UPDATE: June 16 Patrick Henry - Extraordinary Dog

Hey Everyone... Patrick Henry here....  Mom, the lady who rescued me... her name is Carolyn but I like to call her Mom,  came to the hospital again today to hang out with me and while she wasn't looking I "borrowed" her phone to give you an update on how I am doing.  I mean Mom is doing a pretty good job but I wanted to take a stab at it....  Don't tell her I was on her phone, I don't know if she has unlimited data or not..... hehehehe  Oh and before I managed to sneak her phone away she took a bunch of pictures, man.. she is nuts about her pictures. 

This is me saying Heeeeeey Everyone!!!!!!!

Okay so I wanted to say thank you so much to everyone who has been praying for me and sending positive thoughts.  I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who is helping pay my bills and make sure I have all of the stuff I need to get better and of course to the super nice people here at my hospital.  They are all so nice to me, even though sometimes the stuff they do hurts a little.  I know they are just trying to help me.

Well I'm not sure where to start....  My life has been kinda crazy this last week and I'm not quite sure what to think.

A little while back my people really hurt me, I don't think I am ready to talk about what happened yet, but sometimes I whisper about it to my Mom.... I don't say it loud enough for her to hear yet but I see the way she looks at me and I know she understands.  Anyway, I was in pretty bad shape.  I was in a lot of pain, my face hurt really bad and my arms and legs too and even my chest.  I cried sometimes but no one helped me.  I didn't understand what I had done wrong, why wouldn't they help me?  couldn't they see my wounds?  couldn't they see how hungry I was?  I had always tried to be a good boy so why did they stop loving me?  Why did they hurt me and leave me like this?  I would cry out sometimes just to say "look at me... please" but it didn't seem to matter. 

Then finally a man in a truck came, they call him an ACO.  He came into my backyard and got me.  He was pretty nice but I was really really scared.  He put me in his truck, it was kinda scarey, it was dark and not very big.  He took me for a ride to a place called the shelter, but I don't think it's much of a shelter.  There were a lot of dogs there, everyone was barking and it was loud.  I also smelled death there and that really scared me.  The ACO man he put me on a leash and he brought me inside.  He took me down the hall and I was feeling really scared and then there was Mom... she was standing there and she saw me... I mean REALLY saw me.  She even asked me what happened to me but I just couldn't tell her.  She walked along behind me and I didn't feel quite so scared.  I must of looked pretty bad because there were a lot of people asking me what happened to me....  My mom, she squatted down and talked to me a lot... she always talks alot hehehe  she rubbed my head....that felt so nice, it had been a long time since anyone rubbed my head, then she had to go.  The people in there said they were going to give me shots and draw blood... that didn't sound like much fun to me but I didn't have to worry about it, I didn't get any shots or draw any blood, they just took me through the big room where there are a gazillion dogs.  I thought that's where I was going to stay but they took me all the way to the back... there aren't as many dogs back there but the people don't get to come there either.

I'm not sure what happened after that... I know I sat there in my cage, it was so loud in there.  I just wanted to rest but that's not easy at that shelter place.  Oh and wow.. I really had to pee but I hardly got to go outside.  It was hard to hold it but I did it... I was a good boy.  A couple of days went by and then my friend at the shelter Shannon, she came to my cage and got me, I thought we were going out to go potty but when I got to the door, there was my Mom...  I can't beleive it she came back for me.  She opened the back of her car and she had a big blanket in there, she patted the blanket and said come on Patrick Henry, I hadn't heard that name before but I liked it.  Shannon helped me get in the car and then Mom and I went for a ride, she kept saying to me the whole way that everything was going to be okay and that I didn't have to worry ANY more. 

She took me to this place she calls her vet.  I heard her talking to the people here, she said I was a good boy and she said I was on the Kill List.... WHAT???  why would I be on something called a kill list?  I also heard her tell them that she wanted to do whatever she could to help me.  The doctor came in and put me up on this table and looked me all over and he and Mom said I needed my wounds cleaned... last thing I remember something poked my hiney and it hurt... I even yelped a little.

Oh man I better hurry, mom is looking for her phone.  Anyway, I know my Mom and my Aunt Susan have been keeping everyone up to date.  Mom tells me I am an international celebrity.  She tells me everyday how there are tons of people rooting for me and praying for me. 

My Mom comes everyday to see me.  I also have a good friend Julie who comes all the time to take me outside and today she brought me a big red rubber thing that she filled with peanut butter... man that is good stuff.  My friend Nikki came to see me to and she calls my girls here all the time and asks about me.  I think it would be cool if my Aunt Susan would come visit but she lives all the way in some place called Michigan. 

