2/17/17 7am -12pm – last night and this morning, the dogs were able to stretch their legs and shake off the cobwebs, at the home of our family in Palmdale, CA! Baby Dalhia is doing great! She’s such a good girl.
12 noon, we’re on the road to San Diego again. The weather is awful. Travel is very slow.
Up before the sun. Potty and food for the three dogs. They’re doing very well, especially the baby! 14 hours to go! We’re headed into more rain. Pottying dogs in the rain is way too much fun (I need a sarcasm icon).
Potty stops are the most important parts of a road trip with dogs. It prevents accidents in the crate, which are lengthy to clean up, thus adding time on your trip, and can result in having to find somewhere to re-bathe the dog and clean out a crate. Urinary tract infections are also a risk of waiting too long between breaks. So, successful/frequent potty stops are good for owner and dogs.
With that in mind… 10:00 2/16/17:
Rumble knows the drill:
Dahlia notices the grass is greener on the other side of the fence:
Yay, baby Dahlia!! Potty on command!
Dan and Mariah
1:00
Sometimes, the owners of the dogs have to treat themselves! Leave the dogs alone in the car? Nope! Pizza in the car!
AKA – Xanax. I’ll take two, thank you!.
With luck, we’re leaving in the morning for a dog show. Last minute issues could prevent us from leaving. We’ll be driving from Idaho to San Diego, California. What does it take to show a dog? Initially training a dog to stack for examination is a good place to start, but our weather has been very bad, and with 4 feet of snow on the ground, there has been little place to train. So, I am praying.
Entries made for Rumble, Mariah, and Dahlia. Why them? Rumble is easy to show. She could do this dog show thing without me on the other end of the lead, and I love showing her. Mariah is two now, and it’s time to get out there and see what she can do. She has never set foot in a show ring before. And then there is baby Dahlia. Why her and not her sister? Well, good question. I did not want to take two babies, hoping someone could show one for me, and right now, I think Dahlia has the best topline of the two, but Rose has the best head. I just decided to pick Dahlia. Three is enough!
What’s involved?
This looks a lot like our truck once we’re packed <grin>:
.,and now, today, the day before we leave, the change filter light came on the truck after dealerships have closed. We really don’t want to do four days driving with a filter alert. I wonder if Dan can get it fixed. <sigh>
I will add to this fun-filled trip as we go..
2/15/17 – 11:30am Day 1
with a ten hour drive ahead of us, the girls are finally packed, and a ton of gear loaded. There is hardly room for the two of us humans in the car. Driving conditions here in Idaho are ice, ice and more ice, so we’re slowly sliding out of town! We hear we’ll be getting 2.5″ of rain in one day at the show grounds. Dog shows are never cancelled for rain!
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Potty stop #1 Dalhia has no idea what we want her to do. It is pouring rain of course! “Go potty” means nothing to her (yet). She’ll learn!
6:00pm:
Dahlia finally got the idea on this potty stop! Success! ONWARD. We’re hoping to make it beyond Shasta.
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11:30 Klamath Falls, OR.
Done for the day. A successful end to day 1. Dahlia’s first experience in a hotel room. She’s doing well on her first trip!
Lights out! G’night all…