Motherhood Month 1: Tales from the Newborn Zone

Greetings, friends! This blog has always been a space for me to chat about traveling and getting outdoors to do cool stuff. However, I couldn’t help but interject something a little more personal as a follow up to my last post, Preparing for a Baby in the Era of COVID-19.

When I wrote that about a month before my baby boy’s due date, I was stressing out about the whole childbirth thing, bringing a baby into the world during a global pandemic, and pretty much everything in between. Well, I’m happy to report that everything worked out just fine and that I’m now the MOM of a healthy and hilarious little guy who just turned one month old yesterday!

Note: On this blog, I’ll be referring to my son by one of his nicknames, Chikoo, which is a delicious fruit that grows in India and Central America. Chikoo isn’t his real name, but he does kinda look like a small, round, light brown fruit anyway!

As I mentioned in my last post, Chikoo was flipped upside down in belly, proving that he would already be stubborn from an early age. This resulted in me needing to have a c-section to safely retrieve the little guy and bring him out into the world. On Chikoo’s birth day, hospitals were still really crazy with COVID-19 safety protocols. But fortunately, my husband was allowed to be with me during every part of my hospital stay. This included him being in the operating room to actually watch part of the birth (EEEEK!) and staying overnight with me and Chikoo in the postpartum room.

I was required to wear a mask at all times while hospital staff was in the room with me, including during the actual c-section procedure and every time when a nurse came into take my vitals in the middle of the night. As far as childbirths go though, I couldn’t have asked for a better care team and recovery experience. My doctor and most of the nurses who took care of us explained everything to me really thoroughly, answered all my questions, and helped guide me in my first hours of being responsible for a newborn.

Thanks to Chikoo and I both being healthy and doing well, we were able to get out of the hospital in just two days, the very earliest that I was hoping for after the c-section. Meanwhile, our awesome local dog sitter took care of Monkey while we were in the hospital, plus a few extra days so we could get used to having a baby at home before introducing Monkey to her new baby brother. Spoiler alert: she’s been great with him over the past month – cautious, curious, and protective.

Fast-forward a month and here we are back at home, still social distancing but getting to know each other a little more each day. The whole lack of sleep thing at night is a real struggle with Chikoo, as it is I’m sure with all newborn babies. Breastfeeding and pumping are challenging, time-consuming, and sometimes painful – especially when food is loudly and frantically demanded every 1-3 hours. Getting work done is feasible for a few hours on some days but a total joke on others.

Meanwhile, I’ve been pooped on, peed on, and spit up on all within the same hour. But he’s also a little cuddle bug, makes the silliest faces that crack me up, makes the cutest sounds that melt my heart, and already seems to enjoy being outside and on the move.

With a newborn in the house, me recovering from major abdominal surgery, and due to just plain common sense, we’ve been pretty much homebound lately in this continued era of the coronavirus. My outings have consisted of a postpartum OBGYN visit and a pediatrician visit, while the husband ventures out for groceries and supplies once every couple weeks. Yet we’ve been getting outdoors a lot to enjoy this beautiful New Mexico springtime weather and the awesome plot of land we live on that is tiding me over until travel is a safer thing to do.

I hike with Chikoo in a carrier and Monkey on our little trail every day, and we’ve recently invested in some really comfy lounge chairs for the front porch.

To make our yard feel more like a brewery space, we’ve also picked up some new yard games – bags, bocce ball, and Yardzee (a large-dice version of Yahtzee).

There’s a forest road at the end of our little unincorporated village where we’ve gone out for some stroller rides. It’s usually more deserted than the popular trailheads nearby, but with everyone getting restless to get out while maintaining a safe social distance, even our little “secret” area is getting overrun by others.

A couple weeks ago I got to celebrate my first Mother’s Day. The concept of being somebody’s mom felt really surreal and still does. I spent most of my life never expecting to ever have a baby, but here he is, and it just seems to make sense right now.

Chikoo sure is cute in the newborn phase, but what I’m really looking forward to are the days ahead when we can start introducing him to amazing places, traveling with him, and helping him learn about the world around him. Hopefully all this frequent eating is helping him grow big and strong so he’ll soon be wearing his first pair of hiking boots and going camping for the very first time. And hopefully by then, all this pandemic craziness will have subsided and be nothing more than a great story to tell him about his first few months on earth.

But for now, Chikoo’s face is scrunching up, turning red, rooting around, and letting out a howl so loud that I would have never expected such a small being to make. This could only mean one thing. It’s feeding time…yet again.

Embracing Winter in My New State: Recent Northern New Mexico Adventures

If you haven’t spent much time in New Mexico, you’d probably think winter here was warm, sunny, snow-free, and quintessentially Southwest. Well, you’d be right about the sunny part, but that’s about it – something that I quickly learned after our first big snowstorm on Thanksgiving Day and several more since then.

I’m a summer gal, born in August and loving hot weather more than anything else. But for a variety of reasons, we didn’t buy a house somewhere that’s 70-degrees year around. Once again, I live in a place with four distinct seasons, so I’ve been trying to shift my mindset to embrace the winter and the beauty this season brings to New Mexico.

