A TCD Easter at The Fort Trip Report

[Travisma 1,317]

46 minutes ago, Memphis said:

Wow, that’s a heck of a set up for the electrical connection to the food truck.  It looks awful.  Needs a giant fake stump or at least be in a wood fence like the dumpsters.

Aluminum benches!  WTFort I didn’t like the wood benches that replaced the log benches.  I really don’t like these.     

 

On overcast or cool days those suckers will be cold on your butt!

On hot sunny days they will be pretty darn toasty by nightfall.

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I bet the cheap sign for the Chuck Wagon is so they can easily raise the prices on busy weekends.

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

Mornings at the Fort are so nice. One of my favorite times of the day really. Quite, just me, nature and my coffee. 

 

[Live4FW 30]

47 minutes ago, Momof6....aka Marty said:

I bet the cheap sign for the Chuck Wagon is so they can easily raise the prices on busy weekends.

Or more likely when they quite servicing the Fort and only set up at Wilderness Lodge.  Why waste money on an expensive sign.  They are not even opening the truck at the Meadow Pool when they say they are.

[dieseldave 5]

All caught up and glad to see Rocky even if he does wake up before dawn. The food truck must really consume some power.

Couple of comments.

First, regarding the quote above....cherish the times you still have where you'll all be under the same roof.  Once they start marrying, those days are done.  Same with vacation.  It's not a bad thing necessarily.  I love how our lives are changing.  But it does make me sad when I think that we'll never go to the Fort again as a family of 7.  Our trip last month was without our Gwen.  And although we hope to do a trip someday where she and her husband will join us, it will surely be different.  Still good, just different.   

  

Very well said. My son is 12 and that's not something I try to think about right now but I know it's coming someday.

On overcast or cool days those suckers will be cold on your butt!

On hot sunny days they will be pretty darn toasty by nightfall.

I was thinking the same thing.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

4 hours ago, ceemike...Mike & Judy said:

Enjoying the trip report. Good pictures.

Has the Fort relaxed its rules about parking on the grass?  Last year a guy on a neighboring site got a notice from a park ranger for having one tire of his truck off of the pavement.

Sorry to hear the Trail's End pizza hasn't improved. Had one a couple of years ago and it was not good. I like pizza, but I actually couldn't finish it and threw some of it away. Probably the worst pizza I've ever had. 

No- it's still a rule that you can have no more than two vehicles parked at a site, and they must all be on the pavement.  But, the Idiot Rangers only hassle people about that rule when they have nothing better to do.  On holiday weekends, they find other ways to annoy guests, like needlessly directing traffic, or blocking the path to the pool.

The pizza was a different kind of bad this time.  We all commented on it.  With all of the cooking talent that Disney has-why can't they serve a decent pizza?

4 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

Couple of comments.

First, regarding the quote above....cherish the times you still have where you'll all be under the same roof.  Once they start marrying, those days are done.  Same with vacation.  It's not a bad thing necessarily.  I love how our lives are changing.  But it does make me sad when I think that we'll never go to the Fort again as a family of 7.  Our trip last month was without our Gwen.  And although we hope to do a trip someday where she and her husband will join us, it will surely be different.  Still good, just different.   

My other comment in regarding religious services at WDW.  I remember in the past they offered a service at the CR on major holidays like Easter.  I would love it if they offered an Easter morning and Christmas service at the campfire theater.  We camp at some state and federal campgrounds to offer an outdoor non-denominational service every Sunday.  Would be cool if Disney offered something at the Fort.  I bet it would draw many folks who don't want to travel over to the Contemporary for an indoor service.  And it could be very casual....come as you are.   

Oh man.  Thanks for that downer thought.  Actually, I've adjusted fine to the girls all being off on their own, and I think I'll be fine if there's ever a guy who is crazy enough to marry one of them.  It's very enjoyable to see the girls find their way in the world.  I know I'll always be their dad.  We don't see or talk to each other anywhere near as much as we used to, but when we do, it's all good.

I agree about the church service.  A sunrise service overlooking Bay Lake would be amazing.  When church groups have been running amuck in the Fort, I've seen a few of them conduct services at the campfire.  That's nice too.

