A Sleepless Night

Welcome back.
The conclusion  of the continuing story about adopting Goldie.
 the story starts here: Love at First Sight

A Sleepless Night

I don't like to fly. In fact I hate it. Hate is a strong word and I use the term only when I mean it. Hate is a strong emotion and one that only causes destruction. But I can honestly say I hate airports , airplanes, jets, airbuses, and flying.

Well sometimes things just don't work out and for reasons I will never know. Goldie's family  was not able to take her home after all. She was returned to Best Friends.

   I knew it was a sign. I had to figure out a way to convince Lifeguard that Goldie belonged here. But I couldn't waste precious time, so I logged onto the website and found Goldie and her link to Petfinders.

So without his knowledge I had to start the adoption ball rolling. Surely others had fallen in love with this dog too. A call to Kristi at Best Friends confirmed my fears. There were several people interested. A few had submitted applications already. ugh... I may be too late. But it was worth trying. Adoption competition was not something I wanted. So my application had to be thorough and honest and as detailed as possible.

I've adopted 4 dogs prior to this and the adoption application that Best Friends required was three pages long, and more detailed than any other I have ever seen. I was impressed but frustrated. The clock was ticking here and I needed my application to be perfect. I contacted my vet so she would be ready for the phone call. I knew Best Friends would be calling all references. I knew my vet would vouch for me.

Then with fingers crossed, I faxed in my application. The date was March 5, 2006.

I received an email reply that Maryland was so far away and they try to adopt "questionable" dogs to people who live closer, just in case the dog would need to be returned.

Questionable????

Returned? I have never returned a dog. You return clothes that don't fit and gifts that aren't right, appliances that don't work. You don't return dogs. I wouldn't ever think of returning a dog.

You just make it work.

So I wrote a very long email to plead my case. I poured my heart out in that email and offered several references who would confirm my experience and abilities with dogs, and it worked because I received the reply I needed to hear.

I was on the list of possible homes for Goldie !

I received a call from Goldie's trainer, Pat W. He had been working with Goldie to try to get her to stop her most annoying habit. She would constantly bark right in the face of any other dog close enough. This resulted in her being moved From octagon to octagon because she was annoying the other dogs. ( The octagons were the specially designed pack style kennels and runs that the dogs at Best Friends live in.)


I convinced Pat that I would be able to break her of that habit. After a very long conversation about various issues and what I would do to retrain Goldie, He had determined that I really did know what I was talking about and felt I could train Goldie. He gave his approval. ( yay! )


Kristi L was the adoption coordinater who called a few hours later.


They wanted to schedule a home visit.

On March 7th Mary D. was scheduled to come to my home for an interview and inspection. She lived locally and was a part of the extensive Best Friends network. We had a wonderful visit and she was completely in agreement with me that my home was the perfect place for any dog to live. I am so grateful to her for giving me a glowing review. She notified Kristi immediately and I was one step closer to meeting Goldie.

That evening I received another call from Kristi. She ask one more question.

"When can you come out here to meet us and Goldie?"

Thud ! My jaw hit the floor and my excitement went through the roof !


This was when I realized I had not told Lifeguard. He had no idea I had taken these steps to adopt her. You can't just sneak away for a few days and show up with a dog. I had to tell him. But first I had to book a flight. Yes a    f l i g h t ..... yikes. I swore I would never fly again. I hated flying.

But for Goldie....I would fly.

I booked a flight . Then I called Lifeguard.

"Honey, I'm going to Utah . Will you and the dogs be ok for a few days? "


"WHAT?!" He was not happy. It was Spring. he was busy. And he was coming down with a bad cold.

Men can be babies when they get sick. And he was milkin' this one. Good thing my daughter is a nurse.And from this day forth, on this blog, she will be known as Nursie.
I called her.

"Hi sweetie, I was wondering if you could come over and help Lifeguard with the dogs so I can go to Utah to meet a dog?...... Please?"