Over the past month, the husband, pup, and I have taken two regional road trips to get to know our new home state a bit better. The first adventure was a ski/snowshoe trip to the Taos area in the RV…actually (and sadly) the first legit time we’ve taken the RV out for an overnight trip since plopping it in front of the house when we moved in. The second adventure involved a little tour of nearby national monuments to celebrate our dog Monkey’s sixth birthday.

Even without the steady pace of full-time RV travel, we’re no homebodies. Yet these trips were a welcome change of pace from the DIY renovation projects that have been filling up our weekends lately and a reminder of how much more of the Southwest we have yet to explore.

Here are the highlights of our recent Northern New Mexico travels within just a few hours of our new home base!

1. Taos Pueblo

Taos Pueblo is a living Native American community that’s also a heritage site and historic landmark at the same time. That means it’s open for tours but also a place where people live and stray dogs roam free. While my expert skier husband was hitting the slopes, I did a little solo outing with a self-guided tour to see it. The only building I could go in was the church, but the multi-storied structures were still undeniably impressive in this mountain landscape.

2. Snowshoeing Around Taos

During this trip I was in my sixth month of pregnancy, which meant that breaking out the snowboard wasn’t the best idea…especially considering that any time I hit the slopes, I spend just as much time falling on my ass as actually gliding down the mountain. But not one to miss out on winter fun, I strapped on my snowshoes, grabbed a couple poles, and took Monkey out into the wilderness. The Carson National Forest near Taos has some nice snowshoeing trails that we checked out together, even one near Wheeler Peak, the highest point in New Mexico.

3. Downtown Taos

Downtown Taos is lined with random boutiques, hippie shops, and interesting restaurants. After checking out the Taos Pueblo, I took a stroll around the area and bought myself some cool new rock/gem dangly earrings, just because.

4. Taos Ski Valley

Meanwhile, Ski Husband was loving his first experience at Taos Ski Valley, which I’m told has lots of challenging runs and is geared more towards skiers than snowboarders. Here are a couple scenic shots he snapped while I was out doing my own thing.

5. Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is the fifth-highest bridge in the U.S. and not a destination for the faint of heart. It’s along Highway 64 and has rest area where you can park and then get out to walk across the bridge on a pedestrian sidewalk, where it always seems to be windy. I’d walked across the bridge once before in the summertime but was curious to see how it looked in the snow. The snow cover was minimal, but that didn’t make the views any less impressive.

6. Earthship Biotecture

Sure, I recycle and buy eco-friendly bath products, but I have yet to go as far as building my own earthship. Earthships are self-sustaining, off-the-grid, and otherworldly housing structures that have a big presence in the high desert outside of Taos. Outside the Greater World Earthship Community (which sounds suspiciously like a cult but is probably just a cooler version of my house’s HOA), there’s a visitor’s center that I popped into to take a self-guided tour. The tour involved a short film, museum displays, and getting to see a couple of the structures up-close. They sound like a lot of work are inspiring nonetheless.

7. Snow Camping

During our time in Taos, we stayed at the Taos Valley RV Park, a private campground that was close to town and had some great bathrooms so we didn’t have to bother fixing up our broken fixtures in the RV. Better yet, it had full hookups so we could plug in a space heater to supplement the propane tank that we’d filled up before the trip for some extra warmth.

Although we didn’t have snow in this RV park, we got stranded on the trip back home from Taos due to a snowstorm that got kind of crazy. It was actually the worst snow that we had ever driven the RV in, and this monstrosity named Dragoon was nearly swerving off the road, totally unable to handle the slick conditions. So, we cut our losses and pulled off at Piñon RV Park just outside Santa Fe. We were less than an hour (in normal non-blizzard traffic) from home so it felt kind of silly calling it quits that close to home. But driving any further in the RV felt unsafe and stupid. Besides, we had our laptops with us, so it was a good opportunity to squeeze in a snow day workday.

8. Jemez Historic Site

A few weeks later, we set out on our second Northern New Mexico adventure on a Sunday-Monday “adjusted weekend” to celebrate Monkey’s birthday. Our first stop was the Jemez Historic Site, which is a well-preserved Native village that dates back 500+ years. There’s a short trail that goes through the ruins, as well as a kiva you can climb a ladder down to see and a self-guided brochure to read as you walk around the site.

9. Jemez Soda Dam

Between the Jemez Historic Site and the Santa Fe National Forest, where we did a little icy hiking, lies a weird roadside spot called the Soda Dam. It’s along New Mexico State Route 4 and a neat geological feature formed from calcium carbonate that’s thousands of years old. It’s a natural dam, not a man-made one, and a place where you can park along the side of the road and get out to snap a few pics.

10. Valles Caldera National Preserve

Remote, snowy, and sometimes inaccessible, the Valles Caldera National Preserve had been on our regional bucket list for a while. A volcano erupted here 1.25 million years ago and created a big depression that’s 13-miles wide. We broke out our snowshoes to explore this area and its deep snow on a couple of the trails that allow dogs so Monkey could join in the snow-filled fun.

11. Bandelier National Monument

We tried to visit Bandelier National Monument on our first little winter weekend getaway to Taos but had to scrap that plan because the snowstorm shut down the park. However, we beat the snow on our second attempt and pretty much had the place to ourselves, which was awesome. Ancestral people lived in these dwellings carved out in the rock from about the years 1150 to 1150 and left behind some neat spaces to see. We climbed ladders to experience the dwellings first-hand while hiking along the rugged canyon and mesa country and seeing some petroglyphs along the way.

