I have been needing a campershell ever since I bought my Nissan pickup in June. While I will never be able to remove the dog hair that is embedded in the velcro-like material they lined the cab with, it would be nice to make a dent, and at least uncover the navy blue color that lies beneath the gray, brown, and black dog hair.
It's not just any hair, mind you. It's coyote dog porcupine hair. Quill hair. It's black-and-white striped and has barbs at the end. Of course there is a thick mixture of Stevie fur in the cab, too, but that's soft, normal dog hair that brushes or vacuums up just fine. Sofie hair is another story, though. Because of her husky mama, she can produce enough underfur to fill a 12’ x 12’ room floor to ceiling, packed tight. And you can still see her ribs. She weighs 45 lbs. It’s Dog Fur in Defiance of Physics. Because of her coyote daddy, she also has those pointy, barbed quill hairs too.
All I’m getting at is that you’d think the inside of my truck cab was gray instead of navy blue. And no, that’s NOT a sweater hanging on the back of my seat.
Putting the dogs in the back of the truck required a campershell. It’s too hot without shade in the summer, and it’s too cold in the winter without an enclosed place they can heat up with their body warmth and a good sleeping bag.
Scott found a campershell for me that matched my truck perfectly, and it only needed a little bit of hardware to be all set up. I bought new locks and latches, and new shocks to hold up the window. I cleaned it up and we got it installed on the truck just fine.
Yesterday I took the dogs with me, and put them in the back of the truck and shut and latched the campershell. For some reason I left leashes on both of them. I drove to a restaurant and went inside to have lunch.
No more than ten minutes had passed when the waitress came up and said, “Do you have a truck outside with dogs in it?”
“Yes, “ I said, my heart dropping into my shoes.
“One of the dogs jumped out and ran away,” she said, and I leaped to my feet, “but a boy caught her and he tied her to your bumper, so everything is okay.” The last part she said very quickly, because I must have gone very white. The restaurant was on a very busy road, lots of traffic, not a place for a hyperactive Sofia to go running around. I knew it wasn’t Stevie out there. He’s creaky in the rear end, I’d had to lift him into the truck. There was no way he was going to jump out of there on his own.
I ran outside and sure enough, there was Sofia, tied to my bumper. As I went up and untied her, a boy came up to me and said, “She jumped out and chased me and my dog, so I brought her back. The camper was open when I walked by.”
I was so happy that he’d been such a responsible boy that I gave him a big hug. Thinking about it now I am sure he was afraid I was going to kiss him too, (YUCK!) but luckily for him, I didn’t. I would have given him some money if I’d been able to deal with putting Sofia and Stevie back in the cab of the truck fast enough, but by the time I was done he was gone. Even though the reason she escaped was to chase his dog, I am extremely grateful for his responsibility in taking the time to catch her, (which was easy because she wanted to be with his dog), bring her back and then go into the restaurant to let people know. What a wonderful young fellow!
So near as I can figure, Sofia either nosed the latches open, or just pushed so hard that she popped the latches. I tried to pop the latches myself and found I could do it with a little muscle.
Today I went to the campershell place and got longer latches and some good advice as to how to set it up so that it is so tight that she can’t push them open with her nose. Stupid smarty pants dog!
I tell you what though, I’m never leaving her in the truck cab with the keys in the ignition!
