Japanese Garden Guardian

Kubota Garden

Mirror Lake

Tom, Dick and Harry Mountain Hike

A Safer and Quieter Car Trip with the Air PupSaver

I have a confession. Sometimes Mr. N would ride in my lap in the car. I know it's unsafe. But Mr. N has terrible crate anxiety which I think stems from being shut up in a crate for 10-16 hours as a puppy and he will whine almost the entire way if he's confined in the car. And if I have to listen to him whine for a half-hour straight, my brain will explode and we'll get into a car accident anyway. 

We've tried several different car set-ups for small dogs including crates, carriers, and booster seats. He really hates anything where he's confined or restrained and I couldn't find a booster seat that had been crash-tested. I thought he would be more comfortable with a car harness but they don't make crash-tested ones in his size and manufacturers recommend against it for tiny dogs. 

Then I found the Air PupSaver and it ticked the vast majority of the boxes. The car seat looks like a bolster bed which is Mr. N's favorite type (he likes using the edges as a pillow). I can use it in the front seat. It has been through crash testing at the MGA Research Corporation and passed the canine variation of the FMVSS 213 crash test since 2012. 

The updated model comes in two sizes (under 25 lb, 26-40 lb) and in a black-and-white hounds-tooth pattern.The rear-facing design is meant to mimic infant seats in their safety design. And the airbag style seat back helps makes the seat lighter and safer. You fill up the three compartments with air with the provided pump before using it. I found the pump a little tricky to use until I discovered that one of the air valves had to be blocked off while filling it.

Mr. N's ringing endorsement would be that he hates it less than everything else we've tried and if he must be restrained in the car, this would be his pick. He actually finds it very comfortable, he just dislikes captivity. Before I put it in the car, it was sitting on the living room floor for a few days. He would use it as a little den and sleep and hoard toys and chews there. 

The company also makes Pupsaver-compatible harnesses. I'm anxiously waiting for them to come out with the xx-small harness as they run a little big and their existing models won't fit Mr. N (x-small to medium). They no longer recommend using collars with their products. Their harness has a chest d-ring which I think will make it easier to attach to the car seat. All of Mr. N's harnesses have back rings and the seat clasp is bulky which makes it a little difficult to fasten and unfasten from that angle.

The Pupsaver can be used in both the front and back seat if the air bags are turned off in the front. I have not tried the Pupsaver in the back yet because I'm anticipating that Mr. N will throw more of a fit if he is further away from me and I want him to get further accustomed to riding in the Pupsaver first.

There's an installation video but basically you yank the seat back away from the air bags, pull out the seat belt all the way and keep it from retracting with a provided clip. Then you fasten the under seat and front buckles on the Pupsaver and adjust the clip. There's a clasp in the middle of the seat which you attach to your dog's harness. It takes maybe about two minutes. 

Car rides are so much easier and quieter(!) with the Pupsaver. Mr. N's whining has decreased significantly. He averages about three (on a good day) to about a dozen whines per trip. Compared to when he would whine almost the entire way. I feel much better knowing that he is safely restrained and if we get into a wreck, he's not going to slide off the seat and go hurling into something. A friend has already offered to buy the Pupsaver off me! 

How does your dog ride in the car?

Update: Pupsaver has come out with the xx-small harness and the xx-small harness petite. We were sent the xx-small harness and it fit him nicely over the winter. Now that he has lost all his hair weight and bulk due to a groom, I've had to adjust the straps to make it as small as it will go and it just barely fits him when he is not wearing clothes. For dogs Mr. N's size (seven pounds) or smaller, I'd definitely recommend the petite as it runs a little big. He is pretty fine-boned as well. 

The front ring makes it much easier to attach to the car seat. Before it would take some fumbling and moving about of Mr. N's legs and a couple tries to get his normal walking harness with a back ring attached to the seat. Now I can do it smoothly with one try. And the red and black goes nicely with his houndstooth car seat as well. 

