Update from Andrea Moxness' Blog

Bing, Bang, Boom

Finally -- another dog transport to write about! My computer crashed in late November, and I finally got it replaced, but it's been slow-going -- in more ways than one. Anyway, on to the dogs!

The first bit of great news is that adorable Kelly, the houndog from my last post, was adopted within three weeks by a new family, and is living happily ever after. A perfect ending!

The ending of my current transport story is an unusual one, but we'll get to that. First, meet Casey and Allie. Casey is a sweet-tempered lab mix, and Allie is a rambunctious,  but lovable short-haired something-er-other. We met them in the parking lot, where a guy named Steve had brought them. So far so good.

It was a brisk, windy day, and as usual, my friend Carol had accompanied me. We attended an event earlier that day, for which we had worn dressier clothing, not our usual jeans and sneakers. Before we took delivery of the dogs, Steve had several stories to tell us about his transporting experiences. Somehow, I think our day together will be added to his repetoire.

Anyway, he was an interesting, talkative individual, but I started to get cold, so suggested we get on our way. Allie, you will see, wasn't bothered one iota by the cold as she enjoyed her stomach rubs, no matter what!

Steve handed Allie over to Carol, and I took Casey and headed for the trunk of my car to get my leashes. I noticed Allie was yanking on Carol a lot, and I worried if she'd be able to handle that energetic dog. Boy, was I barking up the wrong tree! Next thing I knew, Casey had wrapped his leash around me -- twice -- and had gotten behind me, and simply started walking. Doesn't sound so bad, right? Well, I was trapped by his leash, and before I could bark three times, I was desperately struggling to stay upright. But I was wearing clogs, of all things! And I just couldn't balance myself, and although I put up a hell of a fight, I fell backwards and whacked the back of my head on the pavement. Splat -- or at least that's how it felt to me!

Good ol' Steve raced to my side. Although I thought for sure my head would be bleeding, he checked, and no blood. He then began asking me questions, checking my pupils and color, and announced he thought I'd be okay, but encouraged me to take my sweet old time sitting up. He stayed by my side, made sure I knew who I was and what day it was, while he told me he used to race motorcycles. He'd seen many, many crashes and had experience with injuries in his day. This comforted me as my confidence grew that I might actually survive my crash.

Slowly, but surely, I sat up and finally rose to my feet. Shaky, but up. And cold. Very very cold. All I wanted to do was get inside the car with the dogs, so I could get warmer, and start our hour-long drive. A few minutes later, with me behind the wheel as usual, we were off.

And guess what! At our final destination, Allie's forever family was there to meet her and take her home! That's the first time I've delivered a dog to its family, so I felt elated. They surprised their little boy by waiting to tell him until Allie actually arrived. He was so happy and grinned from ear-to-ear. So did Allie. It was so worth it!

And dear Casey went with Carolyn to be fostered, until he went to his forever home a few weeks later. Yay!

It was not Casey's fault that this happened. I learned a "hard" lesson. Always, always, always wear sneakers! And be more attentive so you don't get wrapped up in a leash. And, although I didn't do the smartest thing the day of my fall, I did see my doctor that Monday, and he sent me for a CT scan, which came back normal. But because I was still experiencing dizziness, he also sent me to a neurologist, who told me that only time and rest will help heal my minor concussion. She was right about that, as I still experience dizziness (well, more dizziness than usual anyway), but I am sure it will eventually disappear. And I'll be up to my old dog tricks as usual. So, look out transport dogs! Here I come!