Challenges with Charlie

I have such a hard time with Charlie. He is so mild mannered and sweet.

He wants to hike with me at all times. That is no problem because I like his company and the little bells jingling on his collar. But the field grass and the forest undergrowth is getting tall!

Soon I won't be able to find Charlie! He is 7 inches tall at the shoulder. He has grown in length to perhaps 12 inches?

There are many groomed hiking trails at parks I can visit. I've also been looking for an over the shoulder bag to carry him in when he gets tired. So far I've just resorted to carrying him tucked under an arm.  I'm going to try out a canvas bag on our next walk. I've looked at many of the 'dog' bags on different sites and am not sure what may be comfortable for him and me.

We won't be doing Marathon Hiking together, but nice 3 to 4 mile hikes may be in order. A hike around Jersey Valley or Sidie Hollow would work out nicely.

I think our local deep woods hiking may have to be put on hold unless we stick mostly to the creek bottom. I used to fear losing Morris too in deep summer as the undergrowth got thick.
I don't worry about Dixie, she is easy to spot with her bright collar and generally never goes more than 30 feet from me. She also runs like a maniac to me if I just cluck or whistle.
Charlie tends to ignore me if something is more interesting. But perhaps doing groomed trails will help with that. Once he learns the routine he will stick closer?

He entertains us always. Yesterday I opened the inner door so he could look outside. He played with the Lime Green Hedgehog toy and when I turned around I saw this....

Too darned cute.

In the morning he has a routine. I use a gate to keep him confined to the kitchen until about 7:30 or so. When the clock hits that minute, he is at the gate waiting to go wake up Rich and get his morning pet and cuddle.

I think some mornings he'd just lay down and sleep next to Rich.

The car rides are getting better. Charlie does so much better if he is held while being transported. If he goes in his crate and isn't held, he gets sick.
However, I've been taking him on short rides with his tiny bed on the car seat and a leash/harness contraption so that he can look around but not crawl into my lap while I am driving.

I think I will devise a 'booster' seat of some kind so he can be busy looking out the windows.

We are getting there. Charlie is amazing. Last night Rich wanted to watch some stuff on Netflix and Charlie settled in between us on the loveseat. I glanced over and noticed that Charlie was on his side with Rich's hand slowly petting him over and over.
There was such a great look of contentment on both human and dog faces that I couldn't help but smile inside and out.

Morris never liked petting much. Charlie loves being touched.

After all, what is not to love about this face?