Anyway, I am feeling so much better, my Mom can't beleive how much better I look... I haven't seen a mirror so I don't know but it doesn't hurt any more.  I thought they were going to give me a haircut but they just shaved one spot on my back... now I look silly... but they gave me a shot there, guess it was something called heartworm treatment... I was really brave and didn't even cry... of course my girl here Jamie, she was hugging me so I wouldn't be scared when I got that shot and one of my doctors here Dr. Worthley, she is super nice and treats me really gently. All my girls here are super nice.

Oh my gosh and this is super embarrassing... they followed me and took some of my poop... yuck, then they said I had whip worms and round worms... My Mom just said "of course you do".... and then she smiled really big at me. 

It's been pretty scarey but I'm not really scared anymore.  Everyone is so nice to me and mom brings me big ole bones too.  My Mom says she is my temporary mom and that she will make sure I get everything I need and then find me the very bestest home EVER.... she seems pretty confident.  I think Mom would like it if I came home with her when I'm better but she says she already has 5 dogs.  No matter what I know that Mom will make sure whatever is best for me is done.  She's pretty cool like that.... 

I gotta go but I will try and send a note again soon, until then my Mom and Aunt Susan will let you know how I am doing.  Thank you all again so much for helping me and for "seeing" me when I needed help.

Love Always,

Patrick Henry

PS.. I heard mom say she was going to be posting a bunch of new pictures so be on the look out

The Ordinary Story of Patrick Henry An EXTRAORDINARY Dog Pt 2

WOW....  I want to take a quick moment to thank everyone for the huge outpouring of support, thoughts and prayers for Patrick Henry.  I am humbled by the way everyone has come together to help him.   Our donation fund for him has far exceeded our goal and donations are still coming in.  No matter what his diagnosis ends up being he will have the means to get what ever care he may need and for that,... to all of you we are forever grateful.


I had the extreme pleasure of being able to spend about 3 hours with Patrick Henry today at the vet clinic.  I had called first thing this morning to check on him.  He had eaten and drank his water and been out to do his business.  Dr. Worthley said his wounds were continuing to show improvement but that he seemed a little down.  We also discussed his hearing and we both feel he does have some hearing loss.  This morning when the staff came in, of course all the dogs were barking.. but not Patrick, nope, he was snoozin away.  He is not deaf because he does respond and react to some noise, but does appear to have some impairment.


Late morning I headed on over to the vet clinic to spend some time with our boy.  One of the girls at the clinic brought him out to me in the lobby.   He came walking through the door and as soon as he saw me, his tail starting wagging double time.  He was so happy to see me, but I don't think he was half as happy as I was.  Even in just 24 hours his wounds looked so much better, it was almost unbelievable.  Bobbi dropped the leash and he trotted right over to me.  I squatted down and he just leaned into my chest.  Man oh man he is quiet the ladies man, knows just how to make you fall in love with him.   Here is a picture of Patrick Henry working his magic on me today.

Thanks to all of Patrick Henry's wonderful new friends, I brought him a nice fluffy bed, a couple of big ole chew bones, a stuffed ducky, some extra canned food and his very own collar and leash.  After taking a walk and spending a little time out in the fresh air, Patrick led me back to the door, seems he has become quite accustomed to climate controlled environment hehehe  When we went back in I introduced him to his new bed, he wasn't sure what to think of it at first..  sniffed it and then walked around and stood leaning into me NEXT to the bed.  I kept patting the bed and finally he stepped up on it with his front paws... well he's no dummy, it took about 2 seconds for him to decide that the bed didn't feel to shabby under his feet and he promptly plopped down... mostly on his new bed and snuggled into me. 

I just sat there stroking his face and side as he lay there completely at ease snoozing.  I think the only time he even moved a muscle was when I brushed against his ear and he would give it a little shake.  I tried to use my phone and get several pictures while we sat together.  I took some pictures of his wounds again... all of which look so much better.

Right arm                                                                        Back legs and feet 

                                                                       Left arm

I introduced Patrick Henry to his "duckie" that I had brought for him and the look on his face was priceless.  This duckie, instead of squeaking, it makes more of a honking noise and he just kept tilting his head and kind of backed away...  I think it scared him a little so we decided we would save the duck for another day.  lol

I sat there in the floor as long as I possibly could... until my back was aching and both legs were asleep.  He was just so sweet laying there I didn't want to move.  I woke him a couple of times trying to snap pictures... Here is one such pic where he is kind of giving us that... "alright already lady... let's just snuggle and stop with the pics, okay."

