Kelly, The Hound of Lickersville

Is this a beautiful dog, or what? Kelly, a most wonderful hound-mix, was my latest rescue transport. This picture speaks volumes about her.

Yesterday, my friend, Carol, and I traveled to a little town called Bethel, about one hour and 45 minutes away, to meet Kelly behind the Midway Diner -- which was a step back in time. Way back. But that's another story for another time. After all, underdograilroad is about dog transports, not diners.

Kelly, without a doubt, was the quietest of the ten dogs who arrived by three separate cars from Ohio. We were given an excited barking concert when the other nine dogs realized they were about to be released from their taxis for a little walk and drinkie-poo before being loaded into a large van destined for a safe-harbor shelter in Connecticut. Our little Kelly, however, was coming with us as she had a foster family to welcome her in Trooper, PA.

Kelly seemed genuinely happy to meet me and Carol. As you may have guessed, she was very generous with her "lickerville" kisses, and here I am graciously accepting one. The barking symphony continued, while Kelly remained quiet. Carol spent some time admiring the handsomeness and beauty of the other dogs, while I watered and walked Kelly. I was already in love by then.

Finally, we loaded her into the back seat of my car, and we were off. As has happened so many times on previous transports, Kelly wanted to sit in front with us. She was a strong little devil, so after traveling only a mile or two down Route 78, we took an offramp, pulled into a gas station, and transferred Carol into the back seat. I didn't have a towel for Carol to lay on, so she had to share Kelly's. But no one seemed to mind. Kelly settled down then, content to no longer be the only one relegated to the back seat. The rest of the ride was uneventful.

Kelly's foster father, Brian, was at the appointed spot to meet us, and Kelly took to him right away. Perhaps she understood she would stay with him and his family for a little while, until she found her forever home. Brian told us that he has fostered 31 dogs over the last two years. That makes Brian pretty darn special in my book. That equals more than one foster dog per month. He spoke about how his family and several neighbors look forward to the arrival of each foster dog, and that his fosters always meet the other dogs in the neighborhood. I'm confident that Kelly will enjoy her temporary life with Brian and his family. Brian works from home, so he's able to spend a lot of time with each dog in his care. So hip, hip hooray for Brian! Now, there's a hero!

So, another successful transport. Brian promises he'll send me an update on Kelly. She is totally adoptable, a real people pleaser who loves anyone and everyone. You may check her out at: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetails/20821987.

I'm home today, nursing my lonely heart, since I loved and lost so quickly. But Kelly is the best, and I just know she'll find her forever home real soon. Or who knows? Maybe she'll even end up with Brian forever. You never can tell.

Ready, Aim, Fire?

Scouter, Scouter, Scouter. What can I say about Scouter? So many wonderful things -- he's unique, hopeful, smart and gentle.

After commiting to transporting my previous charge, Rocky The Raucous, I was tapped for a transport the very next day for my usual transporting group, headed by Jen Daley. So, on Sunday, March 6th, I set off without Carol this time, to meet Jen in Morgantown, where I was to pick up Scouter, whom Jen had personally saved from a dreadful fate in West Virginia.


Jen had warned me that Scouter was a bit smelly from being in the kennel for so long, but that he was fairly well-behaved in the car and spent much of his time with his face right in yours. It was then I learned his breath wasn't so great either. When they arrived, Jen took Scouter for a little walk. He headed straight for a pole, lifted his leg appropriately, and peed. All was well -- until he took a few more steps and lifted his leg again, ready, aim, fire -- onto Jen's leg! At that very moment, I wondered if Jen was so happy about personally rescuing Scouter from WV! She called him a "toad" and rinsed her jeans leg off with water from his water bowl I'd set down. You just never know what you're going to get from these poor dogs, who have been neglected and have gone without training most of their lives. But Jen seemed to take this mostly in stride, and soon Scouter was sitting in the passenger seat of my car, ready to see the sights. Perhaps he got his temporary name of Scouter because he was intent on scouting out the scenery.

Although Scouter never really settled down during our ride, he seemed curious about everything that either we sped past, or that whizzed by us (pardon my reference to "whiz"). I got the feeling that a lot of what he saw during our hour-long ride was brand new to him. He sat or stood on the seat the entire time. He either looked out the windshield, out the door window, at the back of the seat (go figure), or at me. He seemed especially interested in the trucks that roared past us.

When we reached our destination at Animal Lifeline, Laura from the rescue group who was taking Scouter in, was there to meet us. I could tell she loves dogs. She embraced him immediately, so I quickly warned her of Scouter's faux paus committed against Jen earlier. It didn't faze Laura, and we agreed that Scouter would probably learn better manners quickly, and would make someone a great pet. I think perhaps a better name for him would have been "Shooter", but hopefully whoever his new owner is will never know about this little episode, and will name him Spot, or Fido or Fred.

Rocky, The Raucous

They said Rocky was a "counter-surfer" when it came to food. A gross understatement, I'm sure. A "counter-marauder" is a more apt nomenclature. But what a sweetheart too, as I learned on Saturday, March 5th, when Carol and I traveled to Allentown, PA, to pick up Rocky, The Raucous. He was listed as a "Puggles" breed. Definitely part pug, but what the "gles" stands for, I have no clue. From Allentown, we were to take Rocky to the capitol of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, which is about in the middle of this rather humongous state. The total round trip would be almost 300 miles. But I was anxious to do another transport, and none had come my way yet from my usual transport group.

Rocky was given up by his owners after four years, as they are expecting a baby, and with Rocky's avaricious appetite and lack of manners when it comes to food, they felt he was too much to handle with a new baby on its way. What a bunch of hooey! If they had only taken the time to train him, he'd be the model of a big furry brother to the new baby, but that's just my humble opinion. It's obvious they made lots of mistakes, as Rocky is a little porker. But a very lovable one! Could you possibly pass up a face like this one?

Rocky seemed overjoyed to see both Carol and me. He treated us like we were long, lost friends. He gave us the pleasure of petting him, and shyness was not in his repetoire. He came with his own bag of food, which had to be kept in the trunk of the car, but as we transferred the bag into my car, he took giant leaps to try to get into the trunk. For an overweight dog, he had some pretty good moves. He finally settled for a drink of water, a brief walk, he did his thing, and we transferred over all his belongings. He jumped right into the backseat of my car, trusting soul that he is, and we were off.

Next thing we knew, Rocky The Raucous was sound asleep in the backseat. Surprisingly, he didn't snore. And he didn't move a muscle for the next hour and a half, until we pulled into the Burger King parking lot to meet his next transport drivers -- whom he greeted as though they were long, lost friends. He gave them the pleasure of petting him. (And Carol and I thought he only had eyes for us!) After drinking some water, taking a brief walk, doing his thing, trying to jump up into the back of their vehicle for his newly transferred bag of food, he jumped into the front seat, trusting soul that he is, and smiled for my camera -- and was off on his next leg of his trip, heading for Ohio. Rocky is such a lovable character, and with a little training and a proper diet, he'll soon be known as Rocky The Wonderful.