Freedom Ride

Traveling to shelters is hard. But it’s harder for me to sit at home and not do it. The silver lining of this trip was that as I walked through overcrowded shelters in three states, I knew that on our last visit to Huntington-Cabell-Wayne Regional Shelter in West Virginia, I would be taking a mama and five puppies out of that situation and giving them their freedom ride.

Cherry and her five puppies (Bing, Tart, Ranier, Maraschino, and Utah Giant) are settled in our puppy room now and stretching the bounds of cuteness. Mama Cherry included.

When I heard that Cherry was 69 pounds, I thought there had to be a mistake. She certainly didn’t look that big in the picture I saw. But I borrowed an extra large wire crate from Laura, who is the director and founder of CASA Transport. She is our regular host in Tennessee and we always enjoy staying with her and her cast of foster dogs.

At home, Nick prepared the puppy room, using its largest set up so there would be plenty of room for this large dog and puppies we were expecting.

But when I met Cherry, I discovered that she is not a large dog. She’s just a heavy dog.

She doesn’t even stand taller than my knee. Some of that weight is milk, but much of it is just her. She’s probably a little overweight, but her long, low stature and turned out ankles speak to a possible Bassett Hound heritage. Bassetts can be very heavy. Cherry is simply a big-boned girl.

And what a sweet one! Her name suits her. Her round eyes sparkle and her tail never stops wagging. The vet’s guess is that she is six, but she’s got plenty of pep in her step for a six-year-old who has had a tough start in life.

Cherry spent at least the last four years of her life living on a chain outside. According to the person who dropped her off she was a stray that they’d kept tied up in their yard for the last four years. (and yes, I thought the same thing – how does that make her a stray if you don’t allow her to stray?)_

According to the owner person dropping off the ‘stray’, Cherry had given birth lots of times and always had nine puppies. The last time she had puppies, a couple had gotten stuck, and they’d had to take her to the vet. That week, she had delivered only five puppies and they were concerned there we more puppies stuck (and I’m sure they didn’t want to incur another vet bill for a stray), so they brought her and her puppies to the shelter in West Virginia. (The shelter had a vet check her and there were no ‘stuck’ puppies, she only had five this time.)

I look at this darling dog and I feel such fury toward people who could treat her so callously. And yet, Cherry is loving and friendly and happy, anyway.

There is such a life lesson for me in every dog I meet. If only all of us could be so resilient and live so in the present. Cherry is not hanging on to that horrible past or the horrible people who treated her horribly. She is simply happy to be here in my foster cottage and grateful for gentle hands and good food. The only evidence of her harsh treatment is that she’s pretty protective of her food. I imagine it was the one bright spot in her life. She sure loves to eat.

A few nights after she arrived, we had horrible thunderstorms and Cherry was terrified, trying to get over the puppy fence that kept her in. I’m not sure where she planned to go, but to keep her from hurting herself, I sat in the puppy room with her and waited out the storms. She crawled under my legs and shook, ignoring the puppies who slept through the storm unaffected.

While I comforted her, my heart simply broke for her, not just because she had endured storms outside all her life, but because as I ran my hands over her, I found the old scar from an embedded collar that must have happened to her as a puppy. (Embedded collars come from leaving a too small collar on a young puppy or dog. As the dogs grows, the collar tightens and becomes embedded in their neck. It’s painful and ultimately either breaks or is removed and often there is infection underneath. It leaves a permanent indention around the neck.)

While I can be sad for Cherry’s history, I can also adopt her attitude and know that Cherry’s story only gets better from here. This is the joy of fostering. It’s why I do it over and over again. To help an animal heal and prepare for the life she deserves with a forever family of her own.

My other foster dogs are doing well and ready for families of their own. Stela will be spayed next week. Argus is growing more confident every day (he actually licked Nick’s hand, searching for pets the other day). And Darla is thriving with a regular routine and the company of Stela and Argus.

The puppies were four weeks old yesterday, so they’ll be with me for another month before being available for adoption through Operation Paws for Homes. I’m hoping to create a live video of them (and the dogs) every day to document their progress. Look for it in the early evening on the Another Good Dog Facebook Group page (you can also watch them later).

You may be wondering what happened to my foster kittens. Four of them have been adopted, and the other three moved to a different foster home where there is more room to run. They’d outgrown my extra large crate and their playpen, plus I didn’t think they could peacefully coexist within the puppy room with Cherry and her pups.

Hopefully, Donut, Baklava, and Macaroon will find adopters or be transferred to another rescue organization soon. Meanwhile, they are making regular appearances at the Aristocat Café in Harrisonburg on Saturdays. Although this Saturday you might find them at the Tractor Supply in Woodstock for the Humane Society of Shenandoah County’s adoption event.

Until Each One Has a Home,

Cara

For information on me, my writing, and books, visit CaraWrites.com.

If you’d like regular updates of all our foster dogs past and present, plus occasional dog care/training tips, and occasional foster cat updates (!) be sure to join the Facebook group, Another Good Dog.

And if you’d like to know where all these dogs come from and how you can help solve the crisis of too many unwanted dogs in our shelters, visit WhoWillLetTheDogsOut.org and subscribe to our blog where we share stories of our travels to shelters, rescues, and dog pounds.

If you can’t get enough foster dog stories, check out my book: Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs . Or its follow up that takes you to the shelters in the south One Hundred Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues.

I love to hear from readers and dog-hearted people! Email me at carasueachterberg@gmail.com.

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Many of the pictures on my blog are taken by photographer Nancy Slattery. If you’d like to connect with Nancy to take gorgeous pictures of your pup (or your family), contact: nancyslat@gmail.com.