Remote Living, Part 10: Amazon and Remote Pets

Two more burning questions about remote living that must be answered before you all can sleep at night.

Or something.

How long does it take Amazon stuff to reach you? 

It used to be that I would actually get things ordered with Prime shipping in two days. Our UPS driver actually comes from a small city a couple of hours from us--I can't imagine doing that job with as much cheery goodwill as our long-haul UPS driver--and so there really wasn't a big delay getting anything.

Lately, it seems as if most shipping is a little wonky, so it might be an extra day or so.

I do not, however, often request the Prime shipping. I'm not in a big hurry for the majority of the things I order, so I usually go with the slower shipping that rewards me with digital credits. That way, the kids can eventually watch a movie on Prime for free. 

Is there a traveling veterinarian for animal needs?

No. At least, not for small animals. Our vet--who is 90 miles away--does large animal work, for which he necessarily travels to ranches. But small pets have to be brought to him.

That said, our dogs have been to the vet a grand total of three times in their two years--twice for vaccinations, once for neutering--so it's not a frequent issue. We have crates for each of them, and once they're in there, they just settle in. I'm sure they don't enjoy it, but it's not a big deal.

At home and chillin'.

What's more interesting, and something I never thought of until we got these dogs, is that they have never been on leashes. And I mean never. Not even once. They just don't need them. They come when they're called; they don't run off; and they have the run of a half-acre, fenced-in property that keeps them in away from cars.

I suspect it's because they're from a line of working ranch dogs, with strong instincts to follow orders from humans and stay with their human masters, so it just isn't an issue. We certainly didn't spend a lot of time training them, so it must be instinct.

Even on our recent trip to the Outside World, we never put them on a leash. We purposely stopped places and stayed somewhere without a lot of people, traffic, or other dogs, so they wouldn't be overwhelmed. 

They do have collars, so we can grab and hold them if necessary, but no leashes.