12. Hotel in Los Alamos

While the RV served as our once-again home on the road for the first new adventure to Taos, we opted for a comfy Holiday Inn Express in Los Alamos for the second weekend trip to the national monuments. While once beloved, the RV caused us more headaches that it was worth on weekend #1, with lots of things breaking and causing drama. The second time around, we splurged for the sake of not getting stuck in another snowstorm and treating ourselves to a little warmth and comfort. On an unrelated note, the birthday outfit I got Monkey will never cease to make me double over with laughter. I mean seriously….that tutu!

So, with those 12 highlights, that’s a wrap! We have lots more New Mexico to explore from our new home base, not to mention the rest of the Greater Southwest region. But we’re chipping away, taking our time, and really loving what we’ve seen so far.

Happy 4th Birthday / 2-Year Adoption Day, Monkey!!! (A Biography of Sorts)

Today is my little Monkey’s birthday. Okay, fine. To be honest, I have no idea when her birthday is. But February 10 is the day we celebrate her special day because this is the day we picked her up from the Fulton County Animal Services shelter in Atlanta and never looked back.

Well, maybe a couple times, but only on days when she’s really annoying. Kidding! Sort of.

After dog sitting as a side-business for a couple years in Chicago and Atlanta, my husband and I finally felt ready (as ready as we’d ever be) to adopt a pup of our own. We started volunteering at Fulton County Animal Services to get to know the dogs and staff there, because frankly, it seemed like the facility in town that was most in need of help.

I’ll be honest here, and it’s a little sad but true…Monkey wasn’t our first choice when we started narrowing down candidates at the shelter. In fact, she was probably about choice #3. One day when we went to the shelter to volunteer, we decided to try their “dog for a day” program, which involved taking a dog out for the day – to your home, the park, pretty much anywhere to give it a shelter break and experience life outside of bars for a little while. We planned to take out a brown and white pup named Brandy for the day but were a little disappointed (and simultaneously relieved) to find that she had already been adopted by the time we arrived. Another small black dog named Otis was also on our potential shortlist, but he had gotten adopted already too.

There was a larger black dog named Sasha that was in the back of our minds too, and Sasha was still there. She was in a cage all by herself, rather than the group cages that most of the dogs were in. She was labeled as a “lab mix,” although she was pretty obviously some kind of pit bull, just like almost every dog in the Atlanta shelter was. We had met Sasha once before and thought she was a little too high energy, a little too nippy, and a little too big for our small apartment with no yard.

But with our top picks already out the door, Sasha became our “dog for a day” companion and we headed for the door together. Sasha had been picked up as a stray in the College Park neighborhood a few weeks earlier after giving puppies. Her nipples still hung to the ground, but her puppies were nowhere to be found.

She was so weak that she couldn’t even jump up into my jeep. I had to lift her. She was so exhausted from the chaos of the shelter that she slept the entire day sleeping on our living room floor. On walks, Sasha was sweet, she never pulled on the leash, and she walked in a fairly straight line. In the house, she never had an accident, never barked, and never got into anything she wasn’t supposed to.

Sounds like a pretty perfect dog after all, right? Maybe it was meant to be!

That’s what we thought, and perhaps Sasha’s first impression wasn’t the best one…or the truest one. So, after weighing all the pros and cons before the shelter’s closing time, we decided that Sasha would join our little family to make three.

On the drive to the shelter to fill out paperwork and make it official, we debated over names to call her. She sure didn’t look like a Sasha…there had to be something better. Aubergine? Obsidian? Olive? Monkey?

We had always toyed around with the idea of having a dog named Monkey. “She kinda looks like a monkey, but she doesn’t ACT like a monkey,” my husband said. He had a point. This pup seemed pretty calm and sleepy, but we liked the name better than anything else so we just stuck with it anyway. Little did we know that she would soon live up to her name and pure nut-baggery would emerge within a matter of weeks!

Monkey’s adoption fee was $14 because the shelter was running a Valentine’s Day adoption special. What a deal, right? Well, that is until you make your first trip to Petco as a new pet parent and drop a couple hundred dollars on all the essentials (and non-essentials): bed, food, treats, leash, collar, tags, toys, shampoo, brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, and later a festive wardrobe too.

Monkey, formerly known as Sasha, settled in quickly and found her groove with two stay-at-home parents who worked full-time remote jobs. She also got a crash course in our traveling lifestyle the very next weekend after being adopted because we had previously planned a weekend camping getaway to St. Augustine, Florida. A few months earlier, we had bought a pop-up camper and wanted to see how well she adjusted to camper life.

If you know how this story ends up, you’d be right in guessing that Monkey adapted to camper life quite well!

In the pop-up camper, she had her very own “big girl bed,” but she was still too weak to jump up onto it. Slowly but surely, we helped Monkey build up her strength by hiking, running, and playing together. Before long, she was strong to the point of beefy, agile to the point of fearless, and her body totally recovered from giving birth and nursing.

