My First Transport

Thursday afternoon was scheduled to be Perry Family Lunch but it was canceled due to the weather. With my schedule cleared up I checked the internet for what to do now. The Nor Cal Boxer Rescue has a yahoo group where they post dogs in need. I had seen one in Stanislaus county that needed to be driven back to a vet in Fair Oaks, and thought, Hey it was just about an hour and a half drive, I can do that.

I contacted them and got the information and hit the road. I grabbed the kennel and threw it in the back of the car before I left. Once I made it to Lodi, Jean from NCBR contacted me and asked if there was any way I could pick up a dog in Fresno and then pick up the original dog on my way back. Sure! Oh, wait how far is Fresno? Lets just say it was a race against the clock. I made it to Fresno in good time thanks to good weather, the roads were pretty dry. When I made it to the Central California SPCA I met the sweetest brindle boy who was so excited to leave. He had kennel cough and some small scars on his face. The SPCA had called NCBR that morning and put him on the 48 hour euthanasia list, I am not sure if it was because they were full or he was sick, I didn't ask. He went right into the kennel in my car and settled down, not a sound out of him. I sent a quick photo and found out he already had a foster home that might also be adopting him and would like to name him Buddy. Now only was he a beautiful dog but he had a calic on the back of his neck that ran down like a ridgeback.

We jumped back on the road to Stanislaus Animal Shelter in Ceres,CA, and once I got there I was greeted by a large banner saying "We Moved." Ok well I have to be to the vet by 5 pm and I am about 1.5 hours away and it is 3pm. So I had to back track about 15 minutes and drive to the new shelter. They were busy and had about 4 people ahead of me. It took awhile to get everything together and get the second dog released to me. This fawn boxer boy did not pass the temperament test and was not going to be adoptable there. Seeing as I only had one kennel I tethered this guy safely in the passengers seat and hit the road. This young boy was not as friendly, he turned his back to me and started out the window the whole ride. No tail waging, no kisses as a thank you. It was a long quite ride home and everyone just kept to themselves.

Spending 6 1/2 hours in the car just me and a couple of death row dogs gave me a lot of time to think, a lot of time to reflect. Made me remember when Apollo was just a puppy and all the trouble he caused, like jumping off the roof of my Moms house or when he ate multiple sets of blinds off the windows. Klondike wasn't a picnic, he was allergic to everything including the laundry detergent. Neither dog has had to spend the night in a scary doggy jail. Both dogs has warm bed and a belly full of food. The experience was very heart opening. Both our cats are from a rescue group and I have had family dogs growing up from the shelter, but really giving a second chance to a dog because my plans changed was really amazing.

Hopping that I wouldn't hit traffic on the way home I had to make a few calls knowing very well I may not make it to the vet on time. We were able to ask the vet to let me drop off the dogs at 6pm. For a brief moment I thought I would have to house the dogs over night and take them in the morning. I called Noah and had him check the traffic online to see how highway 50 was looking. We made a plan that I would stop and pick him up along the way because we had an appointment to get our taxes done at 6:30pm. When I got home I realized that I had not seen either dog interact with men yet because everyone at both shelters were female. I recommended Noah be prepared because I had not had great luck with the fawn boy and because of the tight space he would be sitting very close with one of the dogs. Well I guess they are right when they say MAN's best friend, the small fawn boy crawled right onto Noah's lap and just stared lovingly into his eyes. We made it to the vet with only a few minutes to spare and so thankful we did. At the office we took a few photos and I named the fawn boy Tonka. They weighed the boys and Buddy who was very thin but tall was 60lbs, Tonka also on the thin side but a small dog weighed in at 48 lbs.

Recuse is full of needy dogs and we really feel like we want to help more and are going to find out if we can foster. Not sure if we are ready but we want to do what we can.

"Animals are such agreeable friends--they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms."

- George Eliot