I can't resist an Aussie. But even more, I can't resist an Aussie puppy. And even more than that I can't resist a deaf Aussie puppy. So when a transport came up for a 4-month old deaf Australian Shepherd, I jumped on it. The folks who work for and transport for ARPH (the Aussie Rescue and Placement Helpline) are also awesome folks so I love working with them. They're really easy-going and just love their breed. I don't blame them. Aussies are awesome dogs!

Tucker, the young man in question, was being transported from New Jersey up to Ontario, where no doubt someone will quickly adopt him. How could they not? He's incredibly sweet.

I met up with the transport in Syracuse, which means driving down from the north side of Oneida Lake as we had spent the night up there. It was a bit more travel than usual, but it was well worth it. I got to the meeting spot a bit ahead of time and the folks meeting me pulled in just a couple minutes later. We were running a good 15-20 minutes ahead. Tucker and one of the transporters raced off to burn a little energy and hopefully pee, while I chatted with the other transporter for a moment. We got all his stuff loaded up (food, but most importantly his paperwork -- without that it would be tough to cross the border into Canada!) and then got Tucker into the car. He jumped right in, no problem.

The first part of the trip was a little worrisome. He was down behind my seat and I could see him, it felt like the leash tying him to my backseat was really taut, and he wasn't moving around...at all. He was a 4 month old puppy so I expected more out of him. Since I had to visit a restroom anyway, I got off at the nearest exit and high-tailed it to a gas station. When I pulled in and stopped, I leaned around the seat to see if he was ok. And there he was, all curled up. He had been sleeping! Phew. I quickly hit the restroom (luckily today's temps are only in the 60s, it's overcast, and really breeze...he was fine in the car for a couple minutes) and then we were on our way. Luckily he got up on the seat where I could see his back end. He promptly fell asleep again and not another peep was heard out of him until we arrived in Watertown.

I was a good 20-25 minutes early and since I knew the person before me was doing a wee bit of shopping, I decided to just get Tucker out and burn off some energy. We raced across a big field of grass (which was unfortunately rather wet!) and I discovered his current favourite game: "attack the leash." He really wanted to play tug of war with it. So we did. A few times he jumped up to get the leash and almost got my hand in the process (and once he did get my coat -- I didn't see any holes in it amazingly). I played a bit of fetch with his Nylabone and eventually we sat down on the pavement (where he proceeded to eat rocks -- I had to rescue a few from his mouth -- luckily no signs of resource guarding there!).

The other transporter finally arrived and it was a quick and easy shot to get him into her car and into a crate (mostly to stop him from eating the food in the back with him as he was quite into trying to get the treats). And then they were off to head into Canada and I was off to head back to Syracuse.

All in al it was an easy transport, but I was sad to see him go. He was a really cute and really nice dog!

All of my pics from the transport can be found here. A few of my favourites are below.

( Tucker )

When a transport came through this weekend for two Aussies, I couldn't resist helping. I don't get to do so many these days because I want to spend time with my dog, so I'm a bit more particular about which ones I do. I'm no longer allowing myself to be overwhelmed by the amount of dogs in my car, trying to limit it to just one or two unless they're older and more sedate. I wish I could help with them all, but it's just not possible these days.

Aussies are one of my favourite breeds, so I was thrilled to help these guys get to their foster home. Pops is an older, tri-coloured Aussie, they estimate 6-7 years old, though I think he could be older. Justice is a younger, Red Merle, Aussie, somewhere around 1-2 years old. The age guess seemed appropriate for him. His teeth were pretty white.

I met up with the transport at 9am this morning in Rochester. Despite a bit of construction, the ride out was easy. We got Pops out of the car first and easily into mine. He was an incredibly easy-going dog with a sweet face, amazing blue eyes, and a long coat. Unfortunately, he stunk. Horribly. He was in desperate need of a bath and his breath smelled like he had been eating fish out of Onondaga Lake. Just gross! I'm sure he's got some periodontal disease going on there and probably should see a vet about it, poor guy.

Justice was a bit more difficult. He got out of the other woman's car easily enough and trotted around with no problem, but he refused to get into the car (apparently he had been doing that all along, so it wasn't just my car!). Eventually, I just lifted him up into the car. The run sheet said he weighed 40-45 lbs, but I would be surprised if he weighed that much. He was very skinny. You could feel and see his ribs and spine far too easily. And his fur was completely shaved off, shaved right down to the skin in some places. He had been a mess coming out of the shelter and it was the only thing they could do. Poor guy was so matted there was no hope except to shave it off and start over. It made his head look strangely huge.

The drive back to Syracuse was easy. Justice curled up in the back seat and fell asleep. Pops took shotgun and curled up into a little ball. He was a bit more restless than Justice during the trip, but not horribly so. At one point, he crawled closer to me and then half rolled over, asking me to rub his belly. I gladly obliged. When the sun got too much for him on the seat, he crawled down onto the floor and fell asleep there. It was adorable and made for some silly photos.

I had some time to kill in Syracuse. I was some 15 minutes early and the guy following me was a little later than he should have been. I got Pops out first and let him wander around, get a drink, and managed to get plenty of pictures of him while he sat looking quite majestic. Then I tried to get him back in the car so I could get Justice out. He eventually got in the car, but Justice wouldn't get out. Poor Justice would crawl to me but if I tried to get him to leave the car, he fled to the other side. It was clearly a safe space for him.