"WHAT?!" "Mom, you're crazy! You don't need another dog." Nursie scolded.

"Please?" "The dog needs me."

"What does Lifeguard think of this?" she asked. I did not reply to that.

"Are there no dogs in Maryland who need you? Or Ohio? Why do you have to go to Utah?" She asked

she will never understand me.

"Oh nevermind." she sighed. " I'll be there. When are you leaving?"

"My flight leaves on the 12th."


Ok. Nursie and Lifeguard were not happy with this whole idea, but they agreed to keep an eye on things while I was away.
But yet another roadblock was on the horizon.

On the 11th of March Lifeguard really wasn't feeling well at all. He had a fever of 103 and it was climbing.


I know it sounds bad, but I still wanted to go to Utah to meet Goldie. And if I cancel my flight I could lose the cost of the ticket. Nursie came over as planned.


"Mom ! You can't go! 103 ! he needs to go to the hospital! Now! " Nursie was right.

Even though Lifeguard kept saying he was fine. We had to take him to the emergency room. It was a long sleepless night and I was so angry at the universe for the lack of planning. How dare he get sick when I have to go to Utah?


I really am not that self centered and I did make the tough decision to cancel my flight. But first things first. We had to take Lifeguard to the emergency room and make sure he wouldn't die. After a few hours there, he received some good meds and the news that he will not be dead in the morning. Whew. One less thing to worry about.


I contacted the airline to cancel. But I just couldn't do it. The fight was scheduled to leave in a few hours. What to do? what to do ? You just can't imagine how torn I was. I was lucky to have booked my flight on Southwest. They were so nice. I explained the whole situation, the hurricane, the dog, my sick husband, and they said if BestFriends would agree to me coming out with-in two weeks, they would reschedule my fight without a penny lost ! In fact I got a small refund because of a special fare they were offering to Vegas. Yay ! One more obstacle out of the way. I had to send my new itinerary to Kristi to prove I was not backing out of the adoption. She agreed to hold Goldie two more weeks.

Ahh...............

Now I could breathe..............


A Five Hour Flight (part 4 but included in this post so my readers don't revolt )


March 26th, 2006. The flight to LasVegas was 5 hours long.

Five..... F I V E..... Five Hours....... I hate flying. huff.

But I managed the long crowded flight West to Las Vegas. And once there I was thrilled to rent a cute little PT Cruiser for the drive to Best Friends. A 4 hour drive East to Kanab Utah.

Yes four hours. F O U R.

Was I nuts? ( don't answer that )


To travel..... N I N E.... H O U R S.... to meet a dog?


I had plenty of time to think about this as I drove.

There is so much to say about the drive. I chose the route that would take me through Zion National Park. It's one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. But that's another story for another time.

I could hardly control myself when I finally reached my destination.

The Welcome Center at Best Friends

I introduced myself and received instructions as to where to go next.

Dog Headquarters.
I had an appointment with Kristi and Pat. I was at their mercy. It was Kristi who would make the final decision.

There were more forms to fill out and more questions to answer.

Pat gave me hints and tips about Goldie's odd behavior and what he was doing to try to change it.

Kristi gave me instructions on what to do with Goldie on my overnight Visit.. At Best Friends you must take the dog for an overnight visit to see if you are a good match before you actually adopt it. Thank goodness all the motels in Kanab have dog friendly rooms for this purpose.


Then finally the moment I was waiting for.

They brought out Goldie. She was even more beautiful than her photos. And she was so much smaller than she looked on the cover. And of course so much cleaner. You can tell she had been bathed and groomed for this meeting.

I watched her as she sniffed around the main area of Dog Headquarters, she looked happy and very healthy and very aloof.  She wasn't at all interested in the people in the room.
But then she came to me and I asked her to sit.
She sat.

Then she looked at me with those eyes, those big soft brown gorgeous loving eyes.

I melted.