3 hours ago, Memphis said:

Wow, that’s a heck of a set up for the electrical connection to the food truck.  It looks awful.  Needs a giant fake stump or at least be in a wood fence like the dumpsters.

Aluminum benches!  WTFort I didn’t like the wood benches that replaced the log benches.  I really don’t like these.     

 

I agree on both counts. The Food Truck blocks the utility connections when it's parked there.

The benches are plain awful.

2 hours ago, Travisma said:

On overcast or cool days those suckers will be cold on your butt!

On hot sunny days they will be pretty darn toasty by nightfall.

The existing bleaches are awful to sit on when it's cold out. The aluminum ones will be the same. And, they will be there forever!

2 hours ago, Momof6....aka Marty said:

I bet the cheap sign for the Chuck Wagon is so they can easily raise the prices on busy weekends.

Boy, you are getting as cynical as me!

1 hour ago, Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie said:

Mornings at the Fort are so nice. One of my favorite times of the day really. Quite, just me, nature and my coffee. 

 

Absolutely!  It's nice to have the place to yourself. and it's usually the coolest time of the day.

1 hour ago, Live4FW said:

Or more likely when they quite servicing the Fort and only set up at Wilderness Lodge.  Why waste money on an expensive sign.  They are not even opening the truck at the Meadow Pool when they say they are.

Now that's a bummer. 

But, that may explain what those random carts are doing where the real Chuckwagon used to be.  They can sell the limited campfire stuff from those when the Food Truck moves on to where the rich folks are.

32 minutes ago, dieseldave said:

All caught up and glad to see Rocky even if he does wake up before dawn. The food truck must really consume some power.

Very well said. My son is 12 and that's not something I try to think about right now but I know it's coming someday.

Yes, the Food Truck consumes power, and they also have a deep fat fryer in there, so it must also have a lot of waste that they need to dump daily.  I wonder how they are doing that?

Don't worry about your son growing up.  That's what he's supposed to do.  Your job is to raise him right.  Like I said in response to DIT above, If you do your job right, it is truly rewarding to see your children in action as adults.

TCD

[LONE-STAR 370]

They were doing the food truck the same way during spring break last month but I never saw it at its 11 to 3 location because we were gone at that time.

Dave congratulations on one of your daughters getting married I had no idea. At the same time it makes me sad because my girl is growing so fast. Almost done with second grade. I know her being a silly fun kid days will be coming to a end soon and that makes me sad because I feel like they just started.  

[DaveInTN 3,247]

They were doing the food truck the same way during spring break last month but I never saw it at its 11 to 3 location because we were gone at that time.

Dave congratulations on one of your daughters getting married I had no idea. At the same time it makes me sad because my girl is growing so fast. Almost done with second grade. I know her being a silly fun kid days will be coming to a end soon and that makes me sad because I feel like they just started.  

Thanks Michael. Everyone always says it, but I still am surprised at how fast it goes. But seeing her so happy makes it all good.

Sent from my handheld doohickie

[GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799]

We often toy with bringing Sanford to the Fort, and you've reminded me why we don't. I'm not a fan of getting up that early! Plus, he doesn't like being on a leash.

Interested to see how Easter compares to our experiences.

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[LONE-STAR 370]

42 minutes ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

We often toy with bringing Sanford to the Fort, and you've reminded me why we don't. I'm not a fan of getting up that early! Plus, he doesn't like being on a leash.

Interested to see how Easter compares to our experiences.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We just took our dog to the Fort last month. First time we have ever traveled with a dog. It was fun having her at the Fort.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

We've almost always brought our dogs, and this last trip we brought our doodle Mabel for her first time. She loved everything about it... the walks, the dog park, riding in the motorhome, etc. Plus she doesn't mind sleeping in if that's what everyone else is doing. And we planned on mostly Fort time, so she wasn't alone for tons of time. However our little Foofy hates dog parks and tends to bark when left in the RV so we left her with someone at home. But my point is, having your dog at the Fort can be fun, especially if you're not going to be gone all day every day.

Sent from my handheld doohickie

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

12 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

They were doing the food truck the same way during spring break last month but I never saw it at its 11 to 3 location because we were gone at that time.

