Transport Tales

Saturday, September 3, 2011

All Posts on Fonzie

→ Tomorrow's Transport

→ Sweet 16th - Casey Rose and Fonzie make 41

→ So nice we Traveled Twice - Fonzie

→ Went Home 9/4/11

→ TDL Page

All Posts on Casey Rose

→ Tomorrow's Transport

→ Sweet 16th - Casey Rose and Fonzie make 41

→ TDL Page

→ Went Home 10/9/11!

So nice we Traveled Twice - Fonzie

Well, yesterday I went back to Ma Holly's to get Fonzie. Rusty and Casey Rose were picked up by their fosters on Thursday (9/1) but Fonzie was staying and the original plan was that since his foster, Amy, would be coming on Sunday, they would just wait and Fonzie would hang out with Holly until Sunday.

Fonzie being played with by Cantaloupe (and the others)

Weeeelll Fonzie was doing very well, but after one night with the puppies he was as sleep deprived as Holly often is. He also didn't feel like eating the next day, which worked out well because I was able to pick him up.

When I arrived he was out in the yard with KaiKai, Wiffle and Waffle (3 young pups). He calmly tolerated them as they squeaked and tried to chew on any part of him with in the reach of their tiny teeth, but he looked up, noticed the leash in my pocket, and then sighed, looking visibly more relaxed, as if to say "Oh thank GOD I knew this had to be a mistake, I am not a puppy!"

We got the paperwork and said our goodbyes (After I got to cuddle with KaiKai, Wiffle and Waffle, all too cute!) and Fonzie trotted right beside me and waited beside the car.

I don't think he quite knows how to jump in a car yet so i grabbed his hind legs and wheelbarrowed him into his crate.

This is before we pulled out of the driveway, but he was great the entire trip.

Fonzie is a dream in the car. Not a peep out of him!

He would stand up when we stopped at lights, and look out, watching the people, but as soon as we started up he would lie back down and enjoy the AC.

We arrived at the fast food restaurant a bit early so we went through the drive through to get a some water for Fonzie and a drink for me too.

"I'm not sure I like this... why am I in a parking lot?"

Fonzie sniffed around, handled some business, and drank a little of his water but seemed a little concerned. He would walk a circle, and then lean against the car or my leg. I tried putting down a blanket but he wasn't interested. He was just very uneasy.

I wonder if part of Fonzie's past, the part that eventually landed him at a shelter, took place in a parking lot such as this. It's possible he might have been abandoned in a parking lot, which would explain why he didn't feel right.

Amy arrived shortly and he walked between the two of us, as we traded papers. Then it was time for him to hop into the truck. Again, he put his front feet up and then waited for assistance. Again, we caught his hindquarters and up he went.

Fonzie is a good boy. He really wants someone to love and admire him. He is great on a leash and never pulled once. He is good with cats, puppies, dogs, and travels well.

I can't wait to see Fonzie find his people, he deserves to feel as much love as he gives, and to be happy. After all, he has a smile that lights up the room

Friday, September 2, 2011

Sweet 16th - Casey Rose and Fonzie make 41

Well, 4th time's the charm! At about 11:40am today I took my first adventure out to the Executive Airport. I was hurrying because the flight arrived at 12:30 and I needed to be there at least 10 minutes early, and the trip itself was about 30 minutes. Well I got there just in time and hurried in. I looked around for Holly but quickly realized the lobby was rather painfully empty. Only one little couple sat, waiting. They looked back and smiled, "You must be here for dogs too!"

I sat down and we chatted. 12:30 came and went. I finally pulled out my phone and checked the email. Apparently one of the dogs from another rescue had gotten lose, the flight should arrive at 1:05 instead. I prayed it wasn't ours and settled in for the wait, chit chatting all the way. Holly came and only moments later we were told to fetch our cars, the plane had landed and it was time for us to drive out onto the Tar Mac. So, off we went. You know those guys with the sticks who wave planes into place? Yea, we had those directing us where to park.

Not the best shot of me, but it's about Casey Rose

By the time I got out of the car there were already carriers everywhere and someone was saying "I think this one goes to Dog Liberator, Casey Rose?!"

