Dying dogs last wish - Road Trip

Sorry for the click bait thread title. Looking for some last minute help/advice on a road trip.

Little background, we have a 10 year old Great Dane, she's always been super healthy, active, high energy. We are middle aged with no kids and it's always just been the three of us. A couple weeks ago we noticed a slight limp and she was not carrying her tail like normal. Several trips to the vet, some meds, more vet visits, x-rays and the symptoms were getting worse. She starting limping, dragging one foot, and struggling with her balance. So last Friday we took her for a CT scan. It revealed a large mass growing along her spine. Surgery would result in loss of feeling and control in the back legs and possibly require amputation. After some tough decision making we decided we were just going to manage her pain, and enjoy our remaining time with her.

Which leads me to why someone from Northern Alberta is in this regional forum troubling all of you with my woes. We've always wanted to do a road trip down through Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona and then back up along the coast of California, Oregon and Washington. I picked a 3rd gen 4Runner awhile back and was planning on doing a build over the spring to prepare it for this summer. With the recent diagnosis our time line has been jumped up significantly.

I haven't had a lot of time to do much research, our rough plans were always Yellowstone, Moab, Antelope and The Grand Canyon, and Mojave were going to be the highlights and that was about as far as we got planning.

I had recently replaced all the plugs, wires, filters and fluids on the 4R, replaced the valve gaskets, rear drums/shoes. Timing belt and clutch had been done prior to purchase, I've done a couple lengthy road trips with it to the mountains and it's been flawless so far. I built a sleeping platform over the weekend, the plan is to sleep in it as much as we can.

We do plan to leave this coming weekend, and figure about 16 days to do a loop. We have no issues driving 10-12 hours a day to get to a destination and see a few highlights over a couple days before moving on. I know it's a little early for Yellowstone, and I'm not even sure about Moab this time of year. Looking for some help with trip planning, itineraries destinations we may not know about.

I know,

The lady in question...





She has always been awesome on road trips, we can stuff her in just about any vehicle and she is happy.





Here is the rig we will be using! It's so challenging to find somewhat clean, lower millage 3rd gens in a 5 speed around here, and the sleeping platform. My slides won't be here in time, but I managed to find some bins that fit. I'm also hoping to add a small dual battery setup to power/charge some electronics at night, small 12V heating blanket, etc.






The first part of the trip we are thinking of trying to get to the Great Falls, or Helena area. I'm sure it's still to early for campgrounds in that area, and weather depending we may just opt for motels until we get further south.

Again, thanks for taking the time to read my long winded story, I hope to keep this thread updated with our trip and I do look forward to any advise you might want to give.

Shawn

 

Sweet idea, giving her one last trip before crossing the Rainbow Bridge...

 

Must be some onions around here. Some people will say it’s a snake oil but I have seen it work. It’s not going to heal what’s already happened but you might try CDB oil. It might help with any pain. It has really worked great with one of my fur children. Enjoy your time.

 

EXTREMELY UN-"like" But I am sure that it'll be a trip to remember.

Moab is running great right now! It'll be a little rainy there the rest of the week, but next week it will be gorgeous!

When do you plan on passing through Utah? If you are coming through Salt Lake early next week, I'd be glad to be a friendly local face! At the very least, I can provide decent camping suggestions, etc. for Moab or the surrounding areas.

You can also hit up the Utah locals thread for help as well:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...areas-bs-thread.142717/page-413#post-20150460

If anything should happen mechanically while in UT, UTOR and Utah Offroad Recovery are good assets to utilize on Facebook. UT Offroad Recovery mobilizes super quick should you need it.

 

I've got a ton of free campsites and places along your way to share, here's what we just did with our dogs. If there are specific areas you want details from my map, I can share a live document with you that has breweries, hiking, free campsites, dog parks...etc. You're going to have a blast, sure is an awesome thing to give your adventure pal . PM me with your email & I'll share the google map.

 

What a sweet pup. Enjoy your time OP!

 

Such a great idea to make some lasting memories.

Moab was great this past weekend - excellent weather but a little bit of mud on some of the trails. Things were a little crowded due to Spring Break but overall still a great time of year.