While trying to get Justice out, Pops got back out. I hooked his leash around my handle for the mirror, went to the other side, where Justice was still huddled, and simply picked him up and put him on the ground. It went easier from there (though Pops was having none of it when I tried to get him back in the car). I ended up walking them together and eventually the three of us just plopped down on the grass. The two dogs were so not a flight risk that I actually dropped their leashes for a moment to take a few pictures. They simply lay there and Justice attempted to crawl into my lap. I finally put the camera down, sat in between them, and petted them both for a time.

I hadn't heard from the guy who was meeting me, so I took both dogs back to my car to see if he had called. While trying to get my cell phone, Justice simply hopped into the car like he belonged there and Pops followed. I ended up getting back in and then saw the guy drive by to a different part of the lot. I drove over and met him there.

I really didn't want to send the dogs on. I actually teared up when I let Justice go. He would make an awesome addition to our household and I think Dahlia would like his calm nature. He never once irritated Pops. He was just a good dog and so in need of some loving kindness. He's shy, but not aggressive in his fear of others. He wants to be with you, but he's just nervous sometimes. It wouldn't take much for him to grow into a great dog.

So now they're off to their rescue in Massachusetts. I hope they find a wonderful home soon.

( Some pics )

This began as a very confusing transport. I had no contact from the coordinator at all beyond my volunteering and her putting me down. When Friday evening rolled around and I had heard nothing, I was pretty sure it wasn't going to fly. It was a HUGE transport. 36 dogs in all, with multiple drivers for many of the legs. I wrote on Friday and found out the run had been filled. I didn't get a contact sheet for the run until 11pm Saturday night. Talk about cutting it close! Luckily, the coordinator had also coordinated where each meeting place was so I didn't have to set up the places to meet. Phew!

My leg of the transport was for only one dog. It was the end of the road for this one. I was meeting the rescue to give her to them. It was nice being the "ending point" for once, though she still had a bit of a drive up to Canada. All I knew of Phoebe prior to meeting her was this: Phoebe, female Aussie/Catahoula mix, 25-30 lbs.

What I didn't know was that she was a puppy! Only 6 months old. Everyone say "awwwww."

When I met up with the people who had her before me, the first thing she said to me was, "You don't have a crate?" I thought...uh oh! Chewer? It turns out she has carsickness. The woman told me she threw up in a couple people's crates and pooped in someone else's. My thought? Maybe the crates make her uncomfortable. I put down a blanket just in case and decided to hope for the best!

And then I got to meet little Phoebe, who was just the most striking of dogs. Her colouring is beautiful and she was incredibly sweet and soft. She gave me puppy kisses and then rushed off to explore for a short bit. She easily got into my car. She definitely wasn't a shy dog, but she was a calm and adorable and sweet one.

The drive up to Watertown was easy. Phoebe rested in the back pretty comfortably and would, every once in awhile, stick her head up in between the seats and give me kisses or shove her head under my hand for some petting. She was just so sweet. She had no problems with getting sick.

We spent a little time on the grass outside of Cracker Barrel, just wandering around and playing. She started play bowing for me and running around me. I think she was just happy to be out of the car and to have a chance to run around a bit. I finally called the woman we were to meet, who was inside Cracker Barrel doing a bit of shopping and she came out to get her.

I was incredibly sad to see Phoebe go. She's just an awesome dog. Quiet, calm, sweet, loving, and so soft. She has 7 applications in on her already, so she'll be off to a new home before she knows it. I know whomever ends up with her will just be so thrilled with her.

( And now some pictures )

The original call for the transport for Giggles described her as this: Giggles is a soft, white, lady-like Sibe who loves everyone, whether 2-footed or 4-footed. On a side note, Giggles was also deaf.

They were certainly right about her being soft, white, and loving everyone. But "lady-like"? Well, this message came later: Giggles is not only hyper, but STRONG. One driver said she walked well on a leash but everyone else said she pulls. REALLY pulls. Pretty far from "lady-like," isn't it? They ended up buying the poor dog a prong collar. I wasn't too happy with that. I don't like using anything that causes pain to a dog, especially one as out of control as poor Giggles was.

Giggles was also advertised as a Siberian husky. We're pretty sure that is not the case. Siberians aren't really prone to deafness, nor to being all white. And her body and ears and face were just not Siberian-like. In looking at pictures, we're pretty sure she's either an Australian Cattle Dog or an Australian Cattle Dog mix of some sort.

Whatever she was, she was a nice dog. My first introduction to her was when she raced out of the car of the driver before us. She made a beeline for me, threw her ears back, and jumped up to greet me. As I bent down to her, she covered my face in kisses. She was an absolute sweetheart but full of a lot of pent-up energy. They walked her a bit and she proceeded to jump and pounce and try to chase the birds. Ok so no going to the bathroom that time!

The trip out to Herkimer started off with my worrying about keeping her out of things. She tried to chew on her tether a couple times but I kept her away. She tried to get into the front seat, but she didn't have enough room on the tether to get up there. She found a water bottle I hadn't removed from underneath my seat and she tried to eat that, but I got it away from her before there was water all over my car. After she paced a bit, panted with this horrible high-pitched noise (hey, she couldn't hear it!), and jumped on the windows a few times in an aborted attempt to get at something outside of the car, she finally settled down and alternately dozed off and just sat there looking out the window.

It turned out to be an easier trip than I expected, considering how the beginning of it went.