***FLASH FORWARD TWO YEARS***

Monkey has been our third partner-in-crime for two years now, and a year and seven months of that time has been spent on the road, living the nomadic life in a camper. A few months ago, we actually sent in a cheek swab for one of those dog DNA tests to learn about her genetic makeup: 50% American Staffordshire Terrier, 12.5% Boxer, 12.5% German Shepherd, 12.5% Chow Chow, and 12.5% “unknown.” As one asshole stranger once put it to us, “Wow, that’s like wrapping all of the undesirable breeds into one dog!” If the DNA test isn’t bogus, there’s no Labrador in her at all!

Life on the road with a pit pull mix, hasn’t always been easy. Campgrounds in certain states (California, Arizona, Colorado) are riddled with discriminatory and unfounded anti-pit bull language in their polices. Meanwhile, other campgrounds’ polices more generally state, “no aggressive breeds,” to which my response about her “breed” is that she’s a rescue mix who’s not aggressive at all. Totally true, and most places don’t press it for more details.

But there are two issues that have come up with dog ownership that I had never anticipated before adopting Monkey that have nothing to do with her breed.

The first issue is the intrusive nature of strangers who refuse to acknowledge dog owners but proceed to bombard their space with open arms to fawn over a dog. Just because a person has a dog doesn’t mean they social at all times. In fact, remote working and nomadic living has taken me beyond the point of introversion and to the verge of reclusive. This is especially problematic when you live your entire life in public places and have a really cute dog that looks like she’s a puppy even though she’s four. Having to fend off unwelcome advances from strangers wanting to meet Monkey is a huge source of anxiety for me. It also defies the stereotypes about pit bulls being big, bad, and scary. I never set out to become a pit bull advocate, but here I am rooting my girl on even when I’d rather hide and be left alone. And Monkey is proof that these dogs are amazing companions, even when they are too social and friendly for their own damn good.

The second big dog drama for me if off-leash dogs in on-leash places. Want to let your dog off-leash? Great! Take it to a dog park, off-leash trail, or your own backyard. Leash laws are in place for a reason: for the safety and comfort of other people and other dogs. She loves every stranger and would love nothing more for each one of them to come up and pet her while she rolls over for a belly rub and licking session. But with other dogs, she is very high energy, and that energy is often off-putting to other dogs, who respond by snipping at her and causing a big ruckus. It’s incredibly unfair to put another dog owner in a position to solely break up a kerfuffle with a strange dog while you lolly-lag half a mile behind calling out, “He’s friendly!”

We do occasionally go to dog parks, but I’ll admit that they stress me out and that I’ve put that activity in my husband’s domain for now. She loves them though.

But I digress. This was supposed to be Monkey’s biography, not a rant about pet owner pet peeves. My bad.

So anyway, Monkey is a healthy and happy four-year-old (or so) and living a dog’s dream…we hope she thinks so anyway. I’ll close with a quick list of the things that I love about Monkey to celebrate her special day and help myself always remember her unique personality that is nutty, sweet, and hilarious.

Things I Love About Monkey

  • She does 360-degree twirls on walks (initially super annoying, now a defining characteristic).
  • She is very adaptable and can live in a new place every two weeks (I don’t think every dog could do that).
  • She is incredibly food motivated (loves meat and I don’t, but that’s okay, I’ll give her a pass).
  • She loves to cuddle and put her head on your lap (my favorite bonding time).
  • She is an epic hiker and climber (better than me…ugh).
  • She has no health problems (yay for affordable vet bills!)
  • She isn’t picky about anything (a girl after my own true heart).
  • She looks amazing in brightly-colored coats and costumes (fashionista to the max).
  • She is so excited to see me every time I come home (no one else will ever be that excited to see me).
  • She doesn’t judge me when I’m inebriated (can’t say that for everyone).
  • She hangs out every day while I work (best coworker ever).
  • I can’t imagine nomadic life without her (it would be so boring).

What to Do When Your Dog Is More Social Than You Are (And Other Pet Parent Pet Peeves)

We recently celebrated our six-month anniversary of having Monkey in our lives. We adopted her in February in Atlanta and have since taken her on a whirlwind nomadic journey through North Carolina, Virginia, DC, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia.

Related: One Month on the Road: A Full-Time Camper Life Update

All in all, she’s been a real trooper, and I totally acknowledge the fact that not every dog could handle traveling this way – settling into long Jeep rides, and living in a pop-up camper every day. I have to remind myself of all that when she pulls ridiculously on the leash, lunges at squirrels, wants to eat everything off the ground, and wakes me up daily by at least 6 am.

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A girl after my own heart…LOVES the beach!

But my biggest annoyances of pet parenthood these days have nothing to do with her. Instead, they have everything to do with the strangers who become obsessed with her while out and about. You see, Monkey is a very social dog. However, I am not the most social human. She wants to meet everyone, while I’d rather spend my time with the people I care about and view everyone else from a comfortable distance.

It’s impossible to walk down a city street, a hiking trail, through a park, or anywhere else for that matter without getting hassled. It’s absolutely exhausting.

“PUPPPYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

I can hear the squeals of annoying excitement in my sleep with visions of outstretched hands and nowhere to run or hide. She’s an estimated 2 ½ years old, by the way. But Monkey has this puppy face that just can’t seem to be ignored. Forget everything you know about the unfair stereotypes of pit bulls. This lab/pit bull mix’s puppy-esque face belongs on a bag of dog food.

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The issue of dog-walking harassment is something that NO ONE is talking about, and I don’t understand why.

Dog owners: do you have this problem? Do you legitimately enjoy and embrace it? Do you avoid it somehow? Do you have a coping strategy that I’m not privy to?

Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic by throwing the word “harassment” around, but when I can’t get a moment of peace during a simple walk, I sure as hell feel harassed. And it has nothing to do with me, personally. It happens to Monkey whether I’m walking her, my husband is walking her, or we’re both walking her together.

Some days I just think we should have adopted an ugly dog!

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Admittedly, it’s hard to ignore a dog dressed in a cooling vest and boots But how else do you cool down a black dog on 100-degree days?!

Now before you get too quick to pass judgment, remember that we are living a very public life these days with no private shelter to seek retreat beyond a pop-up camper in very crowded summer campgrounds. Therefore, the sheer number of constant and unnecessary social interactions on a daily basis is astronomical compared to the average dog and dog parent. I doubt this would be getting to me nearly as much if I just stayed in a house all day and walked Monkey in circles around the same neighborhood.

But like I was saying, just because you have a dog doesn’t mean that you’re social 24/7, that you want to engage in a conversation, or that you want to be bothered. I don’t know why people can’t understand this simple fact. If I see a cute dog or kid, I may make a quiet side comment to whoever I’m with. But I have enough self-control to leave the individual or family in charge of that cuteness remain in peace and simply go about their day.

Am I alone in this? Why doesn’t anyone else understand how real this struggle is?!

So clearly, the unwanted socialization is my #1 pet parent pet peeve of the moment, but the past six months have supplied me with quite a few more. I don’t have another antisocial pet parent to vent to, so it’s all going right here…right now.

These are some of my other pet parent pet peeves that don’t seem to bother Monkey at all but drive me up the freaking wall.

Idiots who approach your dog without addressing you first

Hello, I’m up here.

I’d rather you not come over to bother me at all, but if you must, address me as a person first. Say hi and ask if you can pet my dog. It’s as simple as that. What if the dog you randomly started petting is sick, has fleas, or has a tendency to bite strangers? Never forget there’s human on the other end of this leash and that that human might have something to say about you groping its furry friend with permission.

Idiots’ kids who run up to pet your dog without asking permission

This largely plays into my last point, but is a more serious one because it involves small humans with questionable experience and judgment. Seriously parents, keep an eye on your kids and don’t let them run up to strange dogs. It’s not safe, and it’s just training them for bad manners.

Idiots who let their dogs off-leash in on-leash places

There are plenty of places that you can let your dog run around off-leash. Monkey, for one, loves to be off leash and run free, and I think it’s good for her. I recognize that Monkey needs and wants social time, and that’s why I take her to off-leash dog parks where she can run, play, and be as social as she likes.

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However, there’s a time and place for that, namely dog parks, secluded trails, and your own backyard.

Don’t let your dog off leash in the middle of a town or in a public park with “leash your dog” signs around every bend. Although you may trust your dog unconditionally, not everybody does, and you’re stressing the rest of us out.

The worst is when I have to deal with your off-leash dog lunging and barking at my on-leash dog while you’re lolly-gagging behind without a care in the world. It’s not fair to me to have to pry a strange dog I don’t know away from my own and put us all at risk. Not to mention, many people are allergic to dogs and an off-leash interaction could send them into a dangerous reaction that’s on your hands.

Oh and for god’s sake, pick up the poo!

Idiots who won’t leave your dog alone when you’re in a hurry

This pet peeve plays into my biggest overall point, which is unwanted social interactions. But this is the worst when you’re just trying to give your dog a quick pee break before you rush out the door for something important. If anyone has some response lines or keywords that have gotten you out of dog social situations, I’d love to hear them. I keep coming up short to spout out something witty and effective.

Idiots who interrupt you at dinner to fawn over your dog

Can’t you see I’m chewing? Or in the midst of conversation? Seriously, don’t use my cute dog as an excuse for your poor manners.

Idiots who give unsolicited dog advice  

Now this is something that has happened far less frequently in my experience thus far, but something that really sticks with you after it happens. You don’t like my dog’s collar, harness, toy, etc.? Well who asked you and named you “dog expert of all the world?”

Being the recipient of rude and unwelcome dog advice happened to me at a wonderfully chill brewery in Asheville in front of friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. It was totally embarrassing and unnecessary, and it bothered me for a while even though I knew I was in the right. Unless you see an animal being abused, neglected, or put in danger, keep your training and gear opinions to yourself unless you’re asked for them, and just use them for your own dog.

A Dog-Friendly Conclusion

Now I realize that the tone of this long-winded blog post is on par with “get off my lawn” crankiness. But I seriously feel like these are big issues that no one is talking about.

Before adopting Monkey, I had learned all about caring for dogs from volunteering at shelters, fostering a dog, and dog-sitting for many different types of dogs through my side business. But something I wasn’t’ prepared for and that I never even expected was the human/social aspect of dog caregiving.