I finally had to give it up and stand up to try and get feeling back in my legs hehehe  I was sure I would completely disturb sleeping beauty but nope... this is what happened when I stood up..

Yup... absolutely NOTHING...  well he did raise his head a little so I carefully gave his duckie the job of headrest and back to sleep he went.

As for a medical update, I can tell you that his wounds are healing nicely.  His face is sooo much better too.  No more goopy mess on his face, it's starting to dry up some and get some scabbing (sorry, I know that's not pleasant to talk about).  The wounds on his arms, legs and chest are all granulating around the edges.. meaning they are getting smaller and healing wooo hooo.  He is being an incredibly good patient.  He allows them to clean and put medicine on his wounds and he (knock on wood) rarely messes with any of them.  Again I think this is a true testament of his totally awesome amazingness.  Of course we are still awaiting his biopsy results and we discussed at length today the need to go ahead and begin his heartworm treatment.  The vet believes we need to move forward with it so his body can focus on the wound healing and not have to combat the heartworm infestation.  Soooo, tomorrow Patrick Henry will have an immiticide injection, then in 30 days we will give 2 more injections.  Jamie, one of the awesome vet techs went ahead this afternoon and shaved the spot on Patrick's back to do the injection... it was totally adorable... apparently the spot she selected was "his spot" and as she ran the clippers over him, his leg started tapping, I think he loved it. 

His friend Julie came by again today and spent some time with him and brought him some special treats.  He was very pleased to see her... I don't think this boy knows a stranger and he automatically assumes anyone coming through the door is there to see him... and why wouldn't he think that????  I found out that Patrick Henry is an INTERNATIONAL celebrity.  His story has been shared not only all over the United States but he has crossposted Facebook posts in Madrid and Bogota Columbia....  Apparently the whole world is falling in love with him, just as I have. 

He has received several offers of rescue and just today received an offer of a forever home.  I told him as I sat petting him and talking to him that he was not going to have to worry about anything ever again and that he had a lot of people rooting for him, sending healing thoughts and prayers.  And again I told him that never again would he have to worry about being hurt because now he has a huge family to look out for him. 

I apologize for the lack of creativity on his blog tonight.  I was about all typed out by the time I got to his update...  the number of emails, texts, facebook posts/messages etc has been astounding and I have been trying to make sure and respond to everyone. 

I will be back spending time with Patrick Henry again tomorrow and will of course post more pics and updates tomorrow night/wee hours of the morning ;-)

Much love, hugs and pooch smooches,

Patrick Henry & Me

The Ordinary Story of Patrick Henry An EXTRAORIDNARY Dog

Seems to me that the powers that be, fate, karma, kismet or whatever you believe in were at work on Friday June 8th, and because of this... This is where Patrick Henry's story BEGINS, rather then where it ENDS........


I had for personal and health reasons been moving further and further away from actual hands on volunteering at our local KCMO shelter for several months, which makes this story all the more interesting. 


I had spent the whole day on Friday June 8th at the shelter working with their rescue coordinator to show her some tips and tricks to help her with her job.  I had taken a little break and had walked to the back area of the shelter where the vet clinic area is.  I was standing there chit chatting with someone when in walked one of the Animal Control Officers...  I looked down and was immediately in shock.  At the end of a little blue nylon slip lead was this...

Of course my first thoughts and words were the same.... "OMG, poor baby, what happened?" and I offered him the back of my hand and knelt down to say hello.  ACO (animal control officer) said he didn't know what had happened to him.  He said he was a cruelty seizure out of someones back yard. 

I followed along to the vet clinic where we all squatted down and began to love on this boy.  His face was just nothing but a bloody infected mess... not a small spot, literally his entire face, even under his fur we could see he had infected, raw wounds on his arms and legs as well, yet his tail was still wagging.  He allowed ALL of us to offer him up some lovin.  Of course we all gave him a once over and made a guess about what we thought had happened to him.  Anything from a chemical being thrown on him, to an attack by a dog or dogs, an attack by a rogue gang of raccoons, to an auto-immune disease with secondary infection that had not been treated.  I stayed with this boy only about 10 min or so before he was walked to the back and into the "bite section" to await his fate..... not because had bitten anyone but understandably this is hardly a dog you could display in the main kennel room and hardly humane to keep a dog with this severity of injury in an overcrowded shelter.