The handoff was done easily. I got her out and wandered around for a bit with her in the hopes she might need to pee. No such luck. She was again very distracted and sniffing everything. We got her up into the SUV for the next leg of the trip. She wasn't certain about jumping up into it, so we got her front feet up and then I lifted her from the butt end and helped her get in. Once there, she was a happy girl and ready to go.

I really adored this dog. She was incredibly sweet and the way her ears would go back just sconds before she jumped up on you was sweet. In some ways, those ears can become a good signal that she's going to jump and you can stop her before she even gets her feet off the floor. That ought to help her future people!

( A few pics )

I just found out our local SPCA is having a calendar contest and anyone can submit pictures. So of COURSE, Miss Dahlia wants to be involved. We can submit two photos, so I thought I'd pick one that was more serious and one that was more silly (you know how hard the latter is? Dahlia tends to look dignified in all her photos!). So help me out! Which do you think should be involved? Vote in the poll below the photos!

( Photos back here )


Thanks all!

Cesar's Way: the Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems by Cesar Millan

I need to start with a bit of a disclaimer about this one. I read this book as a sort of "know thine enemies" thing. I have seen enough of Cesar's show and read enough about his techniques to know I don't agree with him and I find his ideas about dogs sometimes old and out of date, sometimes simply wrong, and sometimes dangerously wrong. But I opted to read the book to give myself a more complete picture of his techniques and so that I'm more informed when it comes to refuting those techniques I disagree with. I did, however, approach it with an open mind and made sure to take notes on the things I agreed with, as well as those things I didn't agree with.

So all that being said, here are my thoughts on the book.

( This is long...very long...read at your own peril! )

Too long? Didn't read? Here's the summary.

The good: Recommendations of exercise, give your dogs boundaries and rules, realize your dog lives in the moment, consider your lifestyle and get a dog that matches it, anti-dog fighting and anti-breed specific legislation.

The bad: Based on dubunked dominance theories that were based on a flawed study on captive wolves, recommends walks that do not include enough sniffing and mental exercise for the dog, believes exercise is much more important than affection or discipline (whereas most believe they're all important), believes you have to give exercise, discipline, and affection only in that order.

The ugly: Recommends some horrible techniques like alpha rolls (shoving an aggressive dog down and onto its side), flooding (flooding a fearful dog with the object of their fear), and using treadmills with the dog tied to them and unobserved (could hurt or even kill your dog), does not understand canine body language and often misinterprets clear signals the dog is giving off.

The weird: Too much New Age mumbo jumbo for me, talks mostly about your energy. I kept thinking he was going to bring up crystals and auras next.

The contradictions: Cesar contradicted himself so many times it was hard to take what he said seriously.


Total pages in this book: 320
Total pages read so far: 3953

Boogie. What a name for a dog, right? These two Corgi girls (Pembrokes as I've come to find out) were on their way to a new forever home. They're 8-month old sisters and the family adopted the two of them together. This is probably best for poor Stacy. Boogie, the smaller of the two, was outgoing, happy to give you licks and desperate for belly rubs. Stacy, however? Poor little girl was just as nervous as could be.

I picked the girls up in a windswept truck parking lot. The temperature was frigid and the winds were blowing at a decent clip. I was frozen to the core almost as soon as I got out of the car. Boogie and Stacy, however, were just as happy to roam around outside in the cold. Corgis are hardy little dogs and these two were definitely up to breed standard there!

I was a bit worried about getting their crate into my car. Their foster mother, God bless her, couldn't let them go without having a crate for the two of them. A crate. For two 28 pound dogs. This was simply a HUGE crate..one of those airline jobbers. Luckily, someone had disassembled it somewhat and with the two sections tucked into each other, I was able to slide it into my backseat. It became more of a bed than a crate, but it still worked well. After taking some pictures of the transporters with the dogs, we got Boogie up into the crate, where she settled down nicely. Boogie, however, made a beeline for the floor behind the driver's seat. That was fine. She fit down there nicely and it was a little cozy space to tuck herself into in her nervousness. I let her stay there for the entire trip.

The trip was rather uneventful. Boogie settled down nicely in her bed. Stacy settled down nicely on the floor and I didn't hear much out of either of them. Until I decided that stopping to get a milk shake was a good idea. I was incredibly thirsty and running far ahead of schedule, so it seemed like a good plan. While waiting in line, I gave Boogie some attention, let her lick my hands and patted her head. For the rest of the trip, she was wide awake. Sometimes trying to lean over her crate to give me kisses. Sometimes just shifting around a lot.

And then the barking started. And the howling. She spent the last 20-30 minutes of the trip barking and howling on and off. It was cute for a time, but nothing seemed to settle her down, not even the couple Cheerios I tossed back into the crate with her (besides food and the like, they were sent with a box of Cheerios). We finally arrived at exit 35 and after getting them out to walk around a bit, settled back into the car to wait.

And wait...

And wait some more...

The person who was meeting me finally called me to find out when I would arrive. Confused, I told him I was there and we must not be in the same spot. It turned out we weren't.

I was at the exit 35 Holiday Inn.

He was at the exit 37 Holiday Inn.

We had had some e-mail miscommunication apparently. He said exit 35, but meant exit 37. Oops! He high-tailed it out of exit 37 and met me at exit 35. The girls were quickly transferred into his car and they were on their way.

We got the news last night that they were with their new family, who were just utterly thrilled with them.

