When I pack for the dogs, I usually need two shallow bins. One for food and supplement things and one for gear. I like shallow bins because I don't have to dig too deeply to find what I need. It seems like everything we have is dark. I think it hides the dirt...
The Food Type Bin:
I like to have a rug to put the dogs' food and water bowls onto. Luna in particular is such a messy eater and drinker. I make packets of food for breakfast and dinner. It just makes it easy and I only have to bring the amount of food we need. I pack a few extra packets to be prepared and because some days we're really active and the dogs will need a few more calories. I know not everyone has figured out how many calories her dogs need and measures out food accordingly, but I do. It's not because I'm an eating disordered person and have that playing out in controlling what and how much my dogs eat. It is because "even moderately overweight dogs (are) at greater risk for earlier morbidity and a shortened lifespan." (Kealy RD, et al. Effects of diet restriction on life span and age-related changes in dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2002; 220:1315-1320.) Also, blood and joint disorders are limited when food is measured and caloric needs are properly met. (Kealy RD, Olsson S-E, Monti KL, et al. Effects of limited food consumption on the incidence of hip dysplasia in growing dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc1992;201:857–863). So I measure.
Because how we travel together is by car, I like to leave a few things out of the bin so there is even easier access when we stop at a rest area. I don't provide Diet Mountain Dew for my dogs to drink, but I do put water into a cleaned 2-liter bottle! Luna doesn't like "Rest Area Water" for some reason, and she really doesn't drink much on the road, but Foster likes to have a drink during a stop, and providing their stomachs with water they are familiar with - we have a well - is just another way to make traveling easier on them.
I also have treats, bowls, towels and baby wipes. Have you ever walked your dog around the "Dog Run" area of a Rest Area? Uucchh. Sooooooo many people do not pick up after their dogs. I like to be prepared with baby wipes in case my dogs, or please-let-it-not-be-me, step into something icky.
The Gear Bin: Backpacks and toys and jackets and just stuff we need for being outside.
It's good to be prepared, and things fit better and better as we use up the food packets. I don't remember everything fitting into one bin, but if I had to do it, I'm confident I could find a way. It's better to have room for my dogs than to go anywhere without them!
No comments:
Post a Comment