Weds. night after arriving at Zippel Bay, we were both in need of a shower. It was brutally hot and muggy, flies and mosquitos were everywhere, and the effort of setting up our screened in tent, while it helped with the bugs, left us literally running with sweat. There’s no electricity here, so no air conditioning in the camper.

There was no way I was going to close all the camper windows to keep Moe safely inside while we showered (if the windows are open he will bust right through the screens and leap out of the camper), so we figured we’d just bring him and leave him in the car with the ac on while we were in the bathhouse.

I couldn’t figure out why Moe was so restless that night, but as I couldn’t sleep either in the hot, stuffy camper (no more lovely western-style cooling off at night), I figured it was for more or less the same reason. I even got up to get him more water in the middle of the night, as he was panting and licking the condensation off the top of the cooler.

It wasn’t until I opened the car in the morning that I saw the reason for his discomfort. We’d bought a bag of Beggin’ Strips dog treats the day before and given him one or two on the drive to our campground. I forgot they were still in a bag in the back of the car, but Moe remembered and helped himself liberally to them while we were showering.

I brought his breakfast and a bowl of water to the camper—Moe ignored the food and drank three bowls of water before he waddled out of the camper, looking like a spotted water balloon. That’ll teach him to eat a bag of salty snacks before bed! Does he regret it? Absolutely not—he’d do it in a second the next time I foolishly leave dog treats in the car.