It is no secret that Mom and Dad are Helicopter Dog Parents, always hovering and keeping close watch over our every move.  But what may come as a shock to you is we have never taken a family vacation together!  Sure we have gone away for the weekend, but never on a long road trip.  Well that all changed recently when Mom and Dad took us on our first family vacation!  Until now we were forced to take separate vacations because they insisted on going to places that were not dog friendly.  Well you can’t even begin to imagine our excitement when they found the ideal vacation spot for us!  But I’ll tell you all about our vacation adventures along the Bold Coast of Maine next week.  First I’d like to share with you the extraordinary lengths our Helicopter Dog Parents went through when packing for us.

I admit that Asa and I have become accustomed to certain creature comforts.  Therefore packing for us is like packing for a small army.  Amongst other things, we need our food, treats, favorite toys, life vests, towels, bed, bowls, and lots of poop bags.  In addition to that there’s also what Mom and Dad think we need including first aid kit, proof of current vaccinations, extra collars with id tags, extra leashes, crate, baby gate, baby wipes, shampoo, brushes, and skunk odor remover…just to name a few things.  They even packed water for us in case we didn’t like the water there!  This is actually a hold over from Lemmy who refused to drink anything except our water from home.  So I guess the water is more of a family tradition than a packing concern.

Now you’d think we’d be ready to hit the road once all our stuff was loaded in the car, but our Helicopter Dog Parents had more work to do.  Next they researched veterinary offices in the area where we would be staying, and even called to confirm they would be open should we need them during our vacation.  They also researched emergency veterinary clinics along our driving route in case something bad happened en route to where we were staying.  Also for our trip, they mapped out rest areas along the way so that we could stop periodically to stretch our legs and answer nature’s call.  Would you believe they even brought along the contact info for the animal control officer where we were headed and the animal shelters in the area in case we got sick of their constant hovering and wandered off.  At this point, could you blame us if we did?!

Anyways, after all this preparation we finally headed off on our first family vacation!  But can you spot in the picture below from Lemmy’s vacation with Babci and Pepere the one thing they forgot to pack?

Or perhaps this photo of me from 2013 will give you a better clue… (Hint it’s not all the Seltzer bottles, that’s actually plain water for us.)

Mom and Dad forgot to pack the cone of shame!  And of course that’s the one thing we needed!  We awoke on the third morning of our vacation to find Asa had given himself a big hot spot.  Now here’s where having the address of the local vet comes in handy.  But what they didn’t research was do they sell e-collars!  Guess what?  The nearest vet didn’t, and the second closest vet’s office was closed.  Oh and in case you were wondering, there were no pet supply stores in the area.  So we drove 45 minutes to buy Asa a cone of shame!  Not to worry, he’s fine and the hot spot is healing.  He only had to wear it at night when Mom and Dad couldn’t hover.  Besides, Asa actually likes wearing it, the silly puppy!  But it just goes to show vacations are full of surprises for even the most prepared Helicopter Dog Parents!  Tune in next week when I share with you my Down East Maine vacation adventures!