Dave congratulations on one of your daughters getting married I had no idea. At the same time it makes me sad because my girl is growing so fast. Almost done with second grade. I know her being a silly fun kid days will be coming to a end soon and that makes me sad because I feel like they just started.  

It is kind of amazing how poor a job they're doing with communicating when and where the Food Truck will be open.  There was talk about it being located at the Outpost in the morning with breakfast items, which I think would be a huge success, but so far I don't think that has happened.

The silly fun kid days only have to end if you want them to.  The teen years will be a challenge, but she's always going to be your little girl.

11 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

Thanks Michael. Everyone always says it, but I still am surprised at how fast it goes. But seeing her so happy makes it all good.

I also should have offered my congratulations to you and INC, Dave.

We've been to a few weddings of family friends of young folks my girls' age, and they have all been very special.  It restores my faith in humanity to see young people today committing to marriage. 

11 hours ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said:

We often toy with bringing Sanford to the Fort, and you've reminded me why we don't. I'm not a fan of getting up that early! Plus, he doesn't like being on a leash.

Interested to see how Easter compares to our experiences.

Poor Sanford.  He would love the Fort!  But, bringing the dog along definitely adds challenges.

Spoiler Alert- we did not see or participate in any of the scheduled Easter activities- this year, they did all of it at the Backyard BBQ area, which is not exactly a convenient location for actual campground guests. I'm sure the freeloaders loved it, though.  I've seen plenty of photos from them on social media, so it looks like it was a success.  I didn't see any of it in person.  And I'm fine with that.

10 hours ago, LONE-STAR said:

We just took our dog to the Fort last month. First time we have ever traveled with a dog. It was fun having her at the Fort.

I didn't know y'all had a dog. What's her name?  What kind of dog?

2 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

We've almost always brought our dogs, and this last trip we brought our doodle Mabel for her first time. She loved everything about it... the walks, the dog park, riding in the motorhome, etc. Plus she doesn't mind sleeping in if that's what everyone else is doing. And we planned on mostly Fort time, so she wasn't alone for tons of time. However our little Foofy hates dog parks and tends to bark when left in the RV so we left her with someone at home. But my point is, having your dog at the Fort can be fun, especially if you're not going to be gone all day every day.

It's definitely fun for the dog.  Rocky usually calms down after the first day, but he is hyped on that first day!

Rocky also can't go to the dog park.  He has that alpha male thing going, and there have been some untoward dog park incidents in his past. I don't want that to happen at the Fort.

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

It is still Easter morning, and Rocky and I are heading out of the campfire area, to the footbridge that will take us to the 600 loop and the sidewalk we will take back to 900.

There was a big silt barrier strung across the canal, right under the bridge:

They were doing some work clearing out the canal, and it looked very clear from the bridge:

If you look along the banks of the Fishin' Hole in this photo, you can see how low the water level is.  We need some rain!:

Now we are heading to the sidewalk that runs next to the nicest site in the Fort- site 617.  Also note that they have added a new amenity to 617- giant bear-proof trash and recycling cans:

Here's a look down the "new" part of the 600 loop.  They need to get in here with some mulch- look at all the dirt:

Now we're back out on Fort Wilderness Trail, looking at the 800 loop bus stop:

I needed a photo of 617, but the camper on that site was actually out and about, and I figured he wouldn't appreciate having his photo taken as I walked by on the sidewalk, so I snapped one from back here- you can see the guy's back over there toward the right:

Now we are heading back to 900.  Note how the sun is just hitting the tops of the trees in this photo. I love this time of the morning, as the sun rises, and things become more visible and colorful.  It's not something that can be conveyed very well in photographs:

Here we are back at site 910.  That's Twin #1's Happy Easter sign that she contributed to the campsite.  That plastic Tiki guy is an old party favor that somehow ended up in my camping gear and comes with us on every trip.  The flaps are down on the add-a-room, as the girls were in there watching SNL the night before:

Here you can see the official TCD Moscow Mule mugs hanging on the tree, and I can see the official TCD cocktail shaker is sitting out on the picnic table from the Kungalooshes I shook up the previous evening. The bottles that you see on the ground over by my camp stove are Rocky's toys, not real liquor bottles:

