So Thursday we loaded up and left on the real deal, a 5 1/2 hour road trip to meet friend Elaine Strid.  She drove from Kansas City Mo, we came from southern Ohio and met in the middle at the little town of Mt Vernon, Ill.  We stopped to visit Karen and Ray Nix and Clover, and enjoyed their beautiful home and welcoming hospitality.   Clover was happy to play nicely with the smalls, and a good time was had by all.  Lisa Beaudet met us there, and left with little Rocky.  She’ll be his new forever mom, and is up to the challenge of monitoring his cleft until we can repair.

A couple hours worth of driving later (and some fussing, we can’t be perfect) we arrived at our hotel.  A lovely dog area was perfect for the puppies to stretch their legs, and they met and played with Elaine’s pretty girl Diesel.

Tired from the drive, ready for some adult refreshment, we tucked the puppies into

their crates and headed across the parking lot for margaritas at the Mexican restaurant there.  When we returned I started putting puppies into the doggy area again and the car locked accidentally with 2 puppies still inside.  The front desk saved me from a hefty locksmith bill by calling local law enforcement, who showed up minutes later with a hooked rod and popped my door open handily.  I discovered that while we were gone one of the girls chewed on the hooked end of a bungee cord that I was using to attach my expens to the top of the crates in case I needed to brake.  She’d gotten the darned thing stuck in her mouth and was unable to free herself.  I quickly removed it and checked her over.  She seemed undamaged from her episode.

Fast forward to this morning, when I noticed that little Piper seemed listless.  I looked her over and her neck was very swollen under her jaw.  Elaine found us a local vet and I headed out.  The clinic was very nice and the vet there thought she could have puppy strangles.  I told her about the bungee incident and she didn’t think it was related.  Who knows?  So she’s getting antibiotics and I’ll evaluate in the morning whether to take her to my vet for second look.

So lots of adventures on this road trip.  The pups did well during the travel for the most part, and spent their first night in crates.  They met new people and dogs, and saw lots of new things.  Show evaluations are done, and 2 will be available as pets (pictures and post to follow).