taking a trip, need some suggestions!

Ook, so in a couple weeks we are taking the crew up to the mountains. We've rented a home for the weekend.

Now, it does not have an enclosed yard, which isn't a biggie because Buddy and Banzai have good recall. Buut, Miss Bella will not be able to be loose like the boys are. So I'm thinking she'll need a good strong tie out. Suggestions? Of course we'll walk her, but we also want her to be able to explore as she wants, so I won't mind a long tie out. We have a 25ft long and want to get something longer. I also want to make sure it's secure. Suggestions? And yes, even if Bella has a 110% recall, we would not let her run loose, so that would not be a helpful suggestion.

The owners of the home have requested that the dogs be on flea preventatives and they recommend tick preventative as well. Now, we have advantage and intercepter on hand (we always do in case of emergency) but I'd really like to not have to use them, but I want the dogs to be safe up there and they do have ticks, etc.. I'm wondering if the herbal stuff I use is good enough? We don't have ticks in this area (at least not that I have ever seen). If we spray them continually through the day and right before going out should they be okay? Not everyone agrees, but please do keep in mind that we try to keep a chemical-free home as best we can. Some chemicals we can't avoid and some I'm even willing to admit are necessary, but my preference, for the safety of the whole family is to not use them unless absolutely needed.

Lastly, we are going up on Friday morning and the dogs will have most of Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to get accustomed to their surroundings. We are leaving for a party Saturday night and will be gone for a few hours. The owners of the house had a strict no pets allowed unattended rule, but have agreed that crating them while we are gone is a good compromise. Not a biggie, we hardly ever crate the dogs except for meal times, but they still like their crates and use them as they want. I want to be sure that they feel safe and secure while we are gone, from this new place. We will be taking their own crates and blankets from home, any other suggestions? Oh and of course frozen kongs with their favorite treats, lol.

OK, I think that's it for now, thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I'd be inclined to use the flea/tick preventative on Bella and Banzai and keep an eye on Buddy the first day to see if his herbal stuff is working on the fleas up there. Ticks you can pull off and Buddy's so sensitive to stuff that I'd be leery of using the Advantix on him unless it's unavoidable. The other two should be okay with it.

As far as a tie out goes, I have a 2000 pound rated nylon rope that's about 15 feet long that has a clip in one end. You could probably get the same effect with a horse line maybe?

Keeda's an escape artist, so she has to be tied, even if the yard is fenced.

I have a loop that goes around a tree, the tie out gets clipped to that. It allows her to go around the tree without getting her tie tangled on it and thus shortening it. I think it cost me like $15 or something... it wasn't that bad.

As for the pest control. Since it's just the one time it might be easier just to use it, but if you really dont want too...

I had found these on the internet a while ago:

A recipe for flea and tick oil using essential oils(from Midas Touch):

Add the following to 3/4 cup olive oil: 2 tablespoons peppermint; 1/2 cup rosemary; 2 tablespoons cedarwood; 1/4 cup citronella; 2 tablespoons eucalyptus; 2 tablespoons marjoram. Shake well and apply 1 to 2 teaspoons of the oil to your hands, rub together, and apply all over your dog’s body. You can reapply about every 3 days. Prior to applying the oil you should thoroughly wash your dog in an herbal shampoo such as Cloud Nine by Halo Purely for Pets.

OR:

Add 10 drops each of lavender, geranium, and eucalyptus essential oil to 3-1/2 ounces of spring water. Leave it for a few days in the dark and then filter it using a coffee filter. You can use this water as an after-bath rinse and spray.

OR:

Thinly slice a whole lemon, including the peel. Add it to 1 pint of near-boiling water and let it steep overnight. The next day sponge the solution onto the animal's skin and let it dry. You can use this daily for severe skin problems involving fleas.

I've also heard Avon Skin-So-Soft helps get rid of fleas if you rub that on your hands and arms and then on the dog.


.... I hope that helps.......

For the big strong dogs I like to use horse gear. After Strider snapped his new silverfoot lead off (and that was only at 9 months old) I went out and bought him a lead rope to use as a leash. If it can hold a 1000 lb. animal having a tantrum, it should hold a dog.

I also get the big carabiner snaps from the hardware store that are rated for a similar poundage to the line they are tied on, and use those to snap the end loop to trees or whatever is handy and sturdy enough to attach a dog to.

I second (third?) the horse line idea. I have a nylon lunge line that's held up through MANY temper tantrums from my 1000-1200 pound horses.

Thanks!