As always, a few of the pictures I took are behind the cut.

( Boogie and Stacy )

Ah, my last transport of the year! Whitney was dog #44 for the year and she was a gorgeous little pup. She was a 2-year-old Brittany on her way from a foster home to her forever home. The original transport had been set up for last weekend, but with the horrible weather that cropped up, it got postponed. I hopped on board for one last drive of doggy love for 2008.

I met up with Whitney out in Rochester. She was taller than most Brittanies I had met and her face seemed somewhat longer. I'm pretty sure she was purebred, but she seemed to look just a tad bit different from many of the others I had transported. If left to my own devices, I might have thought she was a mix of Brittany and perhaps Border collie. But either way, the first thing one would really note about Whitney was how skinny she was. I'm not sure how long she was in foster care for. I'm guessing not long before the adoption went through, as this poor girl clearly needed to gaine some serious weight. Her ribs were prominent and you could clearly see her backbone. She made Nonami, of the last transport, look like the picture of perfect doggy health.

Despite her clear need of some good food, Whitney was a love. She was also strong. So incredibly strong that she would pull on the leash, causing her front legs to go up into the air and she would then keep walking on her hind legs. It was pretty amazing to watch, but she was clearly going to be a handful to control. I hope her adopting family has some good strong folks in it!

I got her into the car easily enough. I've never seen a dog quite so eager to just hop on in and explore. She sniffed around a bit, checked everything out, though unlike Morey (of an earlier transport), she didn't try to eat anything. We finally got on the road and she settled down for a bit.

The scariest moment came when, driving 70mph on the Thruway, she decided she wanted to look out the window. My window. And did so by standing on my legs. This is all well and good as I was able to see out the window, but then she decided to see if she could crawl further into my lap and see out the opposite window. Oh no no no, I don't think so, kiddo! I did what I've done many times before with dogs who are a bit over exuberant about getting into my lap. I tried to shove her off and back onto the other seat. I must have hit a tender spot (perhaps even a rib) because she actually snapped at me. As soon as she did that, however, she immediately retreated to the passenger seat and leaned over to smother my face in kisses. I got the sense that she knew she had done something bad and wanted to make it up to me in the only way she knew how. She clearly didn't hurt me, didn't even touch me with her mouth, so I wasn't terribly worried. I'm sure being as thin as she was made things like pushing against those bones a bit painful. Poor kid.

The rest of the trip was incredibly uneventful. We hit a good stride and booked it back to Syracuse rather quickly. Whitney settled down on the front seat and slept for much of the trip, only occasionally popping her head up to nose my hand for a pat. She was a sweet girl despite our one incident of freaking out.

The handoff went quickly and for once, I was done with a transport a good 20 minutes earlier than scheduled!


( A few pics )

This transport started out as being one for a deaf Australian Shepherd named Whisper. Her owner was giving her up because she lost her job and found a job as a long-distance trucker. She felt that life would be unfair to her dog. But in the end, she just couldn't do it and decided to give it a chance first. If she needs to give the dog to a rescue, we'll help transport her later. So instead, we picked up and transported a beautiful red merle Aussie from a shelter in Ohio. Little was known about this girl. She had no name (hence "Nonami" -- the name some of us call dogs with no name, pronounced "No-NOM-ee") and no one knew her age. All we knew was that she had a flea bite allergy and "wasn't the prettiest site."

I got the message around 10:50am that the transport was 45 minutes ahead. In a panic, I rushed out the door and off to Rochester. I was most pleased that the roads were completely clear all the way out. I arrived in good time and ended up relaxing for a little while at the meeting place. It turned out that the person meant to write 15 minutes, not 45, but by that time it was too late. I was long gone and had no internet access!

The person finally showed up and the most amusing thing was that she thought I would be later, since they were running a bit ahead, and she walked the dog at a different location (why, I don't know). So it was a quick handoff.

My first impression of this girl, Nonami, was that she was not in any sort of bad shape. She was gorgeous! Too thin, that's for sure (her head looked too big for her skinny body), but otherwise she was absolutely stunning. We only had her out of the car for a few minutes when someone came over to meet her because she was so pretty. She was also just a really nice dog. She leaned against me as a I petted her, easily got into the car, and settled right down in the back after a little exploring.

Like Dahlia, she slept most of the way.

Also like Dahlia, I would have adopted her in a heartbeat! Ah, another one gone and on her way to a new place.

The ride back was fairly uneventful. Nonami slept. I listened to the radio. The roads were dry and clear until I got north of Syracuse. They were wet for most of the way and then as I got near Pulaski (ah, the Tug Hill Plateau) I hit some snow and the roads were covered with a light dusting of snow.

I got into Pulaski and couldn't find the meeting place at first (it was one just picked at random off the internet). I finally found it, got Nonami out of the car and then was greatly disappointed when the next folks showed up right away. Bah! I wanted to spend some time snuggling with that poor girl in the car. And taking pictures. She was really striking and ever so gentle.

She was off to Ontario before I could even blink. I missed her presence in the car on the way home.


( A few pictures )

I agreed to help out the Brittany folks yet again. They seem to be the ones most interested in my services and the ones who keep the number of dogs on a transport to a reasonable level. Several of those who have come through my area recently have had 4, 5, or even more dogs. Far too many for my little vehicle. It would be nice to have a large vehicle for transporting, but that won't ever happen. So I limit myself to no more than 3 medium sized dogs, 2 large dogs, one giant dog, or a handful of puppies/little dogs.