I went on about my day and was there until close and while I could kick myself for not making one last pass through to see him before I left... he was right there... stuck in my mind and it didn't take long before he had wiggled his lil ooozy face into my heart as well. 

I left the shelter thinking of this dog...  tearing up as I drove away thinking how bad this boy looked and how he must have been in unspeakable pain yet his tail continued to wag.  In spite of the fact that he had horrible wounds and infection all over his emaciated body, he STILL wagged his tail, he still felt that we (the human race) were okay.  Whoever had done this to him and or allowed him to get in this condition... well THIS boy didn't hold it against ALL of us.  I mean how amazing is that???? 

When I have had to deal with cases of abuse and or neglect, I have a bad habit of letting my mind go to places I wish it didn't.  Often times for me... it is not the injuries themselves that break my heart it's what this poor boy must have thought when his people put something on him that burned him or that he sat in a back yard getting more and more infected, wounds getting larger and larger and his people looked at him and never reached out to help him.  Did he think, what have I done????  What did I do that made you not love me even enough to rinse off my battered bleeding body?  What must this boy have thought? And even after all of that, he still sees the good in people... 

Anyway, I spent the next day with mental images of this boy going through my head and trying to decide if there was even anything I could do.  And then.... then late Saturday night I received a text from the one of the management team/trainer at the shelter with a "preview" of the kill list.  She had asked me to take a look and make sure the pics had attached properly and as I rolled down through the email... there he was....  Don't get me wrong, I hate that my local high volume shelter has to kill for space but I did understand why this boy was placed on there immediately.  The over capacity gazillion year old dilapidated illness harboring shelter was certainly no place for this boy to be in.  The thought of this boy being rescued from his back yard by ACO and making his way out, only to be placed in the non public section of the shelter to be euth'd at 4pm on Tuesday just didn't work for me.  I just thought he needed one chance, so I asked if I could pick him up first thing Monday and take him to my vet.  Permission was granted and away we went.

I also saw his picture that night posted out on facebook because he was on the "kill" list.  I hadn't paid any attention to the photo caption that read "Charlie"...  but I had studied his picture and had already dubbed him Patrick...  he just really looked like a Patrick.  I busied myself googling and yahooing inspirational people names because that's what I was INSPIRED by this boys spirit and his ability to forgive.   Those searches paired with the fact that I already KNEW he was a Patrick I quickly came up with Patrick Henry... after Patrick Henry Hughes, a young man whose family was featured on Extreme Makeover Home Edition, very very inspirational young man and family.  This link might let you see how Patrick Henry for this boy... just works.  Click the link and check out the video, not just to see this young man but to see the impact he has on others and his amazing positive outlook on live despite the challenges that he faces every day.  "They tell me there's more to life then just what I can see".... I think our Patrick gets that statement.

Patrick Henry Hughes - Extreme Makeover - I Believe

 I arrived at the shelter bright and early Monday morning and Shannon went in to get Patrick Henry for me.  He came out, tail a waggin, went on a brief walk with us to do his morning business... and yes, this boy is housebroken to a fault.  He had not pottied in his cage at the shelter all weekend.  So he did his biz and we headed back to my jeep to load up.  I opened the back gate of the jeep where I had a big blankie all fixed up for him.  He immediately put his front paws up on the back, stood there for a second or two then turned his head and looked at us as if to say... "Hey.. little help here, this is kinda a big jump".  Shannon gave him a boost and instantly he just curled up on the blankie. 

My vet clinic is only about 10 min from the shelter but the whole trip I never saw him or heard a peep.  He was content to be curled up on the blankie, enjoying the peace and solitude of my car.  Now of course I had called ahead to my vet clinic to let them know I was bringing in this poor boy that we had no clue what was wrong.  They are always willing to take on a challenge. 

Once there in the vet clinic with both Dr. Worthley and Dr. Bendur present I was hoping for an "AH HA" moment but no such moment existed... still a mystery and many scenarios it could be.  Now I should back up and tell you all another little something about Patrick Henry... it's very cliche but he had me at hello.  This boy just got me... yup went straight for the heart.  Patrick Henry is the kind of dog you look at and you can see straight into his soul.... or maybe it's that he can see into yours but man... he gets ya.

Anyway, I told them about how sweet this boy is and in spite of what he must be going through, he is loving and affectionate.  I told them I wanted to do what we could for him.  I went on to tell the vets that IF he took a turn for the worse or we determined that is was cruel to keep going then I would not return him to the shelter.  I would be with him there at the clinic if we needed to help him to the bridge.  We discussed at length what I wanted done at this point and what needed to be done.  He was given a thorough physical exam and we decided to sedate him and scrub down his wounds and remove dead tissue... there was a lot of that.  Here are some pics of what he looked like before during and after this process.



