My Trip to Switzerland

So last Saturday morning my humans and I left for Switzerland. My mom put my harness on me, and then put me in the travel box. Then we walked out to the bigger moving box on wheels, that my humans call a car. I wasn't happy to be in my travel box, but once we were in the car, my mom let me out of the box and sat with me in the back seat. Since I had my harness on, she let me explore the entire back of the car. She wouldn't let me up front where dad was though, since she said he needed to concentrate because he was driving. My mom showed me that I had food, water and a small litter box in the back seat.After thoroughly exploring the back of the car, I spent the first part of the trip curled up on mom's lap. We stopped a couple of times, and mom made sure I saw my food, water and litter box, but I didn't want to eat, drink or use the litter box. When we stopped, either mom or dad always stayed in the car with me. They even ate lunch in the car to be with me! After a while, I climbed up onto the back of the seat behind mom, and curled up there. My mom put my fleece on top of me so I would stay warm.After a long while, my mom put me back in the travel box and carried me up a whole bunch of stairs. At the top of the stairs we entered into a new place, that mom and dad said was our chalet in Switzerland. My mom let me out of the box, showed me my water, food and litter box, and then I explored. I had to investigate the entire chalet, poking into every corner and crevice, and exploring under, on, and over all of the furniture.That first evening, and every evening afterwards, my humans made something they called a fire in the fireplace. The fire was wonderful! It was very beautiful, with all kinds of pretty colours: oranges, yellows, reds and even blues, all constantly moving! I was fascinated! And best of all, the fire gave off a lot of heat. The warmth felt really good on my skin. The fireplace was my favourite part of the chalet.

Saturday evening, and all day Sunday, my humans stayed in the chalet with me. They didn't want to leave me alone, since I was in such a new place. That was very nice of them. The chalet had one room with two tiny beds that we didn't spend much time in. I heard my humans say that it would confuse me if they slept in separate beds, since I wouldn't be able to curl up between them. So in the room with the fireplace, they took the couch and turned it into a bed! That was really neat - it unfolded into a very comfortable bed, and that's where we all slept for the week.The chalet was very nice, although it was smaller than our place in Munich, and my litter box was much too small. I tried to tell my humans that I needed a bigger box. I would jump in, dig a bit, squat but do nothing, and repeat this several times. Finally, when I didn't have any other choice, I dug and dug and dug and dug and then finally did my business. I wasn't happy with this small litter box though.

On Monday my humans left the chalet for a few hours. They walked all the way down the HUGE hill to the valley to buy some groceries, and then walked all the way back up! That was a really long way.
On Tuesday my humans said they went out for a run, and on Wednesday they went horseback riding. My mom and dad said that they were very happy that they didn't ski, since all of the ski runs in the valley where we were staying were closed due to the lack of snow. But the weather was perfect for my humans, since they love to run and had to get a few runs in while we were in Switzerland since they are training for something called a marathon, which is running a really long way. The weather was so nice that one day, when it was +15°C, they let me out on the balcony in my harness.
The view from the balcony was wonderful! We could see all kinds of mountains, and look down into the valley below us.
My humans spent a lot of time relaxing in the chalet with me. I was very happy to have them there. I enjoyed lying in the sun, or looking out of the windows, checking out all that was happening outside.
On Thursday my humans went running again. Then on Friday they went paragliding. My dad said that meant they were flying like birdies! I would have liked to have seen that. I stayed in the chalet, and kept an eye on the place for them.
On Saturday my humans packed up, put me in my harness and then in my travel box, and we drove back to Munich. Like on the way to Switzerland, I spent part of the trip perched on the seat behind my mom, and part of the trip asleep in her lap. I was happy to arrive home, and when my mom brought me in the house, I went straight to my litter box, my nice, large, familiar litter box!

My humans were very happy with my behaviour during the trip. I was very good in the car, since I spent most of the time sleeping, and I had fun in the chalet (except for the tiny litter box). I hope I can travel with them again in the future.

You can check out some more photos from our trip by clicking on either one of the small photos below. The first set of photos are of me in Switzerland, and the second set are of everything else concerning our trip. You can also click on any of the photos above to see a larger image.


by Caylynn


by Caylynn