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It’s not fair to say that if you’re a dog lover you’re outgoing 24/7, and if you’re a cat lover you’re a homebody. I’m neither of those, yet Monkey is a happy, healthy, and fun-loving pup who’s well taken care of and has a life of adventure.

I’ve heard from friends who are parents that this sort of thing only gets worse when you have kids, and if I do someday, I’m sure my list of pet peeves will be even longer then! So please, next time you see a dog (or a kid, for that matter), think about how your words and actions may affect the person you’re randomly approaching and choose them wisely.

Rant over.

Four Legs That Can’t Pedal: Adventures in Biking with a Dog

There are a two types of dog owners: ones that take their dogs with them on adventures and ones that leave their dogs behind. Now I’m not hating on those that hire dog sitters when they go out of town, because these are the folks that helped me build my side gig and make a few extra thousand dollars here and there.

But when we adopted Monkey, I knew that I wanted her to be as much a part of our travel adventures as humanly and canine-ly possible. That’s why when we recently took a trip to New Mexico and planned to put some serious miles on the bikes, I knew it was time to invest in some new equipment.

Just a few days before leaving Atlanta, we Amazon Primed a red-colored, medium sized Solvit HoundAbout Pet Bicycle Trailer to our apartment. We tried to coax Monkey inside it in the living room with toys and treats, but she was just not having it. After a while, we gave her a little push to see if she’d get used to it. But it was immediately clear that either she was too big or the trailer was too small, because it was so cramped in there that she could barely sit down. It was great quality, but just too small for a 43-pound dog.

We promptly returned the trailer with no remaining days to spare before hitting the road on an epic five-week camping trip. Fortunately these days, you don’t have to stay in one place to receive packages, and we arranged to have a larger bike trailer shipped to a UPS store in Albuquerque.

This new blue Solvit HoundAbout Pet Bicycle Trailer was a size large with a lightweight aluminum frame. The product description said it would be suitable for a pet up to 110 pounds, but I’m not sure how the heck that would work. For 43-pound Monkey, this was much better though.

ABQ Ride 1The trailer folds down for storage and the wheels come off and stow inside. It’s actually pretty easy put together after you’ve done it a couple times, and there are mesh screens to boost air flow. It came with a black cushion pad, but I whipped out my sewing machine and made her a cushier one to entice her to ride a bit more. She loves soft things.

Admittedly, the first ride or two had their challenges. I had to pick her up to get her inside the trailer the first couple times, but these days she just walks right in on her own and plops down. Whew! ABQ Ride 2Our very first ride was on the Paseo del Bosque Trail in Albuquerque, which is a multi-use 16-mile paved trail goes from the north to the south edges of the metro area through the Rio Grande’s cottonwood forest. There are lots of access points with free parking listed on the City of ABQ’s website.

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This was an amazing trail for a first dog trailer ride because it was flat, smooth, wide, and not too crowded. With the equipment we have, the trailer only connects well to my bike, so we switch bikes halfway through the ride to break up the labor. This also gives Monkey a break to get out and stretch her legs.
ABQ Ride 3On this particular day, it was lovely weather in the low-70s, and we cranked out a total of about 26 miles round-trip. Afterwards, we let Monkey hike around a bit on a nature trail and then got drive-in milkshakes at Sonic. It was just too-conveniently located right off the trail and too tempting to just gain back the calories we’d just burned. Ice cream and fro yo are my ultimate junk food weakness.ABQ Ride 4 She was a real trooper on this ride, and I felt better about bringing her along than leaving her along in a strange campsite to fend for herself. I don’t believe in keeping dogs in cages at home, especially if they’ve already put in plenty of cage time in a shelter. But I hope the pretty scenery whipping by and the fresh air flowing in are fun for her inside that trailer…especially when we pass by other dogs huffing and puffing by with jealous looks on their faces.
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The next time we broke out the bike trailer on the New Mexico adventure was in Santa Fe, on the Santa Fe Rail Trail. This trail posed a different kind of challenge because it was not paved and quite hilly.

Santa Fe ride 1This 17-mile trail follows the old Atchinson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway line from the Railyard park in Santa Fe to the tracks, Highway 285, El Dorado, Lamy. There’s a little bit of everything along this ride in urban, suburban and rural surroundings. Santa Fe ride 2Where we started near our (highly recommended) campground, Rancheros de Santa Fe Campground, we encountered hilly, red-dirt terrain in the countryside with yucca and green junipers growing nearby. A 43-pound dog in a trailer feels incredibly heavy after lugging it up and down hills and over rocks with a pretty standard hybrid bike.Santa Fe ride 3But after a grueling while of this, the dirt suddenly transformed into pavement, and we were smooth-sailing again down the trail. Those first few pedals after the dirt felt like flying!
Santa Fe ride 4We took our mid-bike pit stop at Second Street Brewery, which unfortunately wasn’t really all that dog-friendly and had some questionable happy hour rules. But a cold brew after that challenging ride tasted delicious nonetheless. A local commuter train called the Rail Runner ran alongside the bike trail and the brewery, which we checked out while giving Monkey a bike break.Santa Fe ride 5The sun was starting to set by the time we made it back to the Jeep, which was perfect timing to collapse the trailer and hit up a local grocery store to cook dinner. The sunsets here really are pretty amazing.Santa Fe ride 6

Another bike trip we did in Santa Fe was to the Santa Fe Railyard. This was a shorter and more paved ride we did, with the intent of sightseeing and walking around a bit more with Monkey. From what I’d read about this neighborhood, I was surprised to see it not crowded and quite a few of the shops actually out of business and moved out. But it’s still a really walkable area, and I think Monkey enjoyed a little more time out and about.