I'm with @Gunshot-6A - anything you need in the SLC area we're happy to help

 

Thank you for your compassion for your dying furry family member. It is my hope that pets go to Heaven too. Could the splendor of Heaven be reduced if upon our arrival all our departed pets come running to meet us, out in front of our smiling family and friends already there? We can only imagine...

As Will Rodgers once said, "When I die I want to go where dogs go."

 

Your a good man Shawn.
They are like children to some of us.
Have a great trip.

 

Hey Shawn, what an amazing trip you have planned. It will give you so many warm memories to hopefully ease the pain. Yellowstone this early doesn’t leave you a lot of options, there is only one road open through the park, but still totally worth it. Let me know if you end up making it up to the Seattle area, I’d love to get your girl a cheeseburger.

 

Following for when you guys come through Washington! Sounds like a memorable trip to be taking.

 

Thanks for all the kind words everyone! We are terrible at planning trips, we did 2 month through South America a couple years ago and only had the first two nights planned, we relied on other travellers to guide us on routes to take/avoid and what to see and do. I'm hoping to accomplish the same online.

She is currently on 28mg of CBD a day. I don't want to run the risk of crossing the boarding with it, so I will be looking for some more once we cross into Montana. She's also on some herbals and has started acupuncture.

Thanks again! We will definitely be camping in that area!

This is awesome! PM inbound!

Thanks, we don't have much of a route planned yet, but I will be sure to update as we go.

Thank you, Seattle is definitely on the list of places we want to stop.

I'll be sure to update often with photos of our adventure.

 

If for any reason you get lost or anything and end up in socal I'd be more than happy to take you to dog beach

My old dog went through a similar process, it ain't easy but you guys made the right choice

All the best to you

 

Sorry to hear about your doggie. You should get a Go Pro and document it...make yourself a movie.

 

@MTgirl and @Cuffs if willing can give you solid info on Yellowstone at this time of year. You're hitting one of the best times of the year to visit Moab and southern Utah in general. Northern AZ and WY can still be dicey...but you're coming from Ca so it should be manageable to you. Scratch that...WY is it's own special kind of shit-show and myself and many others here are willing to rescue you if needed. Southern AZ is good to go. A lot of history down there...take her down to Slaughter Ranch if you can. I can't speak too much on the Pacific NW except that I have family in Napa Valley that may provide insight. I like your plan...so much space and smells to let her explore. PM me if you want her to stay/play with any other dogs on the trip of her life.

 

Great idea! We just went through something similar. It’s been a few months and I still can’t really look at pics. We did something similar but much less scope. Ours couldn’t really walk anymore. But we took him to all sorts of spots during his last month. He also got a couple good hamburgers and ice cream cones.

This helped a bit with mine as well. We used it until he could use his right side.

 

losing a fur baby is always hard

 

Man, I'm sorry to hear about your dog but I'm happy for you that you get to make the most of a crappy situation. Our 11 year old lab was diagnosed with liver cancer last week. We decided to fight it and went through with the surgery that had a high likelihood of curing her. Unfortunately due to complications we ended up needing to put her to sleep Sunday night. I wasn't expecting it to hurt as much as it does. At least getting to read about your chance to give your pup one last hurrah makes me happy. I wish I could've done the same.

One of our dog's favorites was taking her to my hometown in Humboldt County (Northern California). She loved hiking in the redwoods and spending time at the beach. If you can make it that way, I think you all would enjoy it. Redwood State and National Parks, Moonstone Beach, and Patrick's Point are all pretty amazing places and a bit off the beaten path.

 

Our little rat dog chihuahua is a PIA sometimes but still would miss the hell out of her if she were gone..

 

Sounds like you have a great trip planned that will make pleasant memories for years to come. My Brittany died one year ago after a 4 month illness and we are glad we were able to take a week off for one last road trip a few weeks before he crossed the rainbow bridge. Only advice is; Do your homework, dogs are only allowed in campgrounds and paved pathways in most National Parks so check the park websites to see how dog friendly they are before driving hours out of your way only to have to keep your lady in the car.

Take lots of pictures and have safe travels