So this time it was for three Brittanies. Nesbit was 6 years old, an orange and white boy who was heading. Abby and Speckle were two 10 year old Brittanies (one liver and white, the other black and white) who were going to a forever home in Vermont. It always warms my heart to see these older dogs getting a home.

I arrived in Rochester a little bit after the folks I was going to meet. I misjudged the time a bit this time. I thought I needed to arrive by 2:20pm and it was really 2:10pm and the other folks were moving pretty quickly. I got there about 2:05pm, but they still beat me by about 10-15 minutes. They had already walked the dogs and were waiting in their car for my arrival. I met Nesbit first and I was amazed at his size! He was incredibly tall and much bigger and stronger than most Brittanies. We all looked at him and thought he was the size of a Springer Spaniel, but clearly looked like a Brittany. He was a bit more exuberant than I expected a dog of his age to be. The other Brittanies I've met who were over 3 were much calmer than he was. I got him into the car and wasn't surprised to see him immediately hop up into the front of the car.

Then I met Abby and Speckle. Amusingly, we all had them reversed as to their names. I was sure that Speckles was the little liver and white one was she was quite speckled. But her name tag said Abby on it, so I guess they were reversed. Much like Nesbit, I was amazed at how active they were. Wendy and Pepper, who I had transported before, were much calmer than these two. I got them into the car, got all the paperwork, and then returned to the car to find Abby on the floor of the driver's side seat with her head stuck under the seat. I guess I missed a couple french fries when cleaning and she managed to find them. Amusing. In order to get her into the back seat, I had to drag her out of the car and get her to go to the back seat. Nesbit, who was now on the front driver side had to be physically forced backward onto the passenger seat.

I got in. Shut the door. And though "how on earth am I going to keep them all under control?"

I started up the car and started driving, and as if by magic, they all suddenly settled down, curled up, and slept! I looked in the rearview mirror a few times and saw that Abby and Speckle (who have been together since they were pups, I believe), were curled up together. Everyone say "awww!"

The ride was uneventful from there on out, except for the lake effect snow and wind.

Oh and the next driver calling to tell me he'd be late because he locked his keys in the car. Well, that was unexpected! It turned out that the battery in his car had died. When they jumped it, all the doors immediately locked (I hate those automatically locking doors!) and his keys were in the car at the time. Just great. I didn't have any major plans, but I wanted to get home to my dog!

I arrived at Syracuse and the folks who were there for Nesbit arrived shortly thereafter. It was easy to get him out and on his way.

I decided that, since I had to hang around a bit, I might as well sit in the back seat with Abby and Speckle. I could give them some attention and take some pictures. Well, I found out one thing. Those poor girls were starving for attention. They were all over me as soon as I got in the back with them. I don't know where they came from originally (they were owner turn-ins), but it seems that their emotional needs were a bit neglected. Speckle was also ITCHY. Seriously itchy. She kept itching her ear for a few minutes at a time (when I checked on it, it was clear that she had a hot spot behind it from all the scratching) and then she would roll around on the back seat trying to get some relief. I'm not sure what was causing it. I didn't see any fleas, so maybe it's the food she's eating or some sort of allergies. Either way, I felt bad for the poor girl. Both she and Speckle seemed to have some issues. Their ears were turned funny (matts or just bad breeding, I'm not sure) and both were really tiny for Brittanies. They were nice dogs, but they need some help to get healthier and happier.

The next driver called me and was on his way only about 10 minutes late. We did a quick transfer of the dogs and then he was off.

( A few pictures )

My 21st transport of the year was an absolute breeze. It went by a little too fast, in my opinion. Abby was a 10-year-old overweight Brittany who was on her way to her forever home in Maine. I'm all too happy to help out the Brittany folks. They're good people and the dogs are just lovely. I haven't met a Brittany I haven't adored and Abby was no different.

I drove out to Victor this time and met up with the people before me. They arrived about 15 minutes after I did and the transfer was done quickly and easily. Abby was sweet, profuse with kisses, and easy to settle down in the back. She spent about half the trip laying down asleep and the other half with her nose stuck to the crack in the window, taking in all the smells. She was cute to watch.

I arrived in Syracuse in good time and found the next folks already there. I had no time to really get pictures or anything. Abby was loaded into the next car and on her way before we could blink. She's now in her forever home in Maine and going to spend the remainder of her years with some lovely people. I'm sorry I didn't get to know her better, but I'm glad to have been able to help!

A couple of the decent pictures I did get are behind the cut.

( Abby )

When a transport for an Aussie came up earlier this week, I jumped on it right away. I won't make any bones about it. I love herding breeds. Border collies, Aussies, even Pulik. Love them all. So it was an easy decision to make. Not that I ever give any real preference to which breeds I help. I don't really care for flat-faced smooshed dogs like pugs, but I was all too happy to help a few when I had a chance some months ago. But I do love my herders!

The transport was a bit of a mess with trying to figure out who, what, when and where. But we managed to get it all together (miraculously!) and I set off to meet up with them at 1:00pm. The previous people had already arrived so getting Bonnie into the car was quick and easy. I was surprised at how small she was. She probably weighed no more than 30 lbs. I'd guess she might have been more of a miniature Aussie than a full sized one.

