes, I had a cooler. 

 We returned to the campsite and BBQd some chicken and bratwurst.  Buddy and Bella were simply exhausted.  They had swam so much.  They had not napped at all.  The previous night, they were restless in the tent.

 

We finally get to relax.  This was the first time Buddy actually laid down...and unfortunately, it was right before we were planning to leave.

The thing about Buddy is that he does not know his limits.  When we drove to Lake Elsinore, he stood up in the truck bed during the entire drive. He never laid down during our camping except at night.  When he wasn’t swimming, he was huffing and puffing and pacing.  We returned home late Saturday afternoon, and both dogs crashed.

Would we do this again?  Camping with Buddy isn’t fun, but regardless, I think we will try it again.  Maybe Lake Arrowhead?  When we do go again, we are definitely going to give Buddy some Xanax before the trip.  (We love Buddy dearly, but he was a nightmare on this trip!)

 

well behaved Bella