About Reggie, the RV Dog (that's me)

Since this is my first blog, I thought I’d tell you a little about myself so you’ll know my background and the basis for the thoughts and ideas I’ll be sharing with you.

You are probably wondering what a dog can tell you about RVing and how a dog can even write such a blog. Good questions, shows that you are alert and have a inquiring mind. Just the kind of human I want to write this blog for. I’ll get to those answers soon, but first…

Please don't feel threatened by a dog writing such a blog. If there is one thing I want to demonstrate to you, is that other "animals" (other than human animals) have a lot more "stuff" than humans generally give them credit for. Hopefully I can convince you of that!

I was born of a kind of regal heritage, my ancestors coming from England and all. My real name is Reginald, but you can call me Reggie. My "real" parents were Rachelle (Chiorego Gold Touch born 12-07-97) and Alex (BISS Champion Okeechobee Rivendell Goblin). I was born on June 12, 2000, near Castle Rock, Colorado. My "real" dad and his dad were Great American Champions, but just think of me as a regular sort of guy (canine guy that is). I eat, sniff, poop, and sleep like the rest of you, so I'm just your ordinary run-of-the-mill dog (oops! “mill” is a bad word for us puppies).

You probably want to know a bit more about my "puppyhood.” I was adopted when I was 7 weeks old. My adopted dad, Newt, and my adopted mom, Donna, picked me out of the litter because Dad's favorite color was red, and I had a spot of red nail polish on my head so they could tell us apart. (I had no trouble telling us a part without that smelly stuff on my head!) I like to think they picked me because I looked the most intelligent of all my brothers and sisters.

When I went home to my new home in Nederland, Colorado, it didn't take me long to get control of the family. Mom and my human sister, Genevieve, were the easiest to tame, but I soon learned I needed a different approach with Dad who was (and still is) a rather bossy human, thinking he was "in charge" of the family. It wasn’t long, though, before I had him taking me in his arms downstairs at 3 a.m. to poop outside, saying silly human things to me, cleaning up my messes, feeding me, and picking me up whenever I whimpered. He even picked up my poop and carried it with us when we walked outside. (Humans seem to have an attraction for dog poop!) He still thought he was in charge, so who was I to tell him differently. I discovered that actions speak louder than barks (er…words).

It wasn't long before I got the idea of making my messes outside. It kept them from scolding me, and I admit that I was kind of scared when Dad would yell at me. It was always great to see them make such a fuss over when I went wee-wee or poop outside. I got pet and praised, and life was good. I loved my new Mom and Dad.

I also loved Genevieve, my human sister. She has always been my favorite littermate. She played with me a lot when I was little. She played a little rougher than Mom and Dad, and I liked that a lot. She was also gentle at times. But she would end up making me go away because I was biting her too much. I usually got even with her, though. I could always find a stray shoe or scarf or lots of other things of hers and chew on them (it felt really good on my gums). She lost many shoes before Mom and Dad finally convinced me that none of the shoes were mine and that I didn’t need any shoes thanks to my really fine paws. She even called me “brat dog” all the time. That kind of became Mom’s and Genevieve’s pet name for me for awhile. Sometimes I was so bad that Mom and Dad had to scold me. I didn’t like that.

I really liked our home since I could run around without a leash and play in the forest. So many nice smells! Then it got cold and I found out that I liked the cold. Then this white stuff fell from the sky and I found out that I could run and roll around in it, and it cooled me off really well after a nice run around the area. Dad called it snow and I still love to play in it.

Mom and Dad liked to take me in their car anywhere they went. That was a blast because I could see other dogs and lots of funny looking things that walked around on two legs. Then we'd go for a long walk in the park in Boulder, Colorado. I'd have to wear a leash so mom wouldn't get lost. It was a drag but it was the best way to take her where I wanted to go.

I took Dad to Dog Obedience School. That's a place where dogs teach humans how to obey them so that everyone gets along well. Dad did pretty well, though he had problems finding the right treat for me. Once he figured that out, he was behaving just like he should.

He’d say a few words and I’d get the really good treats, just for coming up to him or lying down or sitting down. Pretty easy work for good food. Dad graduated with honors.

Then one day Dad put me in this really big funny looking box with wheels and started moving it down the road. He called it an RV and said I could sit on the couch and watch out the window. That was really cool, because I had water and lots of room to run around and we were moving! We went from Colorado all the way to California when I was only about two months old. Boy was that fun! And that was the beginning of many years of traveling on the road.

Well, my paws are getting tired, and I’m smelling a couple cute gals coming around the corner, so let me get back to your first question and then I’ll let you go until next week.

Q: How did a dog learn to write a blog and have such insight into RVing and human life?

A: Well first, you have to understand the power of listening. Since my genetics didn’t give me the voice box that you humans have, I’m limited in my vocal expressions to a few barking and whining sounds. They are effective, but not nearly as expressive as writing a blog. Being able to listen so well means I can figure out a lot more than humans who seem to never listen to one another. So… I hear everything around me, and luckily, I have a good memory and can figure out a lot more than people think. Since I’ve been RVing for almost 7 years now, well, I’m just a canine expert on the subject. Computers are second nature to me since Dad used them in his work and I just looked over his shoulder a lot. The hardest part is to keep it a secret from humans that you know so much. Once they know how smart you are you just get no relief from performing in public. So…please don’t tell anyone else about my special talents. They’ll want me to write a book or go on TV or something tiring like that!

Thanks for listening, and I’m sure I’ll think of some pretty interesting things to tell you in the future. Oh, I almost forgot. Don’t forget to tell YOUR canine friends to write me with their stories, jokes, or RVing experiences. I’ll use as much of it as I can in my future blogs. Write me at rvguys at rvinteractive.com, Attn: Reggie (in the subject line).

Some of the ideas I have that I might share with you in future blogs (if you give me the right treat) include:

Canine life on the road

Great places I’ve lifted my leg

Friends I’ve met along the way

p-mail

The view from under the RV

Humans (the good, the bad and the ugly)

Doggie Parks

Dog's don't get enough respect!

And much more…

Arf!

Reggie