As I think I mentioned, I wasn’t planning to bring the puppies home on the late September 2021 trip to Idaho. We were going to see them, see some of the nieces and nephews play high school sports, and then come back again in November for the dogs.
Well that plan lasted right to the moment Karin picked them up at Brianna’s house.
To be fair, the dogs were already weaned and Brianna was already delivering others from the litter to people. When we left with them they were 8 weeks, which is pretty normal. We loaded up the dogs and my sister Rebecca and headed for mom’s house.
We stopped every few hours along the way to let the dogs get their legs going, do the bathroom thing, and to eat a little something. They were champs. They snoozed most of the time we were driving. When we did stop they couldn’t wait to pee, poo and play; usually in that order.
And every time we stopped people were all over us wanting the pet the dogs. Everyone said they had never seen real live corgi puppies, and that they were the cutest dogs they had ever seen. I’m not going to argue that. They really are.
It’s fair to say mom was thrilled with the arrival of the new puppers. She even took it well when we explained that Stella had rejected the name Mom had chosen for her, which was Sally. I told mom that while we were on the road, and I was calling her Sally, Stella took me aside and said, “Look. I’ve been nice about it up till now. But that’s not my name.” She said, “That’s an old woman’s name. My name is Stella.”
So Stewart and Stella it is. Mom wasted no time in sneaking treats into their food bowls when we weren’t looking, which naturally made them very attentive around mean time.
The puppies adapted very quickly mom’s house and massive fenced backyard. While she was there, Rebecca watch them at night. After she left either Karin or I stayed with them through the night on a cot. It was all to make it easy for mom and BD.
October was a whirl as we jumped from walking them around the back yard to taking them to coffee shops, breweries, dog parks and other places where they could meet lots of people, kids and other dogs.
They were a ton of fun. But mom also realized they were turning out to be a ton of work. We could see the concern in her eyes. But we told her, don’t worry. “We’ll take them with us to Tuscon and do Puppy Class with them. We’ll bring them back in Spring, as bigger and somewhat easier to manage dogs.” Mom relaxed, and you could see Karin liked the idea too…a lot.
So we started the prep and planning to head south in early November for the winter with dogs, unexpectedly, along for the ride. Or maybe they were unexpected to me, and Karin knew all along. I may have just been played here.
November 10th the first of many winter storms hit, and we headed South to escape…dogs along for the ride. Clearly, it was going to be an adventure.
Sailing in Endless Song 