All About Elvis

If you follow this blog, you know that we have two dogs, Bailey and Elvis. Both are rescues. Elvis came from a place called Second Chance Rescue in 2002. At the time his age was estimated at 1-2 years. (Doing the math… that makes him an old dog.) Bailey came from the Longmont Humane Society and when we took him home in 2013, his age was estimated at 1.5 years.

I don’t think Elvis has ever quite forgiven us for bringing home a second dog. Four years into it, I think that he secretly likes Bailey, but in general Elvis generally seems to show a certain level of disdain for his younger companion. Luckily Bailey rolls with the punches.

Bailey has also rolled with the punches in our travels… unlike Elvis. Our new lifestyle has been a little tough on the old guy. By nature he’s a nervous and twitchy little dog (he’s a border collie/Australian shepherd mix) who doesn’t deal well with changes in his routine. We’ve done many things to make the traveling life more comfortable for Elvis. Things like putting bacon grease on his food to get him to eat, and giving him Valium at night to help him sleep.

Elvis seems to really like living with the California Drazsnzaks. I found this surprising because Jacques and Allison have two energetic daughters (India and Phoebe), a dog (Rusty), two cats (Lilly and Sam), a rat (whose name I forget), and a bearded dragon (Bones). The quiet moments here can be few and far between.

Plus, after only a day or so here, Allison took Elvis to work with her. (Did I mention that Jacques and Allison are both vets, with their own clinic, the Evergreen Animal Clinic? They’ve been helping us out with our dog-related questions for months.) I had our vet in Colorado fax over Elvis’s medical records and Allison gave Elvis a big physical.

So this is how Elvis normally looked.

OK, so that’s an old picture… but it’s perfect for showing just how much fur Elvis has. Had. Because this is what he looked like when he came home that night:

Yep, he got shaved. It was necessary – he had mats and tangles and all sorts of nasty things imbedded in his long fur. I understand. But still… he looked like a drowned rat. His collar was suddenly three sizes too big. And he was not happy about his new look. I tried to scratch him behind the ears that night, and I swear that dog gave me the side-eye as he walked away.

So the upside was that Elvis was free of his nasty old fur. But it gets chilly in San Luis Obispo at night, and that dog was suddenly shivering a lot more than he used to. That first night he slept next to me and Michael in the bed (something he hadn’t done in years). Then he started seeking out every blanket in the house.

Michael made this little dog burrito, but I’m telling you – Elvis stayed in this exact position for three hours.

In case you’re worried about our senior citizen – Elvis was back to running around, chasing the tennis ball, and generally being a happy dog about a day after being shaved. If anything, he seemed happier than ever. Snuggly. Affectionate, even.

Now, because Allison had done a lot of poking and prodding, I thought Elvis might hold a bit of a grudge against her. (He’s been known to do that.) But one night, this was the scene in the Drazsnzak living room:

Yep, that’s Elvis. Snuggling with Allison. He loves it here.

I’ll feel a little bad when we resume our travels… But not bad enough to leave him behind. Elvis has always been the Adventure Dog and our adventures are not over yet. So before we head out for Yosemite (our next destination) we’ll stock up on the bacon grease and refill his Valium prescription.