Transport #18: Lacy

I had vowed not to do any transports this weekend. We really needed to concentrate on getting our apartment set up and so I swore that I would leave the weekend for that. I looked past several transports. But then Friday afternoon rolled around and there was no one for the Syracuse to Herkimer leg of a trip to help one St. Bernard get from a high-kill shelter to a rescue in Vermont. I couldn't say no and so I volunteered with the stipulation that if someone else volunteered, they have him/her do it. Well, Sunday morning rolled around and no one had volunteered.

So I headed out to exit 37 to pick up Lacy, a 100-pound St. Bernard. Luckily, Lacy was a pretty calm dog and easy to work with. The woman who met me talked to me for a moment, gave me her stuff, and then left me with a dog that didn't want to get into my car. Apparently Lacy got sick of traveling and people were having to force her into their cars. Nice. I was real thrilled with being left with 100 lbs of stubborn dog! The woman before me just lifted her in. Well, sorry, but I don't have the strength to lift even a PART of a 100-lb dog! So instead, I decided to crawl into the back seat and see if Lacy would follow. Luckily for me, she liked me enough to do exactly that. I got the doors shot and we were on our way.

She was an incredibly easy passenger. She settled right down in the back, laid down and relaxed for the entire trip out there. They had mentioned her wanting to get into the front seat, but I saw none of that on our trip. I had tethered her in the back just in case, but she didn't really move from the place she first lay down in.

We arrived in Herkimer in decent time and I got her out of the car to drink (a lot!) and pee (also a lot!). And then began the wait. Everyone was warned that things might run early and they sure did...about 30-45 minutes early. The woman before me took two legs of the trip, which meant no 15 minute change over, and apparently both she and I must drive at a good clip. I ended up sitting around in the heat with this giant dog for quite some time. Not that I entirely minded -- Lacy was very sweet. She walked great on a leash (thank god because I couldn't control a lunging 100-lb dog!), gave me big kisses, rolled over for a belly rub. The poor thing was an owner surrender. She and her sister Maggie were owned by an elderly person who ended up going into a nursing home. It was clear they were well socialized, but not entirely taken good care of. She had evidence of flea problems (fur missing in spots from where she had no doubt licked or bit too much) and had never been spayed (just spayed before the trip -- still with stitches in). She was a good girl though and we had fun together until the next person showed up.

Because I spent a lot of time with Lacy, I got some really good pictures of her. Here are a few of my favourites. The rest can be found here.