Santa Fe Railyard

Since returning back home to Atlanta, we’ve taken out the bike trailer a few more times, and these days Monkey’s a pro at riding in style. We took her on a ride on the Big Creek Greenway between Roswell and Alpharetta, Georgia a couple weeks ago, which was super chill. This is mostly a 12-foot wide paved path that runs through the deciduous woods along Big Creek. But there are also dirt mountain biking trails nearby on the east side of the creek. Monkey and I haven’t been adventurous enough to try those out with the trailer just yet.

Another local spot we biked on the 4th of July to “celebrate our independence from motor vehicles” was the Silver Comet Trail. This trail picks up about 13 miles northwest of Atlanta and extends for a whopping 61.5 miles and ends at the Georgia/Alabama state line. And it doesn’t stop there! Once you cross over into Alabama, you can keep going to Anniston, Alabama for a total of 94.5 miles if you start in Smyrna.

But we took it easy clocked in at just over a leisurely 20 miles to get some fresh air and exercise. This is another wonderfully paved and shaded trail that you can squeeze into a morning ride, even when the day’s high temperatures are going to be 100 degrees.

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I have this bad habit of never taking photos or writing about the places I’m living in, which is unfortunate and something I want to work on. I lived in Chicago for over 6 years and now Atlanta for 1.5 years and haven’t written or photographed much of anything in either city. When I’m traveling, everything seems more blog-worthy and photo-worthy, but these places have treated me well too, and I apologize deeply to them for leaving them out of the mix. Perhaps someday I’ll visit them in the future when I’m living somewhere else and then they’ll make the cut.

Unfortunately, there’s not room in the Jeep or camper to bring the bikes and Monkey’s trailer on our next big adventure, which kicks off in just eight days. This is mostly because it’s summer and we’ll be focusing on water sports instead, like kayaking and SUP. Sadly, a tiny pop-up camper only has a limited amount of room for sporting goods storage, so choices must be made. But come fall, I’m hoping to retrieve the bike gear and introduce Monkey to some new trails that we can explore together on wheels.

IMG_3529 (1)Final Closing Tips for Dog Biking

  • Try before you buy (companies often claim trailers are rated for way more poundage of dog than actually comfortable)
  • Pick a trailer with good pockets for her water bowl, treats, and poop bags
  • Make the trailer as cozy as possible with a soft pillow and favorite toys
  • Be patient, but not afraid to shove her in after a fair number of tries
  • Start with short rides and build up to longer ones
  • Stick to paved trails, at least at first
  • Don’t put a dog in a trailer when it’s crazy hot outside
  • If biking in a pair, let the bike with the dog go first to set the pace and so she can see the other person behind her and feel more comfortable
  • Allow time for stretching and walking breaks
  • Adjust your biking expectations and be prepared to ride slower and not as far with a trailer
  • Scope out dog-friendly breweries to celebrate the end of your ride together!

How to Include Your Dog on Awesome Outdoor Adventures

Outdoorsy, adventurous dogs have been getting a ton of attention lately…not just from me, but from all of those crazy “Camping with Dogs” Instagramers too.

Roxy, the most chill dog EVER

Roxy, the most chill dog EVER

It makes a lot of sense though, given that approximately 70-80 million dogs are owned in the United States and about 37-47 percent of all households in the United States have a dog. And seriously, why even bother getting a dog if you’re going to leave him home alone or with a stranger every time you do something cool?

Sasha is super excited for Jeep rides...and at just a year old...everything else too.

Sasha is super excited for Jeep rides…and at just a year old…everything else too.

Check out my published blog written for a new startup called OutsideMyWay for tips on how to get your pup as ready and excited for the great outdoors as you are.

http://www.stories.outsidemyway.com/how-to-include-your-dog-on-awesome-outdoor-adventures

At 160-ish pounds, Zeiger couldn't more gentle.

At 160-ish pounds, Zeiger couldn’t more gentle.

Everything You Need to Know About Hiking With Your Dog

As an avid hiker, writer, and dog sitter, it only seemed perfect that I write an article for DogVacay about hiking with your dog.

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I’ve learned a TON about how to prep for dog hiking trips and care on the trail while working a side gig with this company over the past year. Hiking is such a wonderful way to spend time with dogs…whether your own or someone else’s that you need to tire out to get some sleep!

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Check out my publishedpost on the DogVacay blog. Pictured here are a few of my favorite hardcore hiker pups Abby, Aro, Lily, and Emma!

http://dogvacay.com/blog/hiking-with-your-dog/

*Photos and words by Alyssa Ochs, a DogVacay Host in Atlanta, GA.

Hiking to the Tallest Waterfall in the Southeast (with a Dog): Amicalola Falls, Georgia

One of the best things that I’ve discovered about living in Georgia is that there are lots of decent hiking trails within an hour’s drive.

