In honor of Trav’s sixth birthday, I just reread my April 27, 2008, blog about meeting him for the first time at Masasyu Alaskan Malamutes in Canandaigua, New York. We spent our first night in a motel.
A motel? With an eight-and-a-half-week-old puppy who’s never been away from home? I’d borrowed a puppy-size travel crate from a Vineyard friend and thought I was prepared. Hah. Puppy started squalling as soon as I shut the crate door. So do I wake every other guest in the motel, or do I risk puppy having an accident on the rug?
Almost home: Travvy at 8.5 weeks
Option #2 was a no-brainer. I put down newspapers, took puppy out frequently, and crossed my fingers. Puppy didn’t have an accident on the rug.
Puppy had never been on the road before, but he was a trouper all the way home. This is one reason he became Masasyu’s Fellow Traveller.
Getting from Canandaigua to Martha’s Vineyard was the easy part. Our real journey was just beginning. Here are some pictures from his first year.
As a puppy Trav spent a lot of time at the barn. Here he is with big sister Allie at Malabar Farm.
Trail riding with me and Allie
Trav’s horseback-riding career was cut short by a growth spurt.
Shaking paws, July 2008. By 4+ months the puppy was looking more and more like a dog.
Trav was a conehead after he got neutered at seven months. He thought flipping his food dish into the cone was a good game.
This was taken around his first birthday, to celebrate which I got my first digital camera. Quite a dog, isn’t he?
From the Seasonally Occupied Territories . . . 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRAVVY. Love to all from us at home at Masasyu Kennels.
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Travvy thanks you for the birthday wishes, and I thank you for Travvy! Maybe one of these days we’ll be able to come visit and see the new house and kennels. š
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Happy Birthday Trav .. from Mishka
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Happy birthday Travvy š
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Congratulations, Travvy – you picked the right person to share your life with!
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My friend Susan in New Mexico did a horoscope for Trav and me at the time of our first meeting. It said that both of our lives changed for the better when we met. Things were pretty tumultuous for a while there, but it’s turned out to be very, very true. Although sometimes I think Trav would be happier with a big fenced-in yard, and other dogs, and a place where he could do agility . . .
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