Patrick's right arm                                                     Patricks left arm after it was shaved

Patricks sweet face                                          Left rear leg

Patrick still knocked out after being cleaned up and slathered down with Silvadene

Honestly at this point in the process we still don't know what has caused all of this injury.  We did a complete blood workup, all of which was basically normal.  Of course we heartworm tested him and no way he could catch a break.. he was positive.  At this point I am completely smitten with this boy so I know I need to find out what is going on and see if we can "fix" it.  My vets also took a sample to send off for biopsy to help determine if this is an auto-immune thing or what....  so now we wait....  up to 10 to 14 days for results.  He is on antibiotics and his wounds are being cleaned daily and Silvadene applied.  He is being such a good boy there and has already made a couple of wonderful friends. 

His friend Julie, she comes and takes him out for a walk and just keeps him company and his friend Nikki was able to come meet him yesterday and is following his care... also offering her home to foster once he is well enough to go.  Patrick Henry makes friends no matter where he goes.  He's so stinkin cute.. on Monday as we sat in the lobby at JCAH, there were 2 ladies who came in to drop off records.. Patrick Henry immediately stood like a gentleman would when a lady enters the room and his tail went crazy.  He was sure these 2 lovely ladies were there to see him....  Thank goodness they noticed him... they too could see to look past the horrific physical appearance, they stood chatting with him for a few min, gave him a pat on the head and told him they were praying for him.  He wagged his tail and watched them leave then curled back up at my feet.   I always hear stories about the "angels" who walk among us... and I have to wonder......  he has a purpose here and he was NOT meant to meet his fate in the back room of the shelter.  Too many factors aligned for this. I ordinarily would not have been at the shelter.. and even if I was I would not ordinarily have been back in the back...  I mean had Patrick been brought in 15 mins earlier or 15 mins later I would never had met him.  If I didn't have an amazing, wonderful, fantastic, phenomenal vet clinic (Jackson County Animal Hospital) I would not have had a place to take him.  So all of these things that were not part of my ordinary day... make me believe that Patrick Henry is not ordinary at all... he is EXTRAORDINARY.  I can't wait to continue to tell his story....

Patrick Henry already looking better after Day 2

I'm going to ad more to his story later tonight but for now I need to get to the hospital to see him and pic up another undergoing hw treatment.  I do want to thank everyone for their healing thoughts, prayers etc and for all the amazing people who are already donating to his care.  We have set up a chipin for him located at Patrick Henry's Fund  On my way to the hospital I am stopping to pick him up a great big ol bone and a big cushy bed... from all of his friends!!!!!  

Big Hugs,

Carolyn & Patrick Henry

Our first ever "human" transport....

February 19th, 2012:
The day started like any other.. we woke up in a hotel room in Muncie Indiana... okay maybe it didn't start "exactly" like any other....  At any rate, Susan and I woke up to our automated wake up call at precisely 6am.  We got dressed and got all prepared for the days adventure.  We gathered our goodies and went down to the "hot" breakfast offered by our hotel.  We enjoyed a light breakfast and waited for our "limo" back to Adopt A Lab.  The limo AKA lil white dog mobile arrived promptly at 7... ish and we were off to "the facility" to catch our transport.  Here we are awaiting our transport driver, posing with Lee Strayer by the Adopt A Lab bus.. AKA The Big white dog mobile... 

And here is an awesome shot of the AAL Bus...  incidentally many of you reading this or who participated in this transport may recognise the GIANT black lab on the side of the bus... It's Banjo, a black lab we pulled from KCMO shelter and transported back in April 2011.  Isn't he handsome????

Oh and in case any of you are wondering.. just as our run she said.. he had all our shots.. here is photographic proof.... *Thanks Mary

 

or if you need verification

 

Personally I prefer the former to the latter because there is less double chinage going on in the former.. bwahahahaha 

We had quite a line up of drivers for the day:
Dena Lynch - Muncie to Plainfield
Mark Wills - Plainfield to Terre Haute
Cathy Redman - Terre Haute to Altamont
Mary Britsch - Altamont to St. Charles
Diane McAlpin - St. Charles to Columbia
Mindy Bloom - Columbia to Concordia
Jeff Forker - Concordia to Kansas City

There were also many "handlers" that came to the meeting spots to help corral these 2 crazy passengers. 