Here's Rocky impatiently waiting for me to make some coffee before we headed out on the golf cart:

I got the coffee made, and we hopped on the cart and got on our way.  We headed around Big Pine Drive, on our way to the 300 loop dog walk area.  Here's the Meadow at sunrise:

1500 is on the right here:

Rocky wasn't with us last night when we checked out the Community Grilling area, so I took him down there to see it:

The canal next to the tennis courts is also as low as I've ever seen it:

Here's the new propane grills again:

One of the underappreciated areas in the Fort is the big swamp that lies between the 300 and 1500 loops.  I like it- especially at sunrise:

This lone curved tree is always good for a photo.  I took two for good measure:

Moving down the road:

Here's a look at the same canal that we saw from the footbridge to the 600 loop- this is looking east past the bridge that crosses the canal by the dog park- you can see that the canal has been cleared out here, and mud left on each bank:

There's a piece of equipment parked back there in the bushes- I assume that's what they've been using to clean the canal:

Now we are heading around the 300 loop.  These next few photos are a good representation of what this stretch of the loop looks like on busy weekends. This is why 300 is my least favorite preferred loop:

I never know who reads my trip reports. If the occupants of this campsite happen to be reading along, I've got to tell you that what you're doing here is not cool:

Seriously, what is wrong with people?  If you want to have that much crap on your site, then be courteous to your neighbors and book a premium site, or take some of those vehicles out to the overflow lot. This is just plain rude.

Look how close these sites are on the outside part of the loop, about halfway around:

Some of the sites on 300 are OK, like this one, but there it's a very cramped loop:

Rocky and I headed out to the dog walk area. Here's one of the few sites that had Easter decorations.  Easter in nothing like Halloween or Christmas at the Fort:

Since it was Easter Sunday, and there was a bunch of stuff that was going on down at the Backyard BBQ area starting at 8, I figured it wouldn't be a good idea to take Rocky on a rogue golf cart ride down the pedestrian path to the Settlement.  Dogs (and golf carts) are not welcome back there, and there was a good chance there would be some CMs' back there today.

We parked the cart, and headed out in to the dog walk area.  This is as close as I got to the bat house this morning:

We had the dog walk area to ourselves:

There isn't signage that says this is a pet walk, but there are poop bag stations out here, so it is:

Look, a real man of genius has his gigantic cabin tent set up here in the pet walk!:

Guess whose site that is.

If you guessed the jackwagon who had his truck and golf cart parked in the road blocking the loop, you win.

Here we are looking back toward where we came from:

There's another poop bag dispenser on the left:

Rocky was loving all of this:

The sure went overboard with the rope fence out here:

The old wood fence you see behind the new rope fence was there to keep folks from walking off the old bridge abutments that remain from the bridge that used to cross the canal here:

As Rocky and I headed back, I saw a pick-up truck driving over the bridge and heading in to the 300 loop.  I assume that was a CM.  Good thing Rocky and I didn't take the cart back there:

We headed back to the site.  I wanted to have some coffee with Mrs. TCD, and then it was going to be time to start cooking our big Easter brunch.

TCD

[WannaBeImagineer 98]

Thanks for posting the Trip Report TCD!  I know they are a lot of work, especially the photobucket link part.  You would think there would be an easier way at this point.

The mornings really are great at the Fort.  I've actually found that I like early mornings at any campground/resort, even not at Disney.  They are just so quite and nice compared to when things really get going with all the people.

Dave congrats on the daughter getting married!

WBI

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Love all your early-morning Fort pictures!  Seeing Rocky at the Fort makes me miss Kassie even more.  

[bhall 115]

4 hours ago, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

Love all your early-morning Fort pictures!  Seeing Rocky at the Fort makes me miss Kassie even more.  

I was thinking the same thing as you but about Sushi.

[LONE-STAR 370]

Long story about us having a dog but I will keep short. My wife wanted a dog and a kid I said pick  one she went with kid which was my choice also.  Our dog had died not to long before and it was nice not having to take care of it. So we went about 8 years with no dog.