He's been for multiple hour-long walks using the Pupsaver harness and it does not impede his movement or make him uncomfortable in any way. I can lift him by it and his leash in an emergency as well (I would not do this with dogs over ten pounds or so). The harness has proven to be a dual-purpose harness. Often car harnesses can be uncomfortable to walk in for long distances but this is not the case with this one. 

This post was sponsored by Pupsaver. They are not responsible for the contents of this article. All opinions expressed are our own. 

I Can't Believe You Said That

Door to Another World

If I open this door, where do you think it will take me? Narnia? Middle-earth? Hogwarts?

Taking a Dog to the Drive-in Theater

How could we not take Mr. N to see "The Secret Life of Pets"? We made a special trip to the drive-in so he could see a double feature of "The Secret Life of Pets" and "Ghostbusters" with us.  It was my first time going to a drive-in and Mr. N has never been to see a movie either (despite going to numerous plays, concerts, and readings).

It turned out to be a much more tasking trip than I had anticipated and I was very proud of the way Mr. N handled it. From start to finish, we were gone for nine hours between traveling to and from the theater, waiting in line and watching the double feature.

The lines were especially long that day due to an employee shortage and movie popularity, according to the theater. When we got there, we saw a steady stream of cars waiting that stretched onward for several more blocks. We were worried if we were going to make it in or not. The theater had about 300 spaces but the line of cars was endless. We got in line about 6:45pm and we entered the theater around 8. We narrowly made it in as the cars behind us were being turned away.

Mr. N was a good ambassador for Yorkies and small dogs that night. All the training we had been doing regarding ignoring distractions and settling and having good public manners really came together. People so often expect small dogs to be yappy and ill-mannered. Several people told me that they didn't bring their small dogs because they would be barking and were impressed with how Mr. N conducted himself.

We did a quick walk around the grounds before the movie started and during intermission but for the most part, we were in the car. During the walk, he ignored all the children running around yelling and the other dogs that were there (including the barking ones).

He slept perched on the window ledge for the entirety of The Secret Life of Pets. For the record, Mr. N is totally a Max with a little bit of Snowball thrown in.

When Ghostbusters came on, he moved to the backseat and continued to nap there. It was a long and boring night for him but he handled it very well. 

I love bringing him everywhere I can and I am conscious that it is a privilege that is extended contingent upon good dog manners so we train to make sure we can keep enjoying that privilege. And I hope that seeing good dogs in public will silence the naysayers who like to complain that people bring their dogs unnecessarily everywhere. 

My Yorkie is Not a Pocket Piranha

I do think he would be terrible at Schutzhund because I don't think any amount of training would induce him to willingly bit people (so un-Piranha like) and the sport makes no allowances for size difference. But just about every sport he has tried (lure coursing, Barn Hunt, nosework, agility), he has shown drive and instinct and potential and received praise from people in the know.

He is not carried everywhere. He has four perfectly sound legs and he uses them. 

But he also considers walks a god-given right and we go for walks. 

He has never bitten anyone in his entire life and it would take an extremely dire situation for him to even think about it. Despite having a fractured leg, and 

A groomer once told me he was the only dog that did not try to bite her that day. 

nting gophers, doing agility, or sitting in your lap? Is it a frail Yorkie, or a sturdy one

 A Yorkie is a toy and is usually just a pocket piranha but they should be working dogs. So is your Yorkie going to be hunting gophers, doing agility, or sitting in your lap? 

He is not "useless." He takes the job of being a companion very seriously and excels. 

And these days, being a good companion in the city is a difficult task. It means ignoring skateboarders and bikes barreling down the sidewalk and 

He also takes the terrier par         . Rats and mice don't dare show their faces in our house despite our neighbor being plagued with them. We also live by a river and Portland composts so 

And he brings joy. When we were volunteering at the domestic violence shelter, there was a little girl we were working with. The counselor asked her if she had made any friends in the shelter. And she replied no... but Mr. N is my friend! 

We give the kids at the shelter "sports cards" of the dogs during each session and she pinned hers by her bed. 

And if he never does another thing in his life,