Herding dog mix munches down on bug buffet

Meet Wash, a herding dog and road trip co-pilot now living in Tennessee.

Back in 2017, Nationwide member Chris W. did what many dream about: She quit her job, sold her house and jetted off in an RV across the U.S. for 18 months. However, she soon discovered the freedom of the open road came with its own unique solitude. “About halfway through the trip I decided I wanted a companion,” she says.

Chris stopped into a shelter in Arkansas with a particular dog in mind—30-50 pounds, mellow and female. Instead, she walked out with something entirely different: A 70-pound male herding dog who she ended up naming Wash.

“Kind of the opposite of what I was looking for, but he is the best dog,” Chris says. “We just clicked, and I fell in love with him. He was very, very sweet. Just happy to have attention and love.”

“It took about 3 months to really build that trust level with him,” Chris says. “Especially because we were moving around so much. Every week we were in a different place.”

As their bond strengthened and developed, the two became a natural pair travelling from state to state—30 in all since Chris adopted Wash—including no small number of adventures. Wash has watched the bison in Yellowstone, journeyed to the top of Pikes Peak and swam in the Pacific Ocean, to name only a few.

However, the adventure leading to this Hambone Award nomination was found in their own backyard.

What happened?

“Wash’s favorite thing to do is eat,” Chris says. “It doesn't matter what. It's not always food, unfortunately, but food trumps anything and everything.” One year, following a double brood of cicadas, Chris discovered how odorous a problem that could be.

Chris continues, “Cicadas are little bugs that come out of the ground—and we had millions of them emerging over a few weeks period.” She didn’t think twice about the bugs outside until Wash decided that they were his own personal buffet.

“I looked out one morning and he was nose to the ground, just chomping on every single cicada he could find as they were emerging—I don't even know how many he ate.”

Chris called Wash back inside and made him stop eating bugs, but as soon as she turned her back, he was outside chowing down on more cicadas. This back and forth continued for several days, until one point when everything boiled over.

Chris continues, “He got really gassy to the point where we had to open all the windows. But I knew that there was a real problem around dinner time when he would not eat. He never refuses a meal; he never refuses a treat.”

She rushed Wash to the emergency veterinarian for observation. He was prescribed a diet of chicken and rice, plus some probiotics to help settle his stomach. After a few weeks of gassy resettling, Wash was good as new—and Chris’s eligible veterinary bills were covered by Nationwide.

How Nationwide helped

Cicadas only emerge in certain years, so it’s too soon to know if Wash has learned his lesson. “I am very hopeful that he has, but we will find out,” Chris says. One way or another, Chris is ready for anything, thanks to her pet insurance coverage.

“Nationwide pet insurance in this instance really helped a lot, because they paid the bulk of the cost for the emergency vet as well as the medication, the probiotics, all of that,” she says. “It really took that burden off me, knowing that I could focus on getting him the care that he needed and not have to worry about the finances. Most important was getting my pet back to feeling better—Wash means everything to me .... I would do anything for him.”