Well from the time my daughter could talk she wanted a dog. I always told her when your grown or old enough to take care of it you can have a dog. Well about 6 months ago my daughter walked up to me and said "dad you know when I am grown it won't be as much fun to have a dog as it would be now" and you know what she was right. The most fun I had with a dog was mine when I was 6. I got to thinking you only get to be a kid with a dog once.  So I started looking and this past January we went and bought her a dog. I started looking at Yorkies, went to buy a Morkie, and wound up buying a Shorkie and she is a really fun dog and a excellent Traveler. She is almost 6 months old and we named her Daisy. Although my  daughters first choice for the name was Cutie Pie. 

[The Troll 67]

 

Sadly, this photo says it all. Fort Wilderness just isn't a campground anymore. It's a poorly designed parking lot with an annoying smattering of trees. It's just a sad reflection of modern suburban America.

[Grumpy and Grandma 739]

16 minutes ago, The Troll said:

 

Sadly, this photo says it all. Fort Wilderness just isn't a campground anymore. It's a poorly designed parking lot with an annoying smattering of trees. It's just a sad reflection of modern suburban America.

They also are oblivious to the safety issues, especially with the drought. One little fire and alot of cars, trucks and rv's are goners, no way to stop it. 

[keith_h 420]

24 minutes ago, Grumpy and Grandma said:

They also are oblivious to the safety issues, especially with the drought. One little fire and alot of cars, trucks and rv's are goners, no way to stop it. 

So true. Doesn't take much to set off dry pine straw.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

I always enjoy your early morning fort pix. 

Thank Rocky for me. Lol. 

He sure is a pretty boxer. 

My FIL, actually his girl friend had/has two boxers.   They are a wonderful breed.  They are great around the kids.

 Paris, who could be Rocky's twin passed away last year.   Jocko is still alive and kicking at the age of 17 years.   He was born on 12/31/2000. The day me and my DW tied the knot. 

[Travisma 1,317]

3 hours ago, h2odivers...Ray said:

I always enjoy your early morning fort pix. 

Thank Rocky for me. Lol. 

He sure is a pretty boxer. 

My FIL, actually his girl friend had/has two boxers.   They are a wonderful breed.  They are great around the kids.

 Paris, who could be Rocky's twin passed away last year.   Jocko is still alive and kicking at the age of 17 years.   He was born on 12/31/2000. The day me and my DW tied the knot. 

Wow, 17 is amazing for a boxer. 

My son has one and full grown she still thinks she's a lap dog.  If I'm on the sofa when she comes for a visit she climbs right up on my lap.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

On ‎4‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 2:16 PM, WannaBeImagineer said:

Thanks for posting the Trip Report TCD!  I know they are a lot of work, especially the photobucket link part.  You would think there would be an easier way at this point.

The mornings really are great at the Fort.  I've actually found that I like early mornings at any campground/resort, even not at Disney.  They are just so quite and nice compared to when things really get going with all the people.

Dave congrats on the daughter getting married!

WBI

Thanks, Nick.

Do you have a bike trailer yet?  I used to take the TCD girls around the Fort for morning bike rides back in the day.  I didn't trust them to not fall off of a golf cart.

On ‎4‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 4:43 PM, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said:

Love all your early-morning Fort pictures!  Seeing Rocky at the Fort makes me miss Kassie even more.  

Sorry!  Have you thought about getting a puppy?

On ‎4‎/‎28‎/‎2017 at 9:25 PM, bhall said:

I was thinking the same thing as you but about Sushi.

I'm sorry for your loss.

On ‎4‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 0:00 AM, LONE-STAR said:

Long story about us having a dog but I will keep short. My wife wanted a dog and a kid I said pick  one she went with kid which was my choice also.  Our dog had died not to long before and it was nice not having to take care of it. So we went about 8 years with no dog.

Well from the time my daughter could talk she wanted a dog. I always told her when your grown or old enough to take care of it you can have a dog. Well about 6 months ago my daughter walked up to me and said "dad you know when I am grown it won't be as much fun to have a dog as it would be now" and you know what she was right. The most fun I had with a dog was mine when I was 6. I got to thinking you only get to be a kid with a dog once.  So I started looking and this past January we went and bought her a dog. I started looking at Yorkies, went to buy a Morkie, and wound up buying a Shorkie and she is a really fun dog and a excellent Traveler. She is almost 6 months old and we named her Daisy. Although my  daughters first choice for the name was Cutie Pie. 