She was incredibly easy to transport. She fell asleep in the back and partway through the trip I decided it would be a lot of fun to have her up front. I stopped at a parking area and got her up front quickly and easily. She spent the next 20 minutes curling up half on my lap and half in her seat and then finally settling down in the back once more.

Bonnie is a doll...an absolute love. We had a lot of time to get to know each other at the transfer point. We were way ahead and the people after us were quite a bit behind. So Bonnie and I spent a good 45 minutes to an hour just chilling out at the stop in Herkimer.

We met some nice people who were really interested in what I do for these dogs. I got to tell them all about it and they all got to meet Bonnie (who was as good an amabassador for rescue dogs as could be imagined). One of the guys told me they have a puggle, which immediately made me tense up, but then he went on to tell me they got it at the local SPCA (yay!). Another one of the group donates to the Humane Society every month. Another had a cat they had rescued, found as a stray. And yet another told me she would pray for me and Bonnie. Just really nice folks. I enjoyed talking to them all.

Whenever I sat on the ground, Bonnie would immediately crawl into my lap, roll over, and smother me with kisses, and when others came near, she went in between my legs and stayed there for much of the time. When they'd reach out a hand, she'd come out and accept pettings. She really was an incredible dog and so beautiful. She was going off to a new family, so they were very lucky!

The next folks finally arrived and I got Bonnie off with them quickly enough. They had a girl with them who was probably 10 or 12 or so. She asked if Bonnie liked kids and Bonnie responded by jumping up and putting her feet on her. Very gently. I think she likes kids!

I was sad to see her go, but aren't I always?

I took a bunch of pictures. They can all be found here. Here are a few of my favourites:

( Bonnie )

This transport turned out to be the one that was perhaps the MOST fun I've ever had on a transport. I ended up laughing and giggling and talking to the dogs the entire trip. It started out with an easy drive out to Victor to meet up with the person driving before me. The only problem? We agreed to meet at Chili's and she drove to TJIFriday's because that was where she met someone last. Oops! After a bit of a miscommunication, she pulled into Chili's and we did the handoff. The dogs this time were Willie, a 6 month old Brittany pup, Jett, an 8-month old something (all black, funny ears, no clue what his mix really was), and Sebastian, a 4-year-old Border collie/Brittany mix. We got Willie and Jett out first and the two hadn't had a chance to meet yet. They were hilarious together, bounding over each other and wanting to play. I decided to put the two of them in the back seat together and see how they did. As soon as we got them in, they started to play, jumping on each other in the car. They amused me terribly! Then we got out Sebastian, who was 30 lbs of underweight border collie. I'm almost positive that dog doesn't have a bit of Brittany in him. He looks 100% pure border collie and as a huge border collie lover, I was thrilled. He was just as sweet as could be. I got him up into the front seat without any problem.

Much of the trip was spent laughing at Willie and Jett in the back and petting Sebastian, who decided that my lap was where his head belonged. He didn't try to crawl all the way onto my lap (which he could have). Instead, he put his head, and sometimes his paws, on my thigh and looked up at me with very happy brown eyes. I was in love! Totally. I wanted to bring that dog home with me. He was just so wonderful.

Partway through the trip, I stopped paying attention to Willie and Jett and suddenly found myself with TWO dogs on the front passenger seat. Willie had jumped up there, pushing Sebastian off my lap and against the door. Sebastian looked none too happy but took it ok. Willie crawled around and finally Sebastian had had enough. He crawled OVER Willie and put his head back in my lap! He successfully managed to trap the guy on the seat. He couldn't get back to Jett (who seemed somewhat lonely in the back by this time!). Eventually, after crawling around and Sebastian keeping himself tight to my lap, Willie settled down and fell asleep laying on Sebastian. So. darned. cute.

Jett laid down and relaxed in the back and the last 10 minutes of the trip were quiet in the car.

I really adored those three dogs and especially Sebastian. I really would have taken him home with me if I could have more than one dog. I was none too happy to pass them off, especially since the people after me didn't seem to care about my wanting to say goodbye to the dogs. Ah well. They're off to their foster homes now and I hope they all find wonderful homes!

As always, some pictures! The rest can be found here.

( Pics )

I had vowed not to do any transports this weekend. We really needed to concentrate on getting our apartment set up and so I swore that I would leave the weekend for that. I looked past several transports. But then Friday afternoon rolled around and there was no one for the Syracuse to Herkimer leg of a trip to help one St. Bernard get from a high-kill shelter to a rescue in Vermont. I couldn't say no and so I volunteered with the stipulation that if someone else volunteered, they have him/her do it. Well, Sunday morning rolled around and no one had volunteered.

So I headed out to exit 37 to pick up Lacy, a 100-pound St. Bernard. Luckily, Lacy was a pretty calm dog and easy to work with. The woman who met me talked to me for a moment, gave me her stuff, and then left me with a dog that didn't want to get into my car. Apparently Lacy got sick of traveling and people were having to force her into their cars. Nice. I was real thrilled with being left with 100 lbs of stubborn dog! The woman before me just lifted her in. Well, sorry, but I don't have the strength to lift even a PART of a 100-lb dog! So instead, I decided to crawl into the back seat and see if Lacy would follow. Luckily for me, she liked me enough to do exactly that. I got the doors shot and we were on our way.

She was an incredibly easy passenger. She settled right down in the back, laid down and relaxed for the entire trip out there. They had mentioned her wanting to get into the front seat, but I saw none of that on our trip. I had tethered her in the back just in case, but she didn't really move from the place she first lay down in.