The first leg with Dena pretty much went off without a hitch..  except we did have one teeny weeny wrong turn but it was quickly corrected and we were under way.  We had a nice ride looking at all of the beautiful scenery between Munci & Plainfield... *hint of sarcasm...  We chatted with Dena about past transports and how in the world she ended up in Indiana... 

We arrived at the Plainfield exit right on time. We were greeted by our 2nd leg driver, Mark and an entourage of "corralers", Dori Griffith, Maija Salkeld and Anita Padgett.  We also got to meet 3 beautiful furr butts there as well.    Anyway, we stood there in the parking lot enduring the Gail force winds that had blown up that morning and hung out for our allotted 30 min "potty break" time.  We laughed, shivered and gave and received lots of hugs.  We did make one small mistake at this meeting spot... we met at Burger King, not Cracker Barrel but I still think it counts.. there was one directly across the street.  Here are a few pics of the crew at the Plainfield Exit

Now as I said there were Gail force winds a blowin and it was actually pretty chilly... so we had to do what we could to stay warm.... 

We do apologize to Mrs. Mark....  but.. what happens on transport stays on transport LOL

Dori got a great shot of what the transfer really entailed with all of our luggage and loot we had managed to rack up already...

We managed to get everyone loaded in the back of Marks truck and headed on out to make our way to Terre Haute to meet Cathy and whomever else would make their way to the meeting spot as well. 

Great shot of Pretty and Mary watching us leave.. probably wondering WTH????  this is a first.. we the dogs hand the people off????

Thanks to Dori we had some great still shots from this meeting spot.. I was so busy making sure I got it on video that I totally spaced off getting any still shots.  Thanks Dori!!!!!

Had a great time on our leg with Mark.. talked about his Dalmatian crew and learned all kinds of nifty facts about them.. like they really don't have spots when they are born...  oh and apparently Marks crew are "wino's"  can't leave a glass of wine unattended at his house lol.  All went well to Terre Haute.. and we actually arrived early.. lucky for us so did Cathy Redman..  she and her co-pilot Annie, so we had some extra leg stretchin time there...  Shortly after we arrived at the Cracker Barrel so did Kathy Modesitt and Ellen Baxter and man o man.. the treats, drinks and snacks just kept coming.  We even got some home made goodies there.. honestly not sure what they were but WOW they were amazing!!!!!  

The winds had moved down from F5 level to F4 by now so our parking lot time was a bit more enjoyable.  Once again.. my brain was not functioning and I was only smart enough to run the video camera at this point... so unfortunately I don't have any still shots to share of the amazing crew at Terre Haute...  okay well wait...  Here is my one and only still shot at Terre Haute... GO ME....

This is Annie.. I'm sure wondering why the hell she is in one car and her mommy and the crazy new people are all in the other...  Hey it was cold....

We began the task of unloading all of our loot...  which had grown by leaps and bounds.. in fact at this point Susan thought she may need to blast out for a second driver later down the road just to haul all of our goodies...  We managed though, to get everything over into Cathy's car, said our goodbyes to Mark, Kathy and Ellen and off we went.  Had yet another great time with Cathy and Annie

This is Annie, wondering how come even though she called shotgun, she ended up in the back seat and I ended up in the front... And this is how she felt about my having "stolen" the shotgun position for the trip...

We worked out our differences though especially once she realized Sue was going to be in the back seat with her....  She got lots of loving from Sue on this leg. 

Talked about many a past transport with Cathy... she has been with us for a very long time.  She pointed out a spot along the road where she once got stuck behind a huge accident in horrible weather during one of our transports... as soon as she mentioned it... it all clicked and we remembered it was a 2 dog transport and she was to be picking up from Mary... Mary ended up just turning around and taking the 2 dogs back home to hang out for the week and we sent them on the following weekend. 

We pulled in at Altamont only about 10 min late and what a crew we got to meet there...  Our driver Mary Britsch, Sue Bixler, Barb Zellers and Barbs, random kitty cat she was driving on transport.  By this time..  What is left of my mind started to work and I did manage to get some still shots at this location... was probably the motley crew there that prompted this lol

We said our goodbyes and loaded all of our goodies into Mary's car...  and promptly pulled through McDonalds to get a bit to eat for the road.  Once again we chatted about past transports and shared rescue stories.  Up until now things had gone smoothly and there were no "incidents" to speak of... however.. once we arrived at the Cracker Barrel in St. Charles MO... we got out of the car... Susan and Mary decided to go in for a potty break while we waited for Diane to arrive...  Sue and Mary went inside... locking the car and leaving me unattended in the parking lot.. YUP.. left the transport passenger unattended.. untethered alone in the parking lot... someone could have come and stolen me... what were they thinking????  Luckily I was okay...  Mary did make one run back in leaving us both unattended and running amuck off leash in the parking lot... I do have video proof of that... which I will post once Lee sends it back to me. 

