WC Rally Trial @ Oakes K9 and a Rescue Transport!

Ein and I went to the K9Jym yesterday for a double World Cynosport Rally-O trial.  This was the first time I have gone to a trial with only Ein, specifically to do Veterans - and I must say it was a relaxing experience!  We will be doing so again in November.

The courses were nice, with a lot of heeling and not a lot of sits and downs.  Some Veterans courses still do have a lot of that and it can truly be fatiguing for older dogs, even with the reduced amount of signs..  Ein is a young Vets class dogs, some of the dogs he was competing against were 13 and 14 years old!  I love seeing the seniors out in the ring and I hope so very much that Ein and I are doing the same when he is that age.

I was lucky to get both of Ein's ring times on video.  Don't make fun of our "formal tennis ball retrieve"!

Ein earned a 209 on the first run and a 205 on the second.  There were about ten dogs in the Veterans class in both trials, wow!  That is the largest turn out I have seen yet.  Ein earned a third place in the first trial.  We had to leave before the ribbons were handed out after the second trial, so I don't know.  I do believe that 205 took us out of the ribbons though.

All Vets who qualified received a free bandana.  The tie-dye one had to be ours!

I also made Ein wear a ram halloween costume and participate in the little costume parade that was held between the two trials.  Poor Ein!

The reason that we had to leave was...my first rescue transport of this year!  Shame, shame, shame.  This dog was being transported from Ohio to her adopters in New Jersey.  She was a sweet, ten year old Pomeranian named Josie.  The driver before us was too sick to drive, so me and another drive split that leg in half and both ended up driving a little extra.

We dropped Josie off* with the next transporter in line.  The drop off point was at a Whole Foods, which I have never been to before.   Ein and I walked around the parking lot, found the shopping center's geocache.  We visited Orvis as well, and Ein shunned both the clerk and his dog treat.  He ate the treat when the poor guy went back behind the counter.   Typical Ein!  He would schmooze treats from anybody at a rally show, though.  After that I posed Ein in front of a pink pumpkin outside of Whole Foods (who am I to resist an invitation from the store to take a photo and post it on social media?) and back to the car he went while I browsed the store.  Busy day!

(*With rescue transports, it is highly discouraged if not forbidden to have personal dogs along for the ride, and for good reason.  However, both Ein and Josie were crated and separated from one another for the entire duration of the ride.)

Jet Transport

This is Jet!  Jet is my (probable) last transport of 2013 and what a bundle of energy!  Jet was being transported to his forever home in CT this evening, he will arrive at midnight.  He has come all the way from Texas where he was being fostered.  He spent this past week in Ohio with a temporary foster between transports and began his journey Home this morning.   Jet is only about a year old and he was freaking pumped.   He was absolutely sweet and loving but he pulled like a freight train and moved so fast that it was hard to not feel tired just looking at him!  I was grateful that I have a crate in my car!   He alternated settling down with whining and thumping around - his new family will have their hands full at midnight tonight that's for sure.  As you can see, he had on two different collars and my own slip lead - we did not want this guy to take off running and never be seen again.  Happy travels, Jet!

Prissy Transport

My work schedule rearranged at the last moment this week and it left me with Wednesday free.  So when I got an e-mail about a dog needing a ride to La Mancha Animal Rescue, I offered to take her there Wednesday (the rescue is not far from the training center where me and the dogs train, after all.)

Prissy was seized in a hoarder "bust" and turned over to Pregnant Dog Rescue since her abdomen was very swollen.   Once she had settled in, however, the foster realized that she was simply in heat and not pregnant.   Prissy got along well with dogs larger than her, but there were several occasions of attacking the foster's two small chihuahuas.  And since the foster had two mommas with litters and one pregnant dog about to give birth, she was just a *little* bit busy and had no need of the additional "dog drama".

So, La Mancha took her!  I was happy to help get her there.  Another transporter had kept Prissy overnight and she met me in the late afternoon for the hand off.  Prissy did not want to get out of the car, she was afraid.  This is typical of dogs that are in hoarding situations since they receive little if any human attention.  I crawled into the car, picked her up and put her into the crate inside of my car.  She seemed very happy to crawl into a safe and enclosed spot and was quiet for the entire 90 minute ride to the rescue.

La Mancha rescue is a sprawling farm that takes in not just dogs and cats but livestock animals as well.  They keep their dogs in a kennel run and the set up is much like a regular shelter, but the dogs get a whole lot more attention and a relaxed environment when they are walked.  Regardless, I couldn't help but feel sorry for Prissy when I put her into a large cage on the floor.  A dog like her would do best in a foster home.  I was told to look for updates on the Facebook page, and I am sure that the rescue will do right by this little girl.  Hopefully she comes out of her shell and finds the home that she deserves.

Rescue Transport - Fritz/Max/Bingo

It has been since April since I have done a rescue transport, wow!
Today's three lucky dogs were all from Ohio and heading to Almost Home Rescue.

