Monday, August 1st

Took Donner to the vet-dermatologist today after all.  Thank God the trip was delayed for whatever reasons since his check up almost three weeks ago, and thank God I decided to take him to the vet today.  Had I not, or had we left even just a week ago, I know I would have turned back home, just as I did in 2011 with Leben’s skin problem, as Donner’s situation is much worse than Leben’s was and much worse than it has been since his treatment for this thing started in March.  The vet put Donner back on the SMP antibiotic, which he ran out of two weeks ago, obviously before it had run its course, He also gave him his first 1-3 month allergy shot, a daily topical medication for a mild ear infections in both ears, and a daily medication (Nizoral) for a fungal infection on his skin. He also prescribed continuing the Apoquel, which desensitizes him to itching.  He also prescribed weekly baths, so thank God I ordered that Big Kahuna portable shower, which takes five gallons of water, which just so happens to be the amount of water I take in my roof-rack jerry can.  These meds, by the way, are in addition to Donner’s calming mediation, three fish-oil pills, and Dasuquin (C&G+MSM) pill he takes daily. 

Something is going on with our dogs that I cannot for the life of me figure out.  Montag, my first dog (1973-1987), a German shepherd also, never took a pill for very long in his life, visited the vet very few times, and only then for the most routine things, never had surgery and got around on his own till I unwisely put him through a “calcium scrape” one month before he was put down at age 14.  What is going on here? With every dog I get, it seems the visits to the vets increase. Am in the only one this is happening to?  Are our dogs the “canary in the coal mine”?

My hope last Saturday was to get on the road by tomorrow.  There is no way I can make that now. And because as a rule I do not leave between Tuesday and Friday to avoid the weekend crowds in the US camps, or until I am ready, including well rested, and I am neither, I will not leave until Friday of this week.  I finished all the errands I had to run, except for my food supply, which I will get tomorrow, and maybe a new iPad. My To-do list now consists of:
- cleaning up my condo from the chaos that descended on it these last few weeks;
- setting up the container stations in my home;
- cleaning and preparing the Defender;
- get food supply and prepare 14-day daily food boxes
- packing;
- final desk chores, including final planning; and, just before I leave,
- loading the Defender; and checking out. 

I will not know what the itinerary will be until I do the final planning, but I will have 41 days to make it to Denali, the only thing scheduled for the trip. Since I know I made it to Fairbanks, Alaska, with Sonntag, who was paralyzed, in 12 days in 2000, that gives me 29 days to play around with, although I can assure you the word “play” is not part of the vocabulary for these trips.

The obvious question my readers are probably asking is, why all this preparation?  The answer is, I am traveling almost 20,000 with my dog, about 5880 miles from home, at times days away from the nearest vet, not to mention medical facilities, and I want to, no must, be prepared for stuff to happen, and it always does. But also, I do not leave my dogs for anything but the most obvious things (rest stops and replenishing supplies), even for eating in a restaurant, except for on the ferry, and I am moving on every day and there really isn't time to run errands I could have accomplished at home when stores were more convenient to reach. It is quite comforting knowing on these trips that I have what I will need to handle all but the most unpredictable events, and I sure have had more than my share of unpredictable events on these trips..

That’s it. So it looks like Friday.

ED