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28th

I had an uneventful drive in the motorhome to Monroe yesterday. The other RV people were very nice and helped me back in. One couple there loaned me an adapter so I could hook up easily where I was. I'll need to buy one of these. Kamikaze did well on the drive there in her crate.

Lego actually had one really nice run today and one a bit spastic, but he never sniffed around.

I did dinner with Dawna and Erin Cox from Jackson, MS. We went to Olive Garden and had a nice meal and pleasant conversation.

Misty's spinal tap came back clean and Rich says she hasn't had anymore seizure activity.

27th - Afternoon

Misty had another grand mal at the vet after she was dropped of. It wasn't as bad as the ones she had here. I had gone to see her before I leave for the trial. She's been started on Phenobarbital. The blood work revealed nothing. We've got a spinal tap going to LSU for review. 

27th -AM

The most heart wrenching thing happen last night. About 10:30 Misty had a seizure. It didn't last long, but seemed like an eternity.  She seemed to recover OK after about a half an hour. We put her on the bed to sleep the rest of the night so I could keep an eye on her. Then horrors of horrors, she had another one about 1:30 AM. I'll be taking her to the vet first thing when they open.

26th

I discovered Kamikaze's first major personality issue. She seems to think that she owns the toy she's playing with. Even at her age she grumbled at Rich when he reached to pet her after she'd discovered how cool the 'honking' toys are. We had a reality check real quick. Then we practiced trading toys for treats.

I spent most of the afternoon loading up the motor home for my first trip to Monroe tomorrow.

25th

At least Kamikaze slept well last night. Granted I was up every couple of hours to take her out to potty, but she wasn't a screamer. I was able to put her back in her crate after the outside jaunt without any incident. She was briefly introduced to everyone today. Kamikaze has the appropriate submissive response down pat. She's not a weenie, but knows how to behave when an older dog scolds her. She also is very polite and doesn't try to jump around in their faces. She will try to play bow to see if they're going to be receptive to that kind of thing. If they aren't she walks away. Nikita is fascinated with her and wants to play with her, but ends of scaring her a bit instead. Misty treats her like all puppies who must learn the rules. Josie is in love with her because Kazee knows how to play rough and tumble games and enjoys it. Of all the dogs, Sparkle seems the least thrilled. I am surprised at this. I thought she'd enjoy another youngster. She doesn't want to be pounced at and shows her teeth and grumbles if Kazee is boisterous. The funny thing about it is when I let Kamikaze outside with Sparkle then Sparkle discovered Kazee liked to play chase. Sparkle did all kinds of play bows and darted around until Kazee would chase her and Sparkle had a time of that. I guess since she can outrun Kazee right now there was not a threat of actual wrestling with her she could enjoy herself.  I hoping a few more outside games and Sparkle will learn how to play with her in closer quarters. The boys (Lego, Maverick, Bandit) do their best ignoring act and since Kazee is good about not bouncing around them they are all OK. Jedi was interested and would play, but Kazee was too tired. Cedar just kind of accepts that Kamikaze can hang out. Shelby is that way as well. 

I had forgotten how much easier it is to raise a puppy that has be contentiously bred and socialized than one that has been left outside to grow up with mom or worse. Kazee was very good on a leash the first day I got her. There was no thrashing or screaming or pulling backwards.  She's obviously been handled a lot as she lets me pick her up and lug her around and sits in my lap for short periods of time. She actually wants to be where humans are so it's easy to get her in from the yard. I just have to go to the door and slam it and she runs to be let in too. Training a solid come should be easy. She's also very friendly to everyone and she came with great pack manners already.  Her worst fault is not accepting confinement well if we're visible or within ear shot. She's even doing well pottying on the paper when we're gone.

Kamikaze also got her first run around the back yard today. I turned the evil electric fence off first. No need to spook her right at first. She had a blast exploring. She also discovered Squirt, the bunny, and was intrigued. She yapped at him a couple of times and he made the 'you don't belong' grunts and smacked the fence right in her face. She found the kiddie pool full of water and just had to hop in to check it out. <groan> She waded around and the slipped a couple of times and dunked herself. It didn't upset her any. She's gonna be a water player like Nikita. Kita puts her paws in water buckets and digs out some water and dunks her head in and throws it back to send water flying everywhere. I see Kazee doing all these things soon too. 

I did spend some special time with Sparkle since she seems disturbed by the new pack member's arrival the most. We worked on straight fronts and finishes in the driveway. AND her Rally novice certificate came in from AKC while I was away. I feel so proud! 

A quick Nikita update... She is still limping.  We did discover a very tender spot in her low back that may be contributing to or causing her limp. Rich got the activator on it and I massaged. She is scheduled to see the vet Wednesday, but as I am taking off for Monroe that afternoon I can't post an update until next week.

24th

Home at last! Doing that 1200 mile drive over three days is very tiring!