I ran over with leashes in hand/over my shoulder and quickly slipped the lead on her. Next out was Rusty who seemed very happy to be on the ground again (One that was on the fence as to whether he should come with me or not. I'll be writing about him but he's not part of the "dogs I transported" count. Assists though, yes.)

Out comes Rusty, "Here's your dog!" Glenn's got this one.

Then the waiting began, and Casey Rose and I stood on the Tar Mac as dog after dog was brought out and the respective rescuers retrieved them. Then finally, I heard it, "And the cattle dog? This is Dog Lib's right?" I raised my hand and hurried over, trying to convince Casey Rose that it was ok to walk back to the plane. Out came Fonzie!

Here we are with all 4 of our pups. Fonzie, Casey Rose, Rusty, and Loli with Glenn and I

All that was left was to get Holly her dog, then the paperwork. We decided that since most of the fosters would be picking up the dogs later that day, I'd just take them to Holly's instead of the vet, after all, they'd had one heck of a day.

We had a great time at Ma Holly's. Each dog began to open up and show their personalities, which was formerly a little muted because of the transport.

Hi! I am an incredibly happy and well balanced dog!

Fonzi

What a little character! He is all smiles and loves to wiggle. He also loves Casey Rose and Rusty as well as a good pat.

Every time he noticed me taking pictures he would run up to get a "close up" so about 2/3rds of his pictures were his snout smashing into the camera at various angles.

Cheese!

He loves to lean against you to get you to pay attention to him and will grin the moment you do. This isn't the last you'll be hearing of him. I'll be seeing more of this little guy tomorrow, as He will be riding with me to meet his foster mommy Amy.

Casey Rose

Casey is the quiet girl of this transport. She is a little shy and isn't quite sure if she can trust people, but the moment she gets to know you she warms up.

She is great with other dogs and was excited to meet Ralph and Guss. In the picture to the right she is standing by the glass door, waiting to meet them.

She also loves a little attention, but she is much, much quieter about asking for it as you can clearly see bellow.
Rusty and Fonzie will lean or rub against you, Casey Rose just waits and waits and stands progressively closer and closer to you.

"I'll just stand here and wait for you to notice what a good girl I am."

Casey Rose "No pictures please"

She is also, incredibly camera shy. Well over half of my pictures involved her turning her head away from the camera.

I wonder if she isn't part Bernese because of her big head and gentle nature. She is also rather large and seems to have that head line.

She is lovely and graceful and simply needs to be reminded that not all life is shelter life. By the end of our visit/transport she curled up beside my chair and would occasionally lift her big head for a pat.

I can't wait to see her with the right family.

Check out her beautiful highlights!

Rusty

So, Rusty, well what can you say about him, or possibly, what can't you say about him!?

He is persistently wearing a huge smile on his face and seemed so happy to just have you glance his way.

Rusty needs a little grooming, his fur has large mats hidden away that could have easily been prevented with some basic care, but he doesn't let it phase him in the least.

Rusty also has a knack for putting his nose into the camera, but not quite to the extent that Fonzie does. Rusty normally does this because he really wants you to stop paying attention to the camera and notice how absolutely fabulous he looks. In fact, he wouldn't mind if you told him so a little more often.

"Yes, please, tell me what a handsome boy I am!"

Holly and I were sitting in the blue chairs and Rusty pranced over, scooted Fonzie out of the way, and plopped his paws up on my lap, putting his big beautiful face right in mine. I gave him a rub down and loved on him which he just ate up.

"Hey that wasn't half bad!"

Rusty was also kind enough to play "guinea pig" for me today. Glenn showed me how to microchip and demonstrated on Casey Rose and Fonzie first, and then it was my turn.

When I caught Rusty's collar he sulked a little, unsure about this whole thing. I coaxed him a little closer and gave him a little rub.

He sulked less and I sterilized the fur around site, then lifted his scruff and placed the chip. He didn't even flinch. I gently rubbed his skin and he looked up at me with a grin. New skill acquired!

I wish I could say more about Loli, but she was a little stressed after transport and needed to just quietly decompress in a cage with a towel over it. She'll be fine in the morning.

All in all today was a great transport. The only word to accurately describe it is "Unique."

