Gotta Hand it to Bandit!!

 Bandits Wild Ride
The 12th installation in the series- Grabers Gone Wild 

Well the day had finally come.

 I couldn't believe it.

My husband agreed to let us get a dog.

For those of you who know Big Tim, you know this is nothing short of a small miracle.

I must give credit where credit is due, and if it wasn't for my daughter in law Erin, this wonderful new addition might not have happened.

She came home with the cutest little brown rescue dog one Saturday on a whim.  

The grandkids told me  there was one more that looked just like their new dog "Sailor" and 

I just had to go "rescue" him.

They were quite concerned, as there were several other people looking at him and time was a wasting. 

Well, one thing led to another and after my extensive persuasion and coaching tactics I was able to get 

 Big Tim to take a rescue dog on probation

 for a few weeks.

I was beyond shock and for a moment felt like I should just go out and immediately buy a handful of lottery tickets but I knew I had better wait on those lottery tickets until "we" were off probation.

One of my dearest friends Malinda was with me when we first went to see this little guy, and she came up with the name "Bandit" and it just fit!

He is all black except for a white triangular patch under his chin, and it looks like a bandana.

 Welcome Home Bandit

Whose on Probation?

 The first few days are always interesting and I knew I had my work cut out for me.  We had an upcoming trip planned in the "Jetson Mobile" and I only had 2 weeks to get Bandit ready for the trip of his life.

Because we were training Bandit to sleep in his crate every night I knew that the sooner I got him out in the morning to potty the better chance

 we could keep him,...

it all came down to getting him potty trained in time for the Jetson Mobile.

Of course there were a few accidents, but this little guy came from a hoarders house, was beaten by people, and the dogs in the shelter would bite his ears and he had scabs and holes all over his ears.

As the accidents happened it was as if he knew he would get kicked or beaten.... and the thought of his previous owners doing this to this adorable little guy just made me love him more.

We thought it was odd that he never barked or jumped and we never heard him make a peep for 2 days.  And then one night we heard one distinct bark, and we ran into the kitchen to see what it was, and he had an accident and was standing there looking at us.  It was like him saying...." now see what you made me do... you should have had the door opened so I could have gone outside, and you didn't, so this is what happened and I am holding both of you responsible for this!" 

He only barked 2 more times after that, and we had somehow figured out a way to get him on schedule and things were looking good. 

Bandit passed his probation with flying colors and our next big adventure of Grabers Gone Wild was about to begin.....

The Jetson Mobile was ready to roll and

things were about to get real bumpy. 

Bolting in Bishop

One of the first stops  on our way to Idaho was Bishop, California on highway 395. 

After the first few minutes of traveling in the "moving earthquake", I think Bandit figured out quite quickly that he should stay in his seat.

I know when I am walking around I always have to have at least one hand on something at ALL times or I might go flying in the air,  just like when you hit turbulence in a jet and the pilot has forgotten to turn on the "fasten seatbelt" sign.

The first time Bandit had air time was enough.  Luckily he was trying to walk through the coach and he hit the bottom of the sofa and looked up at me with this scared look in his eyes... like...

WTF.... and you people like this?

Poor little guy doesn't have hands or fingers to grab onto anything, and I reminded Big Tim of this, and asked if he could drive a bit slower and he said he was already going in slow motion at 55 and wasn't going to adjust any speed for a dog.

Luckily he stayed where we put him and even learned how to press his legs against pillows when we would come

 to sudden stops... 

what a pro!!!

The first morning was our first real part of the adventure that was about to begin.  We had a long leash and thought it would be perfectly fine to just put him on the leash in the morning for a short bit to do his business, and get some fresh air.

This little guy must have been drug on his leash or something really bad must have been done to him as he refused to go on a leash and when we tried he would only dig his front paws in the ground and 

Big Tim and he would have a stand off. This forced us to tie him up and somehow after a few minutes, this little guy, who I will temporarily call "Houdini" came out of his harness and bolted!!

Timmy is yelling, the dog is gone, the dog is gone. It didn't help that the RV park we were staying at was packed with RVs for a festival that weekend AND that our space was the last one available and 30 yards from this major highway.

