Doggie Summer camp

Lloyd and I were invited to our niece's wedding in Galena, IL, and amazingly, Dieter wasn't asked to be the ring bearer. So we decided it was high time for him to experience a Summer camp (aka, going to the kennel) adventure. My cousin highly recommended Top Notch Kennels in Oswego, IL, so we booked Dieter in for the long weekend.

Aside from the time when we thought he'd eaten something he shouldn't have and he spent the night at the emergency vet, this was Dieter's first time away from home. He said this was much more enjoyable, as they didn't keep poking and prodding him...and putting their fingers where they had no business being!

We booked him into a private room--think it was called the "Home Sweet Home" suite--that came with play yard, private potty area, and a TV. Yes, they have that option available. We told them that during the day when we're at work, Dieter watches the Turner Classic Movie channel, so if they could arrange that, he'd be happy. Spoiled dog, much? We also arranged for him to have private one-on-one play time and took along some of his favorite toys. Again, spoiled much?

Ai is hasing fun at Top Notch summer camp.

I emailed a couple times to see how my son the dog was doing and, of course, he was doing just fine. Everyone loved Dieter. Well of course they did! And he pretty much loves everyone he meets.

But he says he's glad to be home. When Lloyd went in to pick him up, per my instructions, he tried to take a couple of pictures of Dieter. All he got was several of a brown blur--"Oh, joy! DAD!!! You're back. I haven't been abandoned!!!"

The weekend even turned out to be a treat for Mimsy and Rory. The kitties said they were glad to be able to go into the parts of the house now occupied by the bark-o-matic. Just like back in the good old pre-dog days.

How it would have worked if
I'd remembered the batteries

I even splurged and bought an automatic cat feeder--it comes with a freezer pack so the food doesn't spoil. I ladled out the food and set the timer for 32 hours. Except...I forgot to insert the batteries. Not to worry--I doled out several bowls of wet food and two big bowls of dry. There was lots of dry food remaining when we got home, but I'm sure they weren't happy with the food fare. And I was about to
blame the cat feeder for malfunctioning. Ahem. User error.

We're all back to normal. The kitties stand on their side of the gate and glare at Dieter and he puts his paws on the gate and grins at them. Yup, same old, same old.