Now really up until now, we had a very nice, laid back trip.. lots of reminiscing, and laughs along the way... BUT THEN... Diane McAlpin pulls in.. slings open her side door and we see a big tub of ice and quite the veggie and dip spread.. along with string cheese and a mini mardi gras party set up..  this is what followed...

By this time.. we are starting to get a little worn down..  so we transfer all of our "crap" from  Mary's car to Diane's and off we go.  Now back in the day when I drove transport every weekend, I met Diane many a time so this was not a new meeting for me but was a first for Sue.  We chatted again about our rescue babies and how we started transporting together until we arrived in Columbia to meet up with Mindy. 

We pulled in and immediately met up with Sue and Nancy.. some more of our "regulars".  We actually struck up a conversation with some folks there in the parking lot taking their own pets out to potty... 

Someone mentioned coffee so in to.. you guessed it.. The Cracker Barrel we went.  We had a couple of cups of coffee and sat visiting with everyone... and before we knew it it was time to load up into Mindy's vehicle and be on our way to meet Jeff in Concordia.

Now much like this blog...  we were really starting to loose steam by now...  I mean it's a lot of work hauling all of our crap from one car to another and to keep up this pace of being so adorable and charming... LOL LOL LOL 

Anyway, we talked about all kinds of stuff with Mindy from transport to mental illness...  Don't Ask hehehehehe  But we had a great ride.  We are now at the Concordia stop... the final leg of the transport...  man are we beat...  Jeff is quite the gentleman and lugs most of our crap from Mindy's car to his... Thank YOU Jeff...  here is a great shot of Sue, Jeff & Mindy

So off we go.. the final leg.. the final stretch... whew....  Was a great ride, we talked about transports, and everything involved and talked about getting together from time to time just to socialize.  We made it to... guess where???  the Cracker Barrel where my hubby Mark met us and we went in to join a table of 4 wonderful local rescue/transport ladies.. Sherry, Sherrie, Shelley and Angela and got to sit down and have dinner with everyone... 

We for the last time, moved our haul over to my own vehicle and headed on home... Feeling so thankful to have gotten to meet each of you.  Felt great finally being able to put a face to the emails/phone calls etc that we had been doing for so many years now.  We felt humbled in the face of all of you who step up week after week to make all this possible.. I personally even felt a little nauseous.. I think I had one to many snickers by this time... 

On a funny side note..  we also learned that for years now we have been pronouncing a few names wrong...  For instance Mary Britsch... well turns out it's actually pronounced like it's spelled... of course Sue and I, for years have referred to her as Mary "British"...  oopsie... 

Now just so you all know...  I have tried since the 19th on multiple occasions to pronounce Mary's last name correctly...  we are finally starting to get the hang of it, but it's not easy... 

And one more funny side note about names...  Maija Salkeld...  turns out, her first name is pronounce like Mya..  who knew????  I had been saying her name like Maja..  this one I am still having trouble with but don't worry Maija I am really REALLY trying...

In my world you two ladies may forever be known as Maja and British... lol 

I am going to make an attempt in the next few days at trying to write a blog entry about this adventure from the view point of the dogs...  It's amazing to Susan and I how well the dogs do on transport...  by the end of ours we were exhausted and starting to get a little cranky... guess once again we learn about the spirit of the dogs we all step up to help!!!!!

My apologies for my "spacing" off taking still shots the first couple of legs.  I will have Lee capture some stills from the video and edit this entry when we receive them.  I will also post out the video of the day as soon as Lee sends it to me.

FYI: we ended up with 2 bags of snickers..  4 boxes of Dots.. 4 Diet Cokes...  4 bottles of Water...  2 bags of Chex Mix, A bag of Gold Fish, A bag of Cheetos 2 bags of Cashews a big bag of twizzlers, 4 things of string cheese and various other snacks...  hurts my tummy just typing it...  lol

Overall it was an amazing experience....  we met so many AMAZING people, had a lot of laughs and got to see at least a small part of the world One Cracker Barrel at a time......