Unique
     1.existing as the only one or as the sole example; single; solitary in type or characteristics
     2.having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable
     3.limited in occurrence to a given class, situation, or area
     4.not typical; unusual

EDIT: Turns out, I miscounted, this was my 15th, but since Fonzie was transported again, the next day (as my 16th transport), I am leaving the title.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Tomorrow's Transport

Both excited and terrified for tomorrow.

I'm nervous because it is my first time picking up dogs from.... a Plane! Yep, the max on 3 that I might be getting are all flying in. I have no idea what the procedure is, where I go, etc but this should be interesting!

That being said, I am excited because yet again I will be hitting a new record: 40+ dogs transported and my sweet 16! yep, this is my 16th Transport. Not to mention, I get to meet 3 amazing dogs (and some of Holly's pups)!

The toughest part will be the absolute unpredictability of tomorrow. Weather could delay the flight or push it forward or even cancel it. I have a final presentation in the morning before the transport so I can finish my summer course and class after it so I can start my fall classes. Student, Rescuer, not to mention life outside of both, but sometimes, it's just a busy day. Can't wait for it.

UPDATE: Well, it's tomorrow (8/29/11) and the Transport has been bumped to Tuesday due to weather which wont allow them to fly. Tuesday (8/30/11) here we come. Probably a good thing because today is gonna be crazy.

UPDATE 2: Weather is not our friend... Bumped again to 8/31/11

Update 3: Can't catch a break... bumped to 9/1/11. Praying for great weather tomorrow.
Update 3.5: May or may not be on the flight tomorrow... weight restrictions?
Update 4: Our paws are off the ground!!!! WOO! (9/1/11)

Sunday, August 7, 2011

The Waggin Wagon!

Second biggest Transport!

We'd been planning this transport all week, yet when the day came I felt woefully under prepared. In my head it seemed easy, fit 7 dogs/pups in the car. I'd done 8, why not 7? Well, 8 was easier, because the pups were smaller. These pups, were not itty-bitty 8 week pups, these were 3 to 4 months old!

I knew in my head, 1 adult in a cage, 1 shotgun, and then the puppies... I stared at my other large airline-style dog carrier. The terms "no way in hell" echoing in my head. 3 pups in one of those would be a tight squeeze... 5? The echo continued. I pulled out a wire crate Gisele had given me and began trying to learn how to assemble this (a first in my life). After several awkward attempts it finally clicked together.

I then began the slightly more awkward task of orienting it in the car. Should the door face the back? The side door? Which side door? Would the cage door even open like that? As I was trying to turn the cage, an older gentleman was walking past and said "you know the wire one fold up right?" Boy did I know that, he should have seen me 10 minutes ago trying to put it together! I smiled and mentioned that I was picking up a bunch of dogs. He nodded and continued on, occasionally glancing back to stare at the scene. Finally I managed to jam both the wire crate, and the airline crate into the back. Now I just had to pray the dogs would fit.

Yep, that's right... 102... Shoot me!

The ride out to meet Amy in Ocala was really simple. Very little traffic especially for 5pm on a Saturday. It was also... incredibly hot. I tried to save the AC as much as I could because I knew 7 little ones who would highly appreciate some serious sub-arctic once they were in the car.

As I arrived in the parking lot where I was meeting Amy she was already walking each dog, giving them a chance to get some water and go potty. I hopped out and helped. Sure enough, the puppies were quite sizable but It looked like 5 would fit. Each of the pups practically had their little legs crossed and had refused to go potty in their crates (good puppies!!!). The minute they were on the ground they were either dashing for the grass, or in Bimmer's case, the minute his paws touched the ground of the parking lot.

Once all of the puppies had had a chance to go potty and get water, we loaded them in the crate. It was cute, the pavement was pretty hot for little paws and they tried to walk on their own but were darting for the nearest patches of shade. We carried them the rest of the way so they didn't burn their little paws.

Here is the great flood, plotting to break through the flood gate.

We also discovered, these puppies were much like a waterfall, and the door of the cage was the floodgate. Any time the cage door opened everyone tried to pile out at once. Good lord! So normally this involved picking up one puppy, making sure they were ready to go into the crate, opening the door, shoving them in, shoving the 3 that had piled out of the door (in less that 2 seconds) back in and shutting it as fast as possible. Transport is always interesting!

