Tuffa: Dog fun in the early evening

"Am I a trailer trash dog?"

Since we moved into Ronda we faced many changes. For us it is usually easy to adapt because we anticipated the major changes, and the many small ones are not worth mentioning.

However, Umbria had not anticipated the move into the RV and has to accept what´s happening. As dogs like their daily routines and environment, Umbria´s view of the trip is certainly not as positive as ours. If you look into her eyes you can see her concerns.

She had to trade her home and familiar surroundings for a small RV with not many opportunities to run around. Sometimes we are driving for long hours. In mountain areas with many turns and rough roads, this is not always fun for her. In some areas many cattle grids span across the road. Driving over them causes loud rattling noises and intense vibrations, and Umbria immediately starts trembling like she does during the 1^st August fireworks in Switzerland. Ferries are also loud, vibrate and sway. No fun for Umbria.

IKEA-Björn is one of the last friends from Switzerland.

We do our daily morning and evening runs like we did in Cham but the Villette Park with the lake – and neighbouring meadows -- were special to her. There she met her furry friends, played frisbee or just sniffed around. On the tour we sometimes have places with green meadows or sandy beaches which offer many opportunities to run and explore. Other camp sites are crowded, have no free space for dogs and Umbria needs to be tied close to the car.

As Umbria is a social dog, she enjoys meeting other dogs and chasing each other. However, many Scandinavian dog owners like to have their dogs on the leash or even prevent them from interacting with other dogs. Aggressive behaviour is also not uncommon. It looks like the Swiss mandatory puppy kindergarten program is an effective way to socialize dogs.

Tuffa and Umbria posing for the couple of the year. Photo credit: Steinardamm.

On our last camp site we met Tuffa, a 10-month-old black fur ball. He was on a long leash at our neighbours’ RV that was facing away from ours. This was not enough to prevent him from crawling under the car to us and start a friendly barking at Umbria to initiate a run. Thank Dog, the camp site was not crowded and we were close to a huge meadow perfectly made for dog chasing. The Norwegian neighbours were as friendly as Tuffa and let him off the leash.

Tired out dog with young challenger after a wild chase.

Instantly the two blackies ran off and chased each other like hell. Though Tuffa is still young he was faster than Umbria and had enormous stamina. At the end it was too much for Umbria and she needed a rest. To our luck the neighbours couldn´t resist the sad begging look of our dog and gave her food. For the rest of our stay, they had a second dog under their table, and we had time to relax and write a new blog post.

Quiz: Who is the boss: Dogma, Dogpa or Dog?