Tucker hops like a deer in the snow

In this house Tucker talks back, and his first word on the 1:30 wake-up is "Ew." He has thought hard about his bag, though. Asked what he wants to bring, he says chicken, and asked what else, he says chicken again. When Linda suggests a jacket or maybe some shoes, he holds firm: "Just chicken."

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So Linda packs plenty of chicken treats and a few things he actually needs, and everyone goes to bed early. When the alarm goes off in the dark, Tucker has reconsidered. Asked if he still wants to go on vacation, he says, "Not anymore." Told they will leave without him, he changes his mind on the spot, and all that sleepy is suddenly gone.

The temperature keeps dropping on the drive, from 6 degrees to 5 to 4, until someone announces that if it goes any lower, they're turning around and going home. They keep going. The cabin turns out to be very cute, almost as cute as Tucker, he's told.

Tucker sniffs every corner of it. Up top he finds a bed and asks if it is his. It "might be too small," he decides, and then, "I takes this one." Soon it sinks in that they are out in the middle of nowhere in the country, which to Tucker can only mean one thing: big heck monsters.

Morning brings breakfast and a camo coat, and he hears that he looks very handsome in it. It's about 6 degrees out. Momma made chicken treats, so first there are tricks: spin, sit, stand, catch, twirl, jump, speak, a lot of backing up, and one called pretty that he says he likes. By the end he is drooling.

He keeps his dad company at target practice, then rubs up against the cabin, coat and all. It looks very much as if he has decided this place belongs to him. "It does now," he says.

Then they head out to the prairie, where there's snow everywhere. Tucker takes off in big springy leaps, exactly like a deer, and goes in so deep that he's warned he will bury himself. "That's the idea." Asked if he's stuck, he admits, "Little bit," then pops right out. Before long, balls of snow are stuck all over his legs, and he works hard to shake them off.

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Back inside, he climbs into the tub and asks for the spa. There's no pool here, and it is way too cold for one anyway, so Tucker throws a tantrum, which ends with a promise of the ocean in a few months. When he wants a bite of a burger, he points out that he's famous. Fair enough, comes the answer, but that doesn't mean he has to be haughty, and he still gets a French fry.

The last game is hide-and-seek. Linda goes outside and covers herself in snow, and Tucker is sent to find momma. At first his sniffer is frozen. Then he catches her scent, and when he reaches her he is so pleased with himself that he declares he is the sniff master.