We just stared at each other. I know this sounds silly but the love in the room was overwhelming. Everyone was watching Goldie. I knew right then she would be coming home with me. Pat and Kristi knew it too. She asked if I needed the overnight visit. I said yes just to be sure. But I knew. Goldie was going to come home with me

And yes, I am tearing up just writing about it.
Everything else happened so fast. Dr. Mike came out to talk to me about Goldie's health and medical history. (yes I met Dr. Mike so cool )

Ethan came to talk to me about the rescue. ( yes I met Ethan....double cool )


When I met him I realized why Goldie looked so big in the photo. Ethan is not a big man. Not big in the physical sense. But he was a giant in the eyes of everyone who knew him and the team that went to rescue so many animals in New Orleans.

getting to know Goldie in the Best Western. Kanab, Utah

The overnight visit was a success. While in the room I had made several calls to airlines to take Goldie home with me. I did NOT want to wait two more weeks for Best Friends to ship her. The plans were in place. I would drive Goldie to Vegas and ship her to Baltimore on Continental. At the time they were the best when it came to transporting dogs. My flight was on Southwest.

Goldie's one way ticket was twice the cost of my entire trip..... airfare, car rental, and room. !

The next day I had one more form to sign, an adoption fee to pay,  and Goldie was mine. Troy Snow took a photo of the two of us for their next newsletter.  cool.   

After many hugs and happy tears I loaded Goldie into the crate in the back of the car. I promised to return to Best Friends often. I waved good bye to every one and thanked  them for all they did for Goldie and me.

One more night in the motel and we were set to go home.

I had purchased an airline dog crate at Best Friends. I had to have her at Continental Shipping at LasVegas Airport by 1:00pm on March 29th. My flight wasn't till 5:00pm. That meant Goldie would reach our destination before me. Lifeguard was going to have to pick her up. As I watched the men put Goldie in her crate and tape food and water to the top for the trip, I began to cry. I was sobbing like a baby. I hate to fly and now I was putting my dog on a plane? I knew I should have rented a van and just driven her home. The man behind the counter asked me to declare a value for insurance purposes.


I had to put a price on this dog?

Just in case.
Just in case of what?


"$30,000.00" I said between tears. I just blurted out a figure.


The man's eyes opened wide. " How much!?"

I said " $30,000.00 "

He asked what her breed was that made her so valuable.

I told him she's a " Kanab Collie" she's the only one ... a rare gold nugget from Utah.

Of course I was making this up, heck she's a mixed breed. Who cares what breed she is.

He said "The limit is $5,000.00 , Ma'am, how long have you had this dog?"


I answered between tears again.

"One ...sniff. ....day.... sniff "

"Oh brother" he replied. We both laughed. he wrote $5,000.00 on the form.

Then he reassured me that she would be fine. She was sitting quietly in her crate just looking at me with those eyes.

As they wheeled her away I began to cry ...again.

Lifeguard had to be at the airport to claim Goldie. While waiting for my flight to arrive he had taken her to a grassy field so she could relieve herself. She made the trip without a hitch and was well rested when they met. He ran with her through the gassy fields near BWI airport while waiting for my flight. He really knows what a dog needs and she needed to run. I doubt that she had run very much since the horrible storm that changed her life. He had a chance to bond with her. I couldn't have planned it better.


When my flight landed I hurried to the parking lot where I knew they were waiting. They were standing outside the van and Goldie started to wag her tail as I walked to meet them.


yes ! she recognized me !

A quick kiss for hubby and a sheepish grin.


I looked at Goldie.

I asked her to sit.
She sat.

She looked at me with those eyes.

She tilted her head to one side.

Lifeguard and I hugged her.

Welcome Home Goldie

The End?   Not at all... it's just the beginning.  Because of my experience with BestFriends and Goldie I was inspired  to do more for dogs. RuffHaven is now a Sanctuary for old dogs and dogs with special needs.