We arrived in Herkimer in decent time and I got her out of the car to drink (a lot!) and pee (also a lot!). And then began the wait. Everyone was warned that things might run early and they sure did...about 30-45 minutes early. The woman before me took two legs of the trip, which meant no 15 minute change over, and apparently both she and I must drive at a good clip. I ended up sitting around in the heat with this giant dog for quite some time. Not that I entirely minded -- Lacy was very sweet. She walked great on a leash (thank god because I couldn't control a lunging 100-lb dog!), gave me big kisses, rolled over for a belly rub. The poor thing was an owner surrender. She and her sister Maggie were owned by an elderly person who ended up going into a nursing home. It was clear they were well socialized, but not entirely taken good care of. She had evidence of flea problems (fur missing in spots from where she had no doubt licked or bit too much) and had never been spayed (just spayed before the trip -- still with stitches in). She was a good girl though and we had fun together until the next person showed up.

Because I spent a lot of time with Lacy, I got some really good pictures of her. Here are a few of my favourites. The rest can be found here.

( Pics )

The transport for this weekend began with my volunteering to help out with one dog heading from Syracuse to Rochester. I had worked for this coordinator before transporting our favourite deaf Aussies and jumped on the chance to transport, yet again, a deaf dog. This time, it was to transport a Louisiana Catahoula Leopard dog named Sophie. This isn't a breed many are familiar with and I had never met one in person before, so I was excited to not only help out another deaf dog, but also to meet a dog of a breed I hadn't met before.

Of course, things always seem to change on these transports. One thing I'm learning quickly is to always expect the unexpected. Toward the end of the week, I heard from the transporter and she wondered if I or another woman could switch legs and do the Binghamton to Syracuse route. I volunteered to switch and so suddenly I was transporting two dogs. The deaf Sophie and the hearing Lily, both Catahoulas.

The trip down the transport was a bit rushed as I couldn't find the entrance to I-81S. I went a different direction at David's instruction and it turned out they were missing an important sign, so I couldn't find the entrance. I had to backtrack to a different entrance, thus wasting about 25 minutes of time. So I booked it down to Binghamton and arrived at just about the same time as the other woman.

I found out that apparently Sophie was having some issues with Lily. They said that she had attacked Lily, though there was no bite marks, "just slobber." On the previous segment of the trip, Sophie had suddenly started growling and barking at Lily. They suggested keeping them tethered and separated, which we succeeded at for the most part.

Sophie road up front and boy was she an active little kid! I spent most of the trip making sure she didn't turn around to see Lily and making sure she didn't eat my entire car. She managed to get distracted by trying to get at a candy wrapper underneath the mats (which, mind you, she never got) and eating the water dish. At one point she tried to grab the water bottle and I was afraid she's puncture it with her teeth, thus leading to an entire liter of water getting dumped on the floor of my car, drenching not only my purse, but my book and the info for the transport. *smacks forehead* I managed to shove it out of her range and she went back to chewing on the bowl.

Sophie did eventually start to bark a bit (not really growling, but more barking). First she barked at ME, probably in frustration because I wouldn't let her get in the back with Lily and I wouldn't let her eat things in my car. Then she barked at the windshield wipers when I had to put them going. She was fairly close to them as she had stood up and was trying to reach the water droplets that were hitting my car. I guess they startled her. And then she did finally start barking at Lily. But I saw no aggressiveness in her -- just her being startled. I think I might feel a little off if I couldn't hear too!

Now, all that aside, Sophie was a VERY good girl. She was really sweet and affectionate, walked well on a leash, and would be a total cuddlebug if given the chance.

Lily, on the other hand, was a dream -- she's a WONDERFUL dog and the type I adore. She settled down in the back and slept most of the trip. When Sophie started barking at her, she just kind of turned her head away and didn't really respond. When we got her out of the car at the handoff, she was just so wonderful. She would give you big kisses all over your face and just wanted to be close to you. She's a fantastic dog. From what I understand, she has potential adopters meeting her today and I'm sure they're going to fall totally in love with her.

This transport was definitely one of my more challenging (along the lines of the Morey transport), but they're both wonderful dogs and will make someone very happy someday soon!

I did manage to get a lot of pictures this time, so here are a few.

( A few pics )

The rest can be found here.

On Sunday I opted to help out with the Brittany transports again. I haven't gotten to meet any new Brittanies since the crazy Bindi transport back in April. This transport started off with one dog planned (Seymour) and a possibility of two others joining in. When I found out all three were coming along, I was a little worried about fitting them all in.

I met up with the transport at a Chili's in Victor, NY. The woman who was meeting there is well-known as a bit of a lead foot, so it was no surprise that, even though I was 10 minutes early, she was already there waiting for me. To her credit, she didn't try to call me and see where I was.

We first got little Seymour out of the car (at 35lbs fully grown, he's small for a Brittany). He was a terribly nervous dog and kept skirting behind Kathy a bit when I bent down to approach. They believe the poor guy had been abused or mistreated in some way, maybe treated harshly. We managed to get him into my car easily enough, though he was still a bit skittish.

I got out Ruby, the old gal. She's somewhere around 8 or 9 years old and incredibly sweet. She's a special needs gal -- on some sort of medication for a heart murmur that occasionally causes her to pass out. I saw none of that on the transport, but it's still a concern for a future adopter. For an old gal who was a bit on the thin side, she did really well climbing in and out of cars.

