DINAH

It was a beautiful, crisp fall day....the treetops ablaze with spectacular fall colors....and, I was in a very, very good mood as the Angels from God, Irma La Deuce, and our foster boy, Ernesto, and I, headed out on Route 2A to Greenfield, Massachusetts, to pick up Dinah from the local shelter. I was armed with my trusty Mapquest directions....which, as usual, bore no resemblance to the actual roadways that make up the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

After the first hour of the alleged three hour trip, I was pulled over in a Burger King off of Route 2A, on the cell phone with Ann in Manhattan....who, among infinite other skills, knows how to read an atlas. Suffice it to say that Mapquest grossly underestimated the duration of this trip....as three hours turned into five hours, and the stress of white knuckle driving on Route 2A resulted in quite a few fast food transgressions. Whoever invented the ROTARY ....that pinnacle of disorientation in the Massachusetts Highway system.... should be shot. I was not surprised to learn -- after the fact -- that Route 2A was (albeit in a rudimentary form) once traversed by British Troops as they came to meet the American Minutemen in Concord and Lexington during the Revolutionary War. Well....with Route 2A as our secret weapon, I can see why we won that particular war.

Ernesto contemplates his destination.

Dinah gets a look at her shelter report.

After the LONG, and difficult journey, we arrived at the Greenfield Animal Shelter and, once we met our Dinah, we realized that the trip was well worth the trouble. Dinah is a charmer like no other. And, as I read her shelter intake report, submitted by her former owners, I learned that she was going to be "hard to place" because Dinah could not be trusted to stay in an unfenced yard when explicitly told to do so. Instead, she ran into the neighbor's yard to raise hell. Well, DUH. In rescue, I have learned never to overestimate the common sense of the human species. Anyway, Dinah was thrilled to be on the road, and she made herself right at home in the car, where she had the backseat all to herself. She was absolutely no trouble at all. Ernesto, on the other hand, could be counted upon to screw up a one car funeral.

And, then, we started the second stage of our trip....to Manhattan....two hours behind schedule. And, since I had used nearly all my cell phone battery navigating the trip with Ann and her atlas, I was unable to stay in touch with Diane who was meeting me in Manhattan. After a near miss, we congregated the troops at the Boat Basin Cafe, where after a brief respite, Ernesto went home with Diane, on the next leg of his trip to his forever home.

Dinah, mingling with New Yorkers at the Boat Basin.

The Angels from God guard the front seat. Luckily, Dinah was happy to travel alone in back.

And, so, Dinah made her way home to Massachusetts with us, to await for the perfect home. Well...Dinah was minutes away from becoming the 4th Angel From God, when I received an email from Susan Waymoth in Virginia. I was just charmed by Susan's