How time flies!

Two years ago today I set out on a transport which changed my life. I had no idea when I signed up for it that it would, but I should have known. I'm not so sure I believe in the concept of "fate" but if it exists, then it was certainly fate that I went on this transport.

I had been signed up for two transports for April 20, 2008. The first one got switched to the day before and due to a gig, I was unable to do it. Someone else took my spot and the transport went on without me. The second one was one of those cases that always makes me a little peeved. Someone had asked me to do a leg of a transport, I wrote back and said I could do it, and then never heard back. When I finally wrote, it turned out they had someone else for the leg but hadn't bothered to write and let me know (most unfair since letting me know frees me up to transport another dog!).

With those two transports lined up, I wasn't able to transport the BBD someone contacted me about. When they fell through, I wrote to the person to see if they still needed me for the leg. They did. I ended up saving someone from driving over 160 miles each way to help this dog. Good all around!

At this time, David and I were getting ready to move and were setting up to welcome a dog into our home. I had been looking through petfinder, found myself drawn to several dogs, and was keeping an eye on many different dogs so we could start pursuing one when we got into our new apartment. But then I arrived in Rochester, the person I was meeting opened the back of her SVU, and there sat this beautiful black dog (who was more "medium" than "big") who leaned forward and licked my cheek.

And I guess it was all over at that moment. I knew I had met the dog we were looking for. As luck (or unluck) would have it, my cell phone was essentially dead. I was unable to call David to tell him to meet me there to check her out. So I spent time with her alone and decided we had to have her.

Luckily for me (and Miss Dahlia!), David was most amenable to it. He trusted me to find the right dog. We immediately put in an application to adopt her and a month later we brought her home.

So while this is not her "gotcha" day, it's still an important day in all our lives! Happy "first meeting day" Dahlia!

Here's Dahlia and I on the transport two years ago.



And here we are just a couple weeks ago.

How could they?

This coming weekend I'm going to be doing a transport for three Aussie puppies. Two are only 8 weeks old, the 3rd is all of 7 weeks old. Three tiny little puppies.

1. Puppy one cannot hear.
2. Puppy two cannot hear and is visually impaired.
3. Puppy three cannot hear and is visually impaired.

They all deserve a chance at life. In fact, the first two were going to be taken to the vets to be killed by their breeder because they were, essentially, defective. Why were they defective? Why did one litter have two dogs with hearing and vision problems?

Because of the breeder. The merle coloring, that lovely flecked coat so many people admire in Aussies (and Border collies and some other breeds of dog) comes with a gene for deafness and blindness. When two merle dogs are bred together, some 25% of the puppies are born with these defects. It comes with a variety of names, from Double Merle to Lethal White (many of these dogs are put down before they ever have a chance to live) to much more technical terms.

Any way you look at it, it's caused by bad breeding. No good breeder would breed two merles together. But people looking to make a quick buck will do so and not feel any sadness over culling the innocent deaf and/or blind pups they brought into the world.

Two of the puppies on the transport were part of a litter that was being taken to an open air market to sell to whomever wandered by (good breeder? I don't think so). The deaf and blind ones were going to be taken to the vet to be put down. Luckily someone else got to them first and they're going to be coming to rescue. The pups were only 5 weeks old when this stellar example of dog breeding was going to sell them.

It's just so disheartening to think people continue to breed in such a way. To date, I've transported five deaf dogs. These will be numbers 6, 7, and 8.

Some resources, for anyone who finds themselves with a dog they didn't know was deaf or is considering adopting a deaf dog.

http://www.deafdogs.com

http://www.lethalwhites.com

This is pup #3 for the transport this coming weekend. Cute, isn't she?

Lucky transport #13!

Lucky #13! And boy was I lucky. My weekend was supposed to consist of two transports. The first one was for a random couple dogs (which kept changing, finally ending with an Airedale mix named Kelly). That one was set up for Sunday morning. Well, Friday rolled around and suddenly it got switched to Saturday and I could no longer do it. They found someone else and the transport went on without me. The second transport was for three Brittanies. A woman had written to find out if I could help out. I volunteered for a leg and never heard back from her. On Friday I finally got in touch with her and she said she didn't need me. So, since those two got canceled, I contacted the people who needed help with Dahlia, a BBD (big black dog). For those who don't know this, BBDs often have a harder time getting adopted than dogs (and even cats) of lighter colours. Some of it is attributed to not photographing well in the confines of a shelter, some is attributed to people not being able to read their expressions as easily, and some is attributed to people finding BBDs more frightening. Whatever it is that causes it, BBDs are euthanized more often than other dogs. Dahlia was scheduled to be euthanized last Tuesday and a rescue pulled her for transport this weekend. I stepped in at the last minute to relieve a driver from having to drive 164 miles each way to help this beautiful dog. And wow am I happy I did!

Today was a beautiful day. Mid-70s, sunny. I drove all the way out to Rochester with my windows down partway (of course, some of this is attributed to my air conditioning being broken!). I arrived about 15 minutes early, relaxed, and then met up with the other people and Dahlia. My first impression of Dahlia was that she was a wonderful dog, and seemed much smaller than the 50 lbs they said she was (I would guess more like 40-45). She was utterly sweet and wanted to do nothing more than snuggle up to you. She immediately came over to me and gave me kisses. She walked over to the other women that had brought her on the previous leg, sat down, and put her leg up on her. She was just utterly sweet. We got her into the car easily enough and then it was on our way!

Unlike last week's crazy transport, this one was incredibly easy! Dahlia curled up in the back seat, not even tethered, and slept the whole way. She popped her head up a couple times and I reached back to pet her a bit (and was rewarded with some kisses), and then she'd just curl back up and sleep again. She was quiet and mellow.

We arrived a bit early, which was just fine with me! I got her out of the car and we wandered around a bit. She only pulled a bit on her leash and frequently ran back to me and looked up to me. She seemed like she'd be an easy dog to train. She already knew sit and shake, that much I discovered! We spent a bit of time out on the lawn. I sat down and let her explore around me and she would return to me and press her face up against mine. She was SO sweet. I would have adopted her in a heartbeat if I could...in fact, I may get in touch with the rescue she's going to about possibly adopting her. I just totally fell in love with her!

The other woman showed up way too early and I think she could tell I didn't want to let her go. Oops! They finally took off and now Dahlia is on her way to Vermont. *sniffles*

Here are a few pictures. The rest can be found here.