Saturday, April 18, 2009

Got my puppy fix... *sigh*

I helped with a rescue transport this weekend. That's where an adoptable dog or group of dogs makes their way across the country from a high-kill shelter to a rescue or forever home by means of a not-so-underground doggie railroad of sorts. One person drives a leg of the route, hands the dogs off to the next and so on. Since I drive the World's Smallest Car Ever TM and, therefore, can't transport crates, I try to help out with overnights as much as possible. So I had 3 extra pibble kids stay with me last night. They arrived after 10 p.m. and then left for Minnesota this morning around 9 a.m.


One of them, Heidi, was only about 4 months old and so shy and fearful. She was so sweet and it made me sad to see that at some point humans have done something to make her so afraid of them. As soon as I put her on the ground to potty, she just cowered. So I plopped myself down on the grass next to her and just gave her some time to get used to me. Eventually she was crawling into my lap and climbing up my chest to give me kisses on my mouf. Sadly, I had a cold and couldn't smell anything so I didn't get to partake in the sniffing of puppy breath. :o( But all in all it was a rewarding 12 hours and I was sad to see the babies go but excited for them to go to their new homes.























Yea for rescue! And yea for MARS. They rule.

18 comments:

Wendy said...

That's an awesome thing you do! :)

Heather Cherry said...

Thanks, Wendy! I can't describe the feeling you get from doing this kind of work with doggies.

Winky Twinky said...

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww.... I just gotta have one someday when I can......PB
s are completely the best of every breed......keep doin what you're doin sweety............

Brooke Amanda said...

That is really cool! Good for you.

obladi oblada said...

God bless you HC!!! What cute pictures...sorry about the inability to sniff of the puppa breath, that stinks (ha ha, get it?).

Hairball T. Hairball said...

What a cutie!

Good job Heather!

moi said...

So cool! How was Snuggles about the company?

I'm shopping my pibble program to a local non-profit shelter and yesterday I watched as the behaviorist trained the first pittie on their brand new treadmill. It was hysterical.

Shawn said...

I once participated in a little transport program like this. It really was rewarding as you say. Felt like I'd done something good (and been paid well for it).

It wasn't for dogs, though, it was for cocaine.

Melody! said...

That is good stuff Heather Cherry! That little girl Heidi is very nice! I can tell! So sad that you did not get to enjoy any of her earmeat!
This is the very way that I came to live where I live! Except I stayed and went no further on my journey!

HumaneSociety WTX said...

That is a wonderful story! The help you give those dogs is really great! I am glad you let the puppy know not all humans are bad. Can I post your story as a guest post on my blog? http://hsowt.blogspot.com

Margo said...

I'm so glad that there are people like you in the world! I really think you and Sparkle might be soulmates :) bye!

thesixburghmom said...

I am SO in need of a puppy fix. I'm very jealous!

We used to foster litters of kittens and it was awesome to feed them and watch them grow and then give them back...lol. No really, it was great to see a litter of ferals turn into complete and utter lap cats. I'd love to do some more rescue work, but my kids need to get a little older first.

Lidian said...

You are so totally cool to do this! Absolutely the best.

Heather Cherry said...

Winky, ShopGirl, Hairball, Liddy: Thanks, all! It's an awful lot of fun to do.

O/O: Truly a shame, no? So sad...

Moi: Snugs only met them through the door since it was a short overnight. I basically only had enough time to check on them, potty, eat/water, etc., and then hand them off for the next leg. Moy, I wanna know more about what you do with your program!

Shawn: Completely not shocked to hear you say this.

Mel: I thought you were prolly a rescued greyhound. YAY!!! I've been thinking I might love to have a rescue grey someday...

HSOWT: Thank you so much for stopping by and it would be an honor to have my post guested on your blog.

Margo: You think so? :o)

Out on a Limb: I've never been a cat person (I have allergies) but having heard about and read about so many bottle fed kitty stories recently, I've been secretly wishing I'd find a baby kitty in my mailbox or something.

Neil said...

Beautiful pictures of a sweet little girl who rode with her head on my lap into Wichita a couple hours after you said good-bye. Thanks for boarding them overnight on their journey to MN.

Heather Cherry said...

Yea, Neil! Thanks to you, too, for playing your part in this saga!

Julie said...

Hi there, I was able to help with this transport too. They were so sweet. PB's are one of my favorites. I have been doing transport for a few years now and have decided that dog transport beats kid transport, the dogs don't argue with you! HA!!!

Heather Cherry said...

Ha ha, Julie. Agreed! Thanks so much!