The little old lady at the front desk said the maintenance man in the golf cart rescued him as he manuevered the highway and Bandit had dodged the traffic and was on the other side of the highway.

Are you kidding me...?

How did he ever get across with out getting hit by the series of semi trucks that are always plowing through there?

It was a miracle he wasn't hit and killed.  

I wanted to spank him and send him to his room with out dinner, but I thought about how badly he was mistreated, and I just wanted to love him more.

 I think it scared " the you know what out of him" and he sat on Timmys feet and didn't  venture far for the remaining part of the day.

We went out that day and bought some gates and Timmy tightened the harness just a bit so we thought our worries would be over.

Wrong!

Houdini was just getting warmed up.

Bandit in Boise

We love taking the Jetson Mobile to Idaho and some of our favorite people live in Boise. 

We knew we wanted to spend a few days in Boise before we headed up to Lake Cascade to park the motorhome.

Big Tim was so patient with Houdini,... I mean Bandit, and was training him to walk on the leash. He was still hesitant but we were seeing progress. 

Day by day, his little legs would move a little faster and after a few days, I was having to jog to keep up with him... 

how can a little guy with legs no longer than 5 inches run faster than me... ( as I ran out of breath, I was thinking it was time to get back in the gym) and I quickly came back to my senses and took control and told Bandit that we are walking not running. 

He looked at me like I was a wimp, and we compromised and met in the middle and
 walked very fast!

What a difference a few days makes and our next challenge was trying to catch him in Rons house. Seems Houdini now thinks he is Mario Andretti and after ten laps chasing him around the kitchen island, I would try to convince the racer to come to me, but  he doesn't eat treats, so I couldn't even bribe him...

I mean really, what dog doesn't like special treats... not even bacon or steak....

now I am thinking this little guy has more problems than I thought and the sound of his little toe nails clipping against the wooden floor in the kitchen was 

really starting to infuriate me.... and just when I would get close to him he would trot away.

He would do this several times a day, until we decided to keep the short leash on him so that all we had to do was gently step on the leash to stop Mario from his make believe racing and we could slowly reach over and pick him up.

Geeez... I would want to spank him and send him to his room with out supper but then I would think of how badly he was mistreated and I just wanted to love him more.

It was cold at night. It got down in the 30's and I couldn't bear the thought of this motley little guy outside in such cold so I had to buy a jacket for him to use in the mornings.

(thank God he is a boy, cause the apparel they have  for girls is off the charts)  

A little suede and velcro and Bandit is good to go...

look at those feet.... he is so funny....he looks like he has slippers

 on the wrong feet!!

and what about that hair sticking up... every couple of days he looked like Alfafa,we knew it was time for a bath....

Bandit Hits The Hills

Rons cabin up in the mountains is a great little get away.  It has full hook up for the Jetson Mobile and great views of the mountains where we are parked. 
The leaves had started to change colors and 
it was absolutely beautiful.
We loved taking walks and Bandit was enjoying his new sense of freedom.  The word leash was quickly becoming
 a welcome word for him.

 It gave me time to think how a little guy like this who came from living under rubble was now "walking very fast" in the beautiful mountains of Idaho. 
How big and beautiful the world must have looked for him...
and I wondered what he was thinking... besides... (can't she walk any faster than this?")   

 I would like to think he was really happy!


We headed back to the city and wanted to spend a few more days in Boise before we headed south to Carson City, Nevada for a family wedding reception. 
Ya Ya Jill and her hubby Jim had us over for a great lasagna dinner and we had a great time.
They got to meet Bandit and I felt like a proud mother!


Doomed in the Desert
 

We decided to drive halfway and stay in the
 little town of McDermitt, Nevada.  
We were enjoying the funny personality of Bandit that was starting to surface and Timmy liked calling him
  "Invisible dog" cause he would ignore you and turn his head and we think he thought this made him invisible. 
He would also become invisible when
 he stuck his head under the pillows.
I preferred to call him "Cat" 
He would turn his head and snub you, snub treats and snub other dogs as you walked down the street...
at first I thought,.. wow,... why can't we all just get along.... but then I realized this is probably how he survived... 
he would go from being scared to death.. hence I would call him  "Scaredy Cat"  to "Cat" ... back and forth... from one extreme to another.... poor thing....