Before my living situation brought me to the southeast instead of the northwest, I put a high priority on living in a hiking-friendly area. Although the mountains aren’t quite as tall or the parks as vast down here, Georgia continues to surprise me in pleasant ways.

Did you know that there’s a 729-foot waterfall just 90 minutes outside downtown Atlanta?

Well there is! And I recently had the pleasure of checking it out with my fiancée and a random English Setter named Lily.

Amicalola Falls State Park is located in north central Georgia, smack dab in the middle of the Chattahoochee National Forest. Newcomers be forewarned: this is one of the most popular state parks so arrive early in the morning to beat the annoying line of cars waiting to get in the parking lot by noon. Parking costs $5 unless you have a state park pass.

The drive to get here is quite nice – it’s hilly, windy, and redneck-y. As soon as you see the gentle rolling mountains in the distance, you’ll soon forget about the perils of Atlanta traffic. Wear layers and bring a jacket because the temperature drops at least 10 degrees by the time you arrive from the city.

IMG_7889There are several different trails to choose from when you arrive at the park. Hardcore hikers (with hardcore dogs?) can venture out on the 8.5-mile route to Springer Mountain, which leads from the park to the end of the iconic Appalachian Trail.

From the visitor center, we started on the 0.6-mile Creek Trail (yellow), past the reflection pool at the base of the falls. From there, you’ll find the Appalachian Approach Trail (blue), which leads to the top of the falls. This trail is marked in blue on the map and follows the creek on a series of steep stairs.

I was dog sitting Miss Lily, a 5-year-old English Setter, through my part-time gig as a DogVacay host. She seemed like a pretty agile pup, so I figured a nice long hike would do us both some good.

IMG_7903“Amicalola” takes a few attempts to pronounce correctly and means “tumbling waters” in Cherokee. The whole park spans about 1,000 acres and is considered one of Georgia’s Seven Natural Wonders. A quick Google search informed me that these are the seven wonders…two down, five to go!

  • Amicalola Falls State Park
  • Okefenokee Swamp
  • Providence Canyon
  • Radium Springs
  • Stone Mountain
  • Tallulah Gorge
  • Warm Springs

IMG_7927This stunning waterfall reminded me of the best ones I saw while hiking through the Smokys…which I guess makes sense because they’re really not all that far from each other.

In addition to the waterfall, there’s a 56-room guest lodge, a 24-campsite campground, 14 cottages, and even a dining room with banquet facilities. This is one fancy-pants state park!

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It’s about a mile from the base of the stairs to the top of the falls, with few open areas to stop and take a break. I don’t think Lily had ever seen stairs quite like these, and considering that she has anxiety issues that warrant doggie meds, they were a bit nerve-racking for her.

But we went slow, stuck with it, and eventually reached the top! It was about 10 or 11 in the morning on a Saturday in late March, so although we were greeted by some fellow stair-climbers, the route wasn’t over-crowded.
IMG_7940Brave Lily was the only dog on those stairs that day and she did a great job sticking with it. If it would have just been my fiancée and me, we would have likely continued hiking after reaching the top to check out some of the other trails. But this was enough for our day with Lily, and I’d packed a picnic lunch to relax and enjoy the scenery and the beautiful sunny day.

Much to Lily’s relief, we didn’t have to backtrack down those steep stairs to complete our journey back to the Jeep. We took the East Ridge Trail down, which was wooded, rocky, and had a moderate down-slope. Lunch at the top had re-energized us and the air was feeling warmer with each step.

IMG_7991Just before making this little trip up north, we picked up and installed a new (to us) soft top on my Jeep, “Chief Surfs with Manatees”. What better way to enjoy the fresh (pollen-filled) southern air than with the top down and my crazy hair blowing in all directions?!

This was the first day we put the new soft top to use, and lil’ Lily seemed to love the open air as much as I did.
IMG_8005If you’re looking to grab a beer on an outdoor patio after a day of hiking (my favorite kind of reward!), head to Dahlonega (another hard-to-pronounce name) and check out the Bourbon Street Grille for a well-deserved brew and a bananas foster dessert to share.

Dahlonega is a super-cutesy and historic town that’s the site of the first major gold rush in America. Step down, California!

There’s some tourist shops to check out in the downtown square, a growler fill shop, and apparently some wineries in the area that unfortunately, I only learned about later on.

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Hiking with a dog is a relatively new thing for me; however, I’m getting better at it every time. I’ve provided dog sitting and dog boarding services for about 20 dogs now, which I’m hoping will make things go smoother one day when I have a pup of my own.

These are a few dog hike considerations that I’ve learned so far, and the list continues to grow with each trail…

  • Understand your dog’s physical limitations
  • Scope out specific trails, trail distances, and terrain beforehand
  • Call the park to make sure it’s dog friendly
  • Leave early in the morning for a slimmer chance of crowded trails and hot temperatures
  • Have a reliable leash/harness setup
  • Bring water, a water bowl, food, and poop bags
  • Bring plastic bags, paper towels, and hand sanitizer for poop messes
  • Take breaks if your dog looks like she’s struggling or turn back early if you’re reasonably worried
  • Check the pup for ticks and fleas after the hike