Friday:  Drove to Memphis. Got there in time for dinner at Corky's with my parents. They informed me that me step-grandmother, the only grand parent still living, (married my grandfather when I was still in elementary school) has been diagnosed with cancer. A spot in the liver, a spot in her hip, and most recently a spot in her brain. She is not holding out hope for much of a cure. Mom and I went to Target to buy long trip survival items. Included were high sugar, sour snacks and some fruit and nuts. Mom decided she wanted to ride with me to Knoxville so we went to bed early with the plan of pulling out around 5 AM for our Knoxville round trip.

Saturday: 4AM  a train hoot hoots its way through town (Mom and Dad are many blocks off the tracks) and evidentially I am no longer accustomed to it, so I was awake. I feared going back to sleep for 30 minutes would just make me more tired, so I got up and started breakfast. Mom was up soon and joined in. We were off on time with the survival kit in tow. We buzzed on through Nashville without any incident. I never even really got sleepy. We made great time and ended up in Knoxville 30 minutes earlier than the pre-arranged hour time slot. I noticed a Cracker Barrel at the exit just before our official stop, so we got off and had lunch. I was mightily amazed at the service there. We were told it might be a ten minute wait. Instead it was 5 and we saw a waitress almost immediately. The good service continued and we were in and out in about 40 minutes. We hopped back in the interstate and back off a mile later headed to Chuck and Betty's boarding kennel, All Kreatures. Our only snag was here. Bill told me to get off and go left. Then a couple of blocks down was a McDonalds on the left. I'd find the kennel behind it. When I got off the McDonalds was to the right, but I went left and then after a block got nervous and pulled over and called him again. He hasn't been there in awhile, and the McDonalds is gone and has been replaced by a huge Harley Davidson showroom. He was still able to name other landmarks though and I was right in the right place. When we walked in Betty was actually the one behind the desk taking calls and checking in new boarders. She alerted Chuck in the office to the right and he took us back to the puppies. They have their own private boarding area for their dogs. I also got to see Piper( Karen's youngster), Magnum (the old man), Slick (Piper's brother), Honey (Piper's mom), Sunny and Highlander's Yosemite Sam. We played with the pups out in the exercise yard and I took photos.

Kamikaze (mine)

Chuck and Betty's pup

Betty got the AKC paperwork out and made sure I filled it all out right. I still have to wait on a supplemental signature form before I can mail her papers in. There were 6, yes, SIX people that had to sign off on the litter, and there's only space on the papers for 4. The breeder says the other people have mailed the forms to her, so I should be getting them from North Carolina shortly. Then we took a quick tour of their boarding facility. They have a nice setup there! Now, back in the car around noon. Unfortunately the pups were not keen on the idea of separation again. Kazee cried a lot in the crate on the way to Memphis. It was nerve wracking sometimes. I had the usually fight with drowsiness around 1:30-2 and mom wasn't helping as she was glassy-eyed as well. So, we pulled off and walked the pup and got some more caffeine. That did the trick and I was good for the rest of the drive. We made great time and called Dad to say we'd be in by 6 pm. I hung up the phone and traffic came to a complete stop on the interstate just west of Nashville. It took us 30 minutes to do 3 miles. Then for no known reason off we went again at 70 mph. We still made it in by around 6:30. Dad thought she was awful cute too.

Then I took her to Bill to let him evaluate and see her. Bill and Karen's 5 week old Shiba Inu pup was unimpressed with her though, and screeched at her when she tried to play. Bill and I left her in a kennel there and went to dinner.

Sunday: Kazee didn't sleep well. She cried off and on all night in her crate. I guess I don't blame her. It must've be a traumatic couple of days being ripped from your family and then transported for 12 hours to new spots. We were up for real at 5 AM when she just wouldn't shut up. Mom got up soon after and cooked bacon which Kazee took an immediate interest in. I kenneled her up while we went to church. When we got back she was quiet. At least until she saw us. Then the screaming started again. I made some makeshift baby gates for Mom's kitchen with the intent of letting her baby-sit Kazeee while she cooked lunch so I could nap since I had another long drive to get home. Kazee would have none of that and threw a fit when I left the room. So, I ended up napping on the kitchen floor while Mom cooked. It kept Kazee happy and she played with her toys. The drive home wasn't bad, but I did have to fight through some sleepy spots. Kazee, thankfully, decided crates and cars weren't so bad and slept the first four hours. When she woke up I stopped to potty her. Good move! Then back in the car. I just knew she was gonna scream, but NO. She was quiet the whole way. We got home and I let everyone sniff her through the x-pen and then took her out front with Nikita. Nikita seemed to like her but scared her by trying to play with her by smooshing her. Then I turned her loose in the living room with Misty, Josie, and Sparkle. Josie took an immediate liking to her and within minutes they were playing. Sparkle was hesitant, but wanted to join the game. They ended up playing chase around the couch. It looked like Kazee was a hit with them at least.