This is Fritz, eight months old and such a love - he was abandoned when his owners moved away and neglected to take him with them.
He is a "leaner" like Molly, either that or crawling between my legs while I was trying to walk.  He had zero interest in peeing or pooping at the rest stop and apparently not the stop before.
We were not out of the parking lot before I heard a very wet sound and smelled urine.   Oops!
Hey, I'm sure it was a hectic day for him.  
Fritz is available for adoption, click for his Petfinder.com page!

This is Max, two year old hound mix - he was a stray.   Max was definitely the calmest of the three dogs and had those soulful hound eyes that totally melt your heart.   His expression reminded me a lot of my sister's sweet beagle.
Max was a good rider and totally coopertive.   While the other two were wrestling at the drop off site, Max was happy to pose for adorable photos like this!
Max is available for adoption, click for his Petfinder.com page!

Last but not least, Bingo.  10 months old and this was the most still photo I had of him - gotta detain the youngsters for static photos!
He was also a stray, found in a nursing home parking lot.
Bingo is available for adoption, click for his Petfinder.com page!





We dropped the pups off with a nice volunteer from Almost Home.  Before she left we chatted about dogs and let Bingo and Fritz burn off a little energy in a wrestling match.   How cute!

When he wasn't playing, Fritz loved laying like this in the grass.

 

Sweet Pea Goes Home!

First rescue transport in a while!  I found myself with a free afternoon, and a little beagle who needed a ride to meet her new family.

Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea was pulled from a West Virginia shelter just before she was euthanized.  Now she will be living in the lap of luxury in New Jersey, spoiled rotten!  Her new mommy got in touch with me after driving home with her and told me that Sweet Pea had just finished munching down on a hamburger.  Good for her!  On to a much, much better life, old girl.

Rescue Transports - Hannah and Puppies

With all of this weekend's trial and birthday excitement, I neglected to share the sweet little rescue transport that I helped with on Thursday.

Owner surrendered nursing momma dog and her litter of puppies needed to get to foster with Pregnant Dog Rescue.  This transport was absolutely out of my way, but I had the afternoon off...weekday transports are hard to fill...and why not?

I am going to just melt down into photos, because there was SO much cute in my car it was just about unbearable.

 

The white faced puppy with black spotty nose who I officially wanted to hide in my pocket and keep forever.  SO cute.

And Momma Hannah, not to be forgotten.  She had a stressful ride.  She got carsick, and was in perpetual anxiety about why she was being shuttled around and Hey! Wait! stay away from my puppies.

Rescue Transports : Bennie

No posts from me this week.  It has been a blur of agility, obedience classes and poor weather.

But I was able to get out on a rescue transport today (I am having a good run of weekends where I am able to transport!).   Today's customer was "Bennie", a 115 pound St. Bernard.  Bennie was taken to a foster for Mid Atlantic St. Bernard Rescue.

As far as I can gather, Bennie was an owner surrender to an Ohio shelter.  He was surrendered along with another dog, a boxer.  Bennie and the boxer had gotten loose and gotten into a scuffle with a neighbor dog.  That dog's owner threatened to sue unless Bennie and the boxer were turned over to animal control/shelter.  Bennie's owner complied, and was in tears while he surrendered his dogs.  I find this sad and I do feel awful for that owner.  Mistakes do happen. 

Bennie was not doing well at the foster facility in OH, so he was transferred to this St. Bernard rescue. The hope is that he does better in a foster home situation.  

Bennie was so scared and racy that he was deemed a flight risk. He was given Benadryl for the transport.

The transport was difficult for Bennie.  He did not try to escape.  In fact, he did not want to leave anybody's vehicle.  He was completely shut down.  He was seeking a safe place in every vehicle.  With both transferring him in and out of my car, the opposite vehicle was pulled up as close as possible.  We then goaded Bennie into moving out of a vehicle into the next one.  He would then bolt into the opposite vehicle and try his best to hide his face and body.  The other transporters and I did not put him in my crate, we feared that he would never want to come out of it.

Bennie "hiding" behind my crate.  I can still see you, Big Boy.

But, Bennie is on to his foster home this evening.  The hope is that, surrounded by other dogs in a "real home" situation, Bennie will perk up and come out of his shell.  I look forward to updates from the foster home.

Bennie only perked up after being hand fed some roast beef.  Otherwise his head was buried to the side of that crate.

Rescue Transport - Margie

Nearly every weekend, there is a transport coordinator who runs a large scale transport of at least eight dogs from varying locations "south" (or even Ohio) into Pennsylvania, Maryland or even New Jersey.  This weekend was no different!

I normally cannot help with these, since they are a bit out of my "range".  But about mid-week, a new dog was added that needed a ride "up my way".  Margie is a vizsla and pitbull mix and had traveled all the way from Kentucky!  She had adopters in New Jersey.  They drove into Pennsylvania to pick up their new family member.