Jerry was the third one out and he was the bigger boy. Boy was he friendly! We're pretty sure that Jerry was indeed NOT all Brittany. I'm not sure what else might have been in there (perhaps English springer), but Brittany was not the first word that came to mind. He was bigger and his ears were set differently. At any rate, he was a sweetheart and so incredibly soft!

We got all three dogs into the car and the amusing thing was they ALL wanted to be in the back. So all three of them curled up together and were absolutely calm during the drive. I loved transporting them! Compared to poor Bindi, who kept trying to get into my lap the entire trip, they were an absolute dream. I would occasionally stick my hand in the back to see if I could get poor little scared Seymour to sniff my hand and each time I did, Ruby put her head underneath my hand. So instead I started to reach back to scratch her head a bit. She's a bit of an attention hog, that one!

When I arrived in Syracuse, I took each dog out one at a time. I spent the most time with Seymour and he very quickly warmed up to me. The next thing I knew, he was licking my hand and leaning up against me as a petted him. Winning him over wasn't tough at all! I just needed a little quiet time with him.

The next driver showed up and we got Jerry and Ruby into his car easily enough. Now poor Seymour? He was scared to DEATH. We're all pretty sure that he was abused by a man at this point. He first kept hiding behind my legs and then made a beeline for my car. Every time I tried to reach in to get him, he would run to the other side of the car. Eventually I managed to catch him on one side, picked him up, and carried him to the next driver's car. Once inside the car he was settled pretty well, so hopefully he warmed up to the poor guy who was driving him.

I took a handful of pictures but unfortunately didn't have my good camera on me and the camera I borrowed from a friend had batteries that were on their way out.

( Pics )

It's been a long time since I've done any transporting. Between the move and spending time with Dahlia, I just haven't had much of a spare moment on the weekends. I had some time this weekend and a transport was set up to head out to Trish (where we got Dahlia from), so I jumped back on the bandwagon.

The transport was for a collie mix puppy now named Blesk (which means "lightning"), about 6 months old, supposedly 45 lbs (though probably half that in reality), from the same rural pound that Dahlia came from, and a lab/hound mix named Butterscotch. Butterscotch was one of the cell dogs. If you haven't heard about this program, it's a pretty neat one. Inmates are carefully selected (good behaviour, non-violent crimes, etc.) to work with dogs who need training. The dog lives with them in their cell and the provide all the care for it: walking, food, water, etc. A trainer comes in and teaches the inmates how to train the dogs. Once the dog graduates, it moves on to become someone's pet. It's a great program for both the dogs AND the inmates.

I met the transport in Rochester. I had been warned that Butterscotch was not an easy dog to get into the car and boy where they right! We got the collie in quickly and easily. But Butterscotch? Nope. No go. As soon as you tried to get her near the car, she backed up, legs stiff, and wouldn't budge. In the end, the other woman hefted all 55 lbs of her up and shoved her in the car. Once there, she was fine.

The collie pup, who we had put in the front seat, quickly crawled in the back to be with Butterscotch. The pup seemed to really like the older dog. Butterscotch attempted to get into the front a couple times but was easily put off by my arm blocking the way (and gave me kisses on the side of the face -- so sweet!). I've dealt with dogs who would barrel through my arm without batting an eyelash so it was nice to have one who didn't!

The ride itself was pretty uneventful. Butterscotch eventually settled down and slept. The collie pup seemed to be asleep before I even left the parking lot. We arrived in good time to the meeting place in Syracuse, and after some cojoling and shoving, got Butterscotch into the next person's car.

It was really nice to be back "in the saddle" as it were and help out a couple of great dogs. Blesk went to her new forever home the day after the transport and Butterscotch will be going home soon!

A few pictures, some from another of the transporters.


( Pics )

A few more can be found here.

( This gets quite long...ramblings about our wonderful new doggie! )

Because my internet connection is really shitty here, I'm just going to provide you with a couple links to our flickr albums so you can see our pics so far!

My Dahlia flickr set

David's Dahlia flickr set

What started out as a transport for three dogs (two golden retriever puppies and a 2-year-old cocker spaniel) first changed to one golden puppy, his mom, and the cocker, and then all the goldens developed kennel cough, so we ultimately ended up with one small dog for the transport.

Coeby was an utter sweetheart. He really just wanted to be close to you, so he would snuggle up as soon as you bent down to him. He had a heck of a lot of energy and was horribly untrained. Not that he was bad, but he was CRAZY. He pulled on the leash (almost tugged me off my feet and he weighed 26 lbs!) and when we grabbed food at McDonald's quickly, within seconds of David handing me the bag, he ripped it open and scarfed a bunch of fries. Whoa! David ended up taking my food, scarfing his down while standing outside the car, and then he took Coeby for a walk while I scarfed mine down. Not the most satisfying meal! But worth it really. Coeby was going to his new home that very night. I felt sorry for the poor thing. He had obviously come in SERIOUSLY matted as his fur was shaved down and he had scabs by his ear (I'm guessing those were caused by some horrible mats that had to be cut out). But despite all that, he was a happy little dog!

Of course, the best part of the transport was when we gave Coeby off to Trish (from Bare Bones Rescue) and got our own wonderful Dahlia to take home with us!! B
ut more on that shortly...

First, some pictures of Coeby.

( Pics here )

More can be found here.