The good news is the Pants Plan seems to be working. There's been immediate improvement in dog relations. This afternoon Jane came in for about 20 minutes and there was no barking from the beasties. Granted, I had to keep everyone calm with constant petting and sweet talk, but still it was a big step forward.
The bad news is that despite being half bichon, they don't look anything like the breed. And therefore the bichon rescue league can't take them. I don't know anything about purebreds, and I didn't realize that when I was told the dogs were bichons, not really. Actually they take after their shihtzu parent. They have that short muzzle, almost flat face and underbite. The lower teeth of one even show when her mouth is closed.
I heard back from the bichon group around 6, and spent a couple of hours trying not to freak out and wondering what the hell I was going to do. I really do not have the ability to take on two new dogs long-term, especially when one of them requires such close attention until the issues with Jane are worked out. However, the bichon person gave me the name of a shihtzu rescue group in Georgia, and I just heard back from them, and it sounds like they're willing to take the dogs. Thank god! These folks are much farther away, but it will be worth it to get these two to a good rescue group who will keep them together.
So I'm going to talk to the shihtzu group in the morning, and I have an appointment to get the beasties' shots up to date and get them on heartguard, and they really ought to be groomed too.
Here's a question for those who travel with pets: how do you handle bathroom breaks for yourself? On the way here from Delaware I stopped every 90 minutes for the beasties, but could only manage once for myself. And of course stopping at a restaurant to eat was out of the question; I took a sandwich and ate it while I drove. Even the one bathroom break was a huge hassle: first I walked the dogs, then moved the car into the shade (unfortunately far from the bathroom house), got my computer bag and purse out of the car, rolled down all the windows, ran to the bathroom lugging my heavy computer bag, peed as fast as possible, then ran back. Is there an easier way? This drive is going to be farther (7 hours without stops) and I'll be going south so it will be hotter, and harder to leave animals alone in the car.
i always leave moses in the car and just make it quick. i keep my computer in my hatch where it is out of sight and essentially locked up so i don't have to worry about it being stolen.
if it's hot i provide as much shade as i can. i have a windshield thing that i can put up and in your situation i might also look into one of those shades that can go on a side window.
i also cool the car down pretty well prior to a stop. it takes a while for an air conditioned car with some shade to get hot.
That is a great idea to run the a/c and cool the car way down before the bathroom stop. I had walked them first, thinking that way they would have had some exercise and would be calm. But that meant the car had already heated up.