It's been a while...

It's been a long while.

Not sorry, either. I've been busy with Suka ( http://sukasplace.blogspot.com/ ), and life, and there's been very little happening here.

That's changing.
Up to my usual tricks again - I'm taking in an ISSR Shiloh, one in need of a good home, because where she is, they're not able to care for her much longer. Her owner, a Licensed Breeder, passed away, and there's basically no support left for the dogs of her kennel. One, Cain (Acer/GEM '08), is expected to be going to live with a family near Vanessa D., of Guardian Kennels ( http://www.guardiankennels.ca/ ). The other, Dakota, is coming to live with me. :-)

Dakota is a five year old female, neutered (so my breeding plans stay on hold for now!), and is a registered Therapy Dog with St. John Ambulance. St. John Ambulance is descended from the remnants of the Knights Hospitaler, and does good work all over the world. Unfortunately, they don't operate much in the US, so I'll need to find another group to sponser Dakota and myself, but I've long wanted to do Animal Assisted Therapy work, and Dakota is opening that door for me!

Plans for getting Dakota from her home in Winnipeg to her new home in Delaware have been a challenge, but the very good Shiloh people from Shiloh Shepherd Friends have bent over backwards, and we've got a relay running down into North Dakota, over into Minnesota, through Wisconsin, cutting south through Illinois past Chicago, across the tops of Indiana and Ohio, and then the length of Pennsylvania and into Delaware! Whew! What a ride! But we've got experts on each stage, and it all meshes.

Why, you may ask, aren't you flying her? Good question. Domestically, within the US, I could get her to me for as little as US$400, not counting travel crate. Travel crate for a full-grown ISSR Shiloh would be around US$180. But the nearest US facility that flies pets to the Philly area is Minneapolis - So there'd still be a lengthy drive involved. But why not Fly her across international borders, from Winnipeg, so to avoid the drive? Minimum of US$1800! Why the jump in costs? Because the TSA (Travel Security Administration) has, for whatever reason they feel valid, decreed that all unacompanied pets crossing the US borders by air must be shipped via a "Pet Forwarding Service." The cheapest was US$1800, and the price went up rapidly from there! That's something like three times the total cost of running her cross-country! And the travel times are comparable, once you include security and layovers!

So, it's a-road-trippin' we go.
Next Friday night, I start on my way to Toledo, which is where I'll pick up Dakota, and bring her the rest of the way home. It's been an interesting challenge to pull this together, but with good help and good hearts, nearly anything is possible.

We got the red carpet out for ya, Dakota!