Awesome story.  Good move.  Mrs. TCD and I got our first dog before we had kids, and we've always had a dog since then.  We know a lot of people who refused to have dogs in their homes.  I feel sorry for those kids.

I wasn't a big supporter of getting Rocky, as our oldest was already away at college when we got him, and the twins only had two years of high school left.  But, it was a good move. The girls look forward to coming home to see him.  I'm not sure they'd get home as often if it was just me and Mrs. TCD they were coming to see.  Plus, our nest doesn't feel totally empty with him around.

On ‎4‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 10:46 AM, The Troll said:

 

Sadly, this photo says it all. Fort Wilderness just isn't a campground anymore. It's a poorly designed parking lot with an annoying smattering of trees. It's just a sad reflection of modern suburban America.

Norm!

Great to see a post from you, my friend.  As always, you are right on the money.  What irritates me is that it would only take a bit of effort on the part of management to fix this particular mess. 

On ‎4‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 11:07 AM, Grumpy and Grandma said:

They also are oblivious to the safety issues, especially with the drought. One little fire and alot of cars, trucks and rv's are goners, no way to stop it. 

A very good point. I hope it never happens.

On ‎4‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 11:18 AM, keith_h said:

So true. Doesn't take much to set off dry pine straw.

Good thing they haven't replenished the pine straw in a couple of years.  There's mostly bare dirt around the sites now.

On ‎4‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 3:34 PM, h2odivers...Ray said:

I always enjoy your early morning fort pix. 

Thank Rocky for me. Lol. 

He sure is a pretty boxer. 

My FIL, actually his girl friend had/has two boxers.   They are a wonderful breed.  They are great around the kids.

 Paris, who could be Rocky's twin passed away last year.   Jocko is still alive and kicking at the age of 17 years.   He was born on 12/31/2000. The day me and my DW tied the knot. 

17 years is a long time. Poor Mrs. H2O Divers.

No, I mean 17 years is a long time for a boxer to live.  Unfortunately, none of ours have ever made it  near that long.

On ‎4‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 6:38 PM, Travisma said:

Wow, 17 is amazing for a boxer. 

My son has one and full grown she still thinks she's a lap dog.  If I'm on the sofa when she comes for a visit she climbs right up on my lap.

Boxers can be amazingly gentle and affectionate.  But, they can also be fierce protectors of the family. Rocky has a little too much of that protectiveness, and he is awful to strangers.  He can hear when someone is about to ring our doorbell at home, and goes berserk before they ever do.  He's good at the Fort, because he can see what's going on, but I don't trust him at the dog park.

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

4 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

 

Boxers can be amazingly gentle and affectionate.  But, they can also be fierce protectors of the family. Rocky has a little too much of that protectiveness, and he is awful to strangers.  He can hear when someone is about to ring our doorbell at home, and goes berserk before they ever do.  He's good at the Fort, because he can see what's going on, but I don't trust him at the dog park.

TCD

They can be easily distracted also.  Seems like no matter how well you have trained them, that errant squirrel that they see out of the corner of their eye will make them take off like a bullet.  We never walked her unless she was on a leash when she was near a road.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

15 minutes ago, Travisma said:

They can be easily distracted also.  Seems like no matter how well you have trained them, that errant squirrel that they see out of the corner of their eye will make them take off like a bullet.  We never walked her unless she was on a leash when she was near a road.

We have a lot of squirrels around the house, so Rocky is accustomed to them, and really doesn't pay much attention to them.  His problem is that he is fascinated by anything with wheels- bikes, scooters, baby strollers, roller skates, and cars.  If he sees anything like that, he wants to chase it and bite the tires.  That's not such a good thing for him to want to do- especially cars.  Fortunately, we live in the back of our neighborhood on street with not much traffic.  If I'm walking him, I have to restrain him if a car drives by. I won't let the girls walk him by themselves out of fear of him breaking loose and chasing a car.  Dummy.

TCD