Sue and Carolyn's Excellent Adventure... To Muncie Indiana

Well it started out innocently enough.  Patty & Lee Strayer with Adopt A Lab invited us to come spend the weekend with them to catch up, see the renovations at the facility etc.  I was going to fly in from Kansas City and Susan was going to fly in from Detroit... we were going to spend the day and fly back to our respective cities the next day.... This is where it took a turn for the "strange" and went downhill from there.  Susan and I talked on the phone about our trip, organizing and coordinating flight times etc and then it happened....  I said "hold on..  wait a minute....  Sue, this is our chance, why don't you take a week off and come back to Kansas City with me and we can transport ourselves back."  So of course Sue being the Transport GODDESS that she is sprung into action.. feverishly typing up a run sheet.  This in and of itself is where hilarity started to ensue...  there were several fits of laughter as we constructed our Run Sheet Bios.... 


Susan got it all put together and "blasted" it out as usual.  She received dozens of emails with big giant LOL's and "that's hilarious" comments.. so she had to send it out again saying.. "Yes, we know it's funny... but seriously we NEED a ride." 

We did this because we wanted the opportunity to meet face to face with the drivers.  Many of you have worked with us for years now, we email, we facebook and we even chat on the phone but we had never had the chance to "see" each other.   I also wanted to try and write a story about transport.. through the eyes of the dogs.  What a wonderful opportunity this would be, a chance to see what it's like to be handed off from car to car, never knowing who or what you might meet along the way... not to mention it was a "free" ride back home with lots of snacks... It was a "win/win" situation.. lol

A little about our stay in the Culturally Iconic Scenic Muncie Indiana:

We arrived at the Indianapolis Airport on Friday morning,  mostly without incident...  I was fortunate enough to fly straight through.. Susan unfortunately, flew from Detroit via Baltimore... WTH???  We were picked up via AAL Limo Service.. AKA the Lil White Dogmobile and escorted back to Muncie.  We had a great time meeting up with Patty and going to check out the facility and seeing some familiar doggie faces as well.  We headed back to Patty and Lee's to hang out, visit and get ready for a wonderful dinner... Turns out Patty is an Amazing Chef....   After dinner we had a few drinks and hung out late into the evening catching up. 

On Saturday we spent the day at AAL assisting with a video of Miss Daisy and fine tuning our professional photography skills doing photo shoots of quite a few of the "new" AAL kids.  We had a blast working with the dogs... as always, AAL has a wonderful group of canine occupants. 

After our photo shoots we were again whisked off to the hotel via our "limo" and headed up to our room (3rd floor) to shower and get ready for another fabulous Chef Patty Gourmet Meal... YUM YUM...  so up to the 3rd floor we go... shoved the key in the little slot thingy... and nothin... grrr.. shove it in again... still nothin, again.. yep you guessed it.. nothin, so back to the elevator we go and down to the desk.. Lucky for us "Snotty" Sara was on duty... we told her of our plight, she snatched the key from my hand stuck it in her magic machine and promptly handed it back to me saying "here ya go"...  so without further conversation we went back up to the 3rd floor and with great precision inserted our key and ... wait for it.....  NOTHIN, NADA, ZIP... ZILCH... a few more swipes to no avail.  another trip down... same reaction, same "help" another trip back up and same anticlimactic outcome...  long story short after the 4th trip down.. we called her from the hallway...  she said she would be up shortly...  we very diligently just kept swiping the damn thing until finally...  the door relented and allowed us entry... WHEW

Again another wonderful meal, wonderful wine and great conversation... We also worked with Lee on a video interview about transport in general as well as a very special transport for our boy Moose.. this handsome hunk is Moose.

Now after a glass of wine... um... or two we all shared funny stories...  Aside from "Check Out At Wal Mart" I think my vote for funniest was "The Vegas" story...  This will probably be one of those stories that will always be kind of our "inside" joke but I do want to share one picture that I think Patty & Lee will get a kick out of and I hope it will put a smile on their faces.....

Now for those of you have not been to who have not been to the Cultural Mecca of Indiana.. here is a photo for you... This is the Cultural center in Muncie.

This my friends is where all of the "culture" in Muncie is kept... so it doesn't get dirty or broken...  lol  Just kidding Muncie seems like a great place.  We saw the sight.. yes I said sight while we were there and I must admit Sue and I had a pretty good chuckle while sitting in our hotel room wondering what the Ball State mascot was and in true childish form had many laughs discussing the Balls of Muncie...  *wink wink

Anyway, I am going to end this blog post here.. an intermission of sorts.. so get up stretch your legs, hit the "little rescuers room" and maybe grab a snack...  The actual transport is next.