The hotel and Doggywood was the focus of Part I. Part II covers the rest of Murph’s big vacation adventures.
The Smoky Mountain Dog House
It poured the morning we planned to take Murphy for a hike on one of the only two trails that allowed dogs in the Smoky Mountain National Park. So we decided to do some shopping instead in a place Murph was welcome too: the Smoky Mountain Dog House. (Someplace I found while I was planning our Smoky Mountain getaway.)
Me and Murph in front of their big sign. Another sign in front of the store Wayne thought was cute so he took a picture of it.
Oh my gosh, what a place! It’s probably a bigger space than I realize, but it was hard to tell because it was jam packed full of dog stuff. And I mean every conceivable product you can imagine, from dog bowls and accessories to beds, toys, doggie décor, and doggie clothes! Poor Wayne groaned when we opened the door. He knew I wouldn’t be able to walk out of there without buying something.
And I did. I found something I’ve never seen anywhere else, a sign that says “A Spoiled Rotten Bluetick Coonhound Lives Here.” I had to get it!
Then I let Murph choose a treat. They had bags of homemade dog crackers. One was flavored peanut butter (which I would have picked for him had he not been with us) and another cheese. (I think there was another flavor, but I knew he’d like one of those.) Now Murph is pretty smart and has a discerning palette. I often let him pick which treat he wants. (Usually between Beggin Strips and Scooby Snacks.) I forgot how much he likes the parmesan cheese flavored gold fish I like to snack on until he most demandingly chose the cheese cracker sack.
The Worst Part: The Disaster in Patriot Park
A happy papa and pup before the pup pulled his stunt…
All in all it was an excellent trip. The only bad thing was after our shopping spree to the Smoky Mountain Dog House we headed to Patriot Park, which was less than two blocks from the shop. It had stopped raining and since Murph was kind of being stubborn about going number two that morning we humored him by strolling at a very leisurely pace through the park.
What does Murph do? Something to do with poo all right, but not creating it…he decided to roll in some! Duck poop to be exact. Smelly, green, slimy, gross duck poop. And he didn’t just roll, he smeared it all over his left side.
Lovely.
I used the water bottle we had with us and some hand wipes I keep in the car to rinse off most of it, then we went back to the hotel room to attempt to give him a bath. I say attempt because you might recall me stating how Murph is one of those dogs who hates baths.
But here’s where we lucked out again. Instead of fighting us about putting him in the tub, he ended up only fussing a little. He suffered through the bathing process much as we suffered through the de-duck pooping him process.
Which made the worst part of the trip not so bad after all and we ended our Smoky Mountain getaway with happy memories.