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Rufus' First Holiday!

Jan Bell

Well-known member
After the hasty cancellation of an earlier holiday due to a knee operation Graham and I decided to have two weeks at our favourite place - the Lake District. Normally we don't take Toby and Rufus with us as though they are both good walkers it's a bit much asking them to go up fells!

However, this time I wasn't up to much walking either, so we decided to take them both. My mum wasn't very happy though, as she loves her doggy lodgers!

Toby has been on holidays with us before, but not Rufus. As a puppy he only had to look at a car to be throwing up, but after many short trips he has got used to a couple of hours in the car, but I wasn't sure how he would be on an 8 hour trip to the Lakes. So we started off with everything covered in towels and puppy pads just in case! Luckily, he was fine - we stopped regularly and he was most interested in this new world of motorway service stations and nice people who made a fuss of him.

At Cherwell Valley while I was in the service station, a couple came up to Graham and made a lot of fuss of Toby and Rufus saying that they had Cavaliers in South Africa and they were their favourite breed. They went on to say that both of the dogs they had lived to 17 and were both healthy. I really wish that I had spoken to them as I would have loved to find out more - 17 is pretty old for any dog, let alone a Cavalier - but sadly they had gone before I came out.

When we got to the house Toby was pretty cool, but Rufus was quite excited by it, especially the stairs. We live in a bungalow, so stairs are still a bit of a novelty to him - much running up and down. I think it was a perfect doggy holiday - lot of short walks with me and longer walks for Rufus on his own with Graham while senior dog Toby stayed with me, plus 24 hours a day company.

I was pleased to note that whilst walking around Keswick we had a few Cavalier owners minus their own dogs who came up to make a fuss of ours. I always do this when I am away, and I think of it as the Cavalier reciprocal arrangement - I feel free to fuss any Cavalier in lieu of my own! Never found any Cavalier who didn't understand it!

The only slight problem we had was the sleeping arrangements. The last time we took Toby away we still had our Welsh Springer Becky and they both slept on the floor in the bedroom. Rufus decided though, that the only place to sleep was on the bed. Every time we put him down he just jumped up again - they usually sleep in the kitchen at home so this was a new situation for him. Seeing Rufus on the bed Toby thought that that cheeky young whippersnapper wasn't going to steal a march on him, and he got up too.

After one sleepless night Graham abandoned the main bedroom to me and the Cavaliers and went to sleep in the spare room. Fortunately we always take loads of throws to cover up beds and sofas so they weren't going to mess anything up.

So just me and two Cavvies in a double bed - yet still I woke up with one leg hanging off the side and two doggies cuddled up right next to me! Can't work out how that happens.:hug:

Sadly the holiday is now over and we are getting back to normal. Rufus was a bit sulky when he got back - I think he preferred living in the Lake District.

Tomorrow I return to work after 3 months off and I don't think they are going to like it as they have got used to me being around all the time. Graham works from home, but goes in and out during the day. Come to think of it, I have quite got used to being at home too. Will just have to sneak onto the web to have a look at Cavalier Talk ...... only in my lunch break of course...........icon_whistling
 
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