I can't believe she made that U-turn!!

Meet Cesare... Cesare the dog, that is, not the dog whisperer! Cesare hitched a ride with me today on the transport and since I didn't have a crate big enough for him, I tethered him and he rode in the front seat. What a traveling companion! This is my kind of dog! 80 pounds, friendly and funny as can be. And boy once he knew I had a stash of Milk Bones under my seat he wouldn't leave me alone. Kept looking at me with those pitiful eyes... "I'm SOOOOO hungry!!" What a dog!

I took this shot of him while we were waiting to make a U-turn to our transfer spot in Salisbury, NC. Looks like he was wincing at my driving! "I can't look!!!!"

Other passengers with me today were a strange looking dog named Daffodil - from the neck down she looked like a boxer, but her head was all Shar-pei! Next to her were 5 lab mix puppies who rode like little champs. No pooping or peeing in this group! Right behind me was a German Shepherd that weighed 40 pounds but should weigh 65. She was gorgeous, a great rider - got in her crate and laid right down and chewed on her milk bone. She was great on a leash too. Someone trained her... then turned her out and broke her heart.

I'm a fan of big dogs. Especially big black dogs, the ones that are hardest to adopt. More black dogs are euthanized in shelters thank any other color. Not sure why, I think black dogs are beautiful.

Today everything went really well. Mari, Alex (our friend from Animal Adption League) and I each drove down to Spartanburg, SC. Alex dropped off in Charlotte to take her foster dogs to an adoption event, and Mari and I continued on to Salisbury. In case anyone wonders, that's 255 miles for me. Thanks to Jim for letting me use his car - a Toyota Highlander. I couldn't get many crates in my Mercury Grand Marquis, though the dogs would probably love the leather seats and upgraded sound system. In the Highlander they usually suffer through me singing along to XM Radio 60's and 70's stations. Today I took along some CDs - Don't laugh - I took the soundtracks to The Littlest Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. I know roughly every other word and alone in the car I sing super loud.. and super off key! POOR BABIES!! I wonder if they missed the cacophony of the shelter!!

And speaking of black dogs, Mari has to have a little rider sitting on her lap or she's not happy. This week she had little Socks, a black ShiTzu with a dust mop for a head, photo at right. I think the dog has eyes in there somewhere. He was a sweetie. In all we moved about 30 dogs to rescue and adoptive homes today. A lab mom and her 4 pups, and the lab dad; a Pomeranian named "Puff Puff", a cinnamon colored dog that was just striking. Redbone-coonhound mix named Ziggy, but he was an unbelieveably beautiful color. A paralyzed dog that had its own wheels. More puppies. More Shar-Pei mixes, Boxers and Pit mixes and a cute little border collie that reminded me of my Tippi. Any questions why we do this? It was a good day. Rewarding. All were experienced transporters and everyone knew what they were doing.Tomorrow morning Mari and are are doing another transport of a red bloodhound. Single passengers always seem so simple after the Saturday runs. And on the way tomorrow we're going to drop Marvin at his new forever home. If I can stop sobbing long enough I'll write about that tomorrow!!

The top ten reasons to spay and neuter your pets were euthanized in shelters last week.