The handoff was quick, and the transporter that Margie had been riding with before me could not stop gushing about this special little dog and how sweet she was.  So accurate!  Margie was a total lovebug.  She washed my face with gentle kisses, gave me some paws, laid backwards for belly rubs and played with a squeaky toy that I had in my car.  And then she zonked out for the rest of the ride, arranging herself into various adorable snuggly positions throughout our drive.

It was not long before we arrived at our destination.  I was excited!  It isn't often that a transporter gets to hand off a dog to her forever family.  Her adopter was very excited to meet Margie, and the adopter's father had also come along.  Margie was charming and friendly and loaded up into their vehicle with no fuss.  

I also learned that Margie will have a sister named Ginger to cuddle with, and a beach house to go to on vacation.  Lucky dog!  What a great transport and great ending.

[flashbackfriday] Appalachian Trail - PA 225 to Victoria Trail

The weather was a "touch" spring-in-the-air today.  And as ever, that has me yearning to go run up mountains or sling a thirty pound pack on my back and spend a few nights in the woods.  That was not an option today.

What was an option, however, was thinking back on the many beautiful hikes that I have had in the good weather.   To the beginnings of spring last year.  So many of my past hikes were blogged privately, so I decided to blog about a particularly sunny and uplifting hike that I enjoyed in June 2012.  

Original Hike Date - June 2, 2012. (National Trails Day!)

Trailhead - 40.411967, -76.9299   (PA 225, "Peter's Mountain".)

Mileage - 7.6 total miles, out and back.

Highlights - Table Rock.  Peter's Mountain Shelter.  Joseph Ibberson Conservation Area.  

I had a rescue transport in the Harrisburg area, and the pick up point was a convenient 20 minutes from this trailhead.  I left hours and hours early to give Ein and I enough time for a decent hike.  We had hiked at Joseph Ibberson Conservation area before (as part of the "Visit all State Parks" goal!), although I did not realize that it was only 4 miles north of the PA-225 trailhead when I started out.

I could not resist making the State Park my end goal, because it would mean linking up a section of the AT that I had hiked on previously.  The hike north from the 225 trailhead is nearly all flat, although it is not without typical Appalachian Trail moments.

See?

Obligatory Pose-on-a-Rock for Trails Day!

The going was rocky with slight elevations, and generally pleasant going through the woods.  It was a weekend so I did see some other hikers, all friendly and happy to be outside on a beautiful day.  The woods opened up into a powerline clearing.  There was a huge rock formation to my right that was very climb-able.  And there was a beautiful view with blue sky and clouds to enjoy!

Rocks and Ferns, interesting!

After enjoying my climb on top of the rock formation and snapping plenty of photos of the beautiful countryside, I climbed down and Ein and I re-entered the woods.

We stopped for lunch!

Fern Shadows.

Fern Corgi.

We passed the beautiful Table Rock because there were quite a few people gathered on it eating their lunch and enjoying.  Since Ein and I were out-and-backing, I knew that we could enjoy it on our walk back to the car.  We came to my original turnaround destination very quickly, the Peter's Mountain Shelter.  There were some thru-hikers hanging out in there and I talked to them for a little while before having a peek at my trail guide.  That was when I learned that I only had one more mile to go to Joseph Ibberson Conservation Area.  That mean two more miles.  But it was a lovely day, and I just felt like I was warming up with the first 2.8 miles.  So off we went!

I was quickly happy that I had added the extra mile.  There had been a forest fire of some sort, and the woods were burned black.  It was very eerie.  I tried to gather information about what happened from other hikers, but no one was certain whether it was a controlled burn or an accidental out-of-control fire.  Either way, it was interesting to see. 

That section of woods did not last for very long.  The trail then sloped downward in its first notable descent of the hike.  I was inwardly groaning because I knew that I would have to walk back UP.  Business as usual with out and back hiking, though!  

This little guy made my day!  

We reached the State Park gate, took a moment to say, "Ahh.  We have connected a past Appalachian Trail hike." (what can I say, I am a nerd!)  And then turned around and headed back the way that we came. 

That of course meant going back up the hill.  Oh well!

The miles went by quickly and before I knew it we were back at Table Rock, the sight to be seen on this hike.  There were a few different hikers gathered there, but Ein and I sat on a rock and enjoyed a snack while we waited our turn.  The hikers thought that Ein was very adorable.  As always, people admire that my little shorty is able to keep up on the trails.

Table Rock.  More impressive in person!

The sun had come out even more by the time that we reached the powerline clearing again.  

After passing the clearing, I explored a side trail that headed off to the left.  It brought me out at the bottom of the rock formation, on the other side opposite of the Appalachian Trail.  There was a campsite with burn pit.  It would be a wonderful place to camp out along the trail.

Hop back up the rocks!

This is PA-225.   The trailhead is just on top of the hill to the right.  The Appalachian Trail crosses over top of the road on that footbridge.  Until next time!

And I will also mention that the day ended just as well as it began.  The rescue transport went nice and smooth, and "Fenney Girl" was delivered to the next leg of the transport and on her way to a foster home in Philadelphia.  Any day that involves both hiking and helping rescue dogs is a good one!