Tiny Dancer enjoying her front seat placement

Next it was the adult's turn. First was Tiny Dancer, who fits her name to a T. She was a little shy, and a little scared about what was going on. She would be riding shotgun, but from past experience I have learned you never let a dog ride unrestrained (lest you want to see what "great" drivers they are as they pop your car into neutral and turn the wheel toward the jersey wall... (thanks Charlotte!)).

So I used a carabiner (a tool of salvation) to hook the leash to the side of the car with enough slack for her to lie down, but not crawl into my lap. She seemed sooo happy to just sit on her little red blanket and just sat there while we loaded Lady Priscilla into the last crate.

I have to give Priscilla major Kudos, she was a dream to transport: not a peep, no fight getting into the carrier, no accidents, no drama. She is just incredibly easy going and friendly.

Priscilla in her crate, better picture later on!

My rear-view (don't worry, there was 0 traffic)

Once everyone was loaded we said goodbye to Ms Amy and were off, AC blasting. The puppies were quiet the whole ride (not one yip).
I occasionally looked in the rear-view mirror to make sure everyone was still breathing because I am so not used to silent puppies.
In fact, every puppy has made some sort of sound. One whine, a happy bark, something.
Not these 5, silent and stealthy.
I'd glance back and see Bimmer trying to fit one of his siblings in his mouth, or silently wrestling with Bingo or bongo, or chewing on Butterbean's foot, but no one made a sound.

Tiny Dancer stood most of the trip to Holly's. I think she was a little nervous and every time the tired made a sound, the windshield wipers moved, etc she would turn quickly to look in that direction and would stop panting. I would tell her it's ok, and she'd go right back to panting. She just needed that bit of reassurance that the sounds weren't bad. At one point, right over our car there was one huge clap of thunder. All of the puppies jumped up and looked around and Tiny dancer ducked. I patted her head and told the pups it was ok and soon we were back to the status-quo.

Once we were at Holly's we began unloading the pups. Tiny Dancer stood on the center terminal and looked back, watching to make sure everyone was ok. We noticed she seems to have been nursing pups fairly recently, and so she seemed to have semi-adopted these pups and would occasionally lick one through the bars. I can only imagine what an amazing mama she was.

So the great flood began again and Bimmer, Bingo, and Bongo pushed and shoved to be the first ones out. Butterbean was content to wait until her 3 rowdy brothers had gotten out before I reached in and got her. Banjo, on the other hand, now had the crate to himself, and seemed content to stay there until foster-daddy Glenn came to get him out.

I then switched Tiny dancer to the big crate with her blankie and she was very happy to hop in and curl up. I think the crate makes her feel a bit more secure. We traveled the last 45 minute leg and yet again, the car was silent. The girls were more than happy to just chill. When we arrived the girls didn't know there was a party waiting for them. Gisele, Megan, Maria, and Vicki were all in the back yard with their respective packs. Lady Priscilla waltzed right in and made herself at home, socializing with the other dogs and occasionally making eyes at those sitting at the table (with food) (but not begging, just looking pretty). Tiny Dancer was a bit more shy, but with some encouragement could be convinced that the others we're going to hurt her. I think once she has some time to recover from the stress of transport, she will come out of her shell and find her joy.

Gisele surprised me with dinner (which i am incredibly grateful for) which was amazing (better than I could ever make) and We spent about an hour, chilling with the dogs and enjoying good company. about an hour and a half after arriving I had to take my leave (it was almost midnight after all) and begin the hour drive home.

About 15 minutes in I noticed an orange light on the dash.... Congratulation! Your gas is almost out! I remedied the situation and around 1:20 am crawled through the front door, tired, but happy.

Seven little lives were settling in to sleep in what must seem like heaven compared to where they came from. Here, they would never fear for their lives, or wonder where their next meal would come from. The puppies will soon discover Holly's amazing chicken stew and will probably lick a hole in the floor for the last drop. Tiny Dancer will learn there is nothing to be afraid of, and Lady Priscilla will finally be treated like the beautiful girl she is and get the care she needs.

If you ever need a reminder what life is about,

watch a dog realize that this amazing new life isn't going away,
and their old life is never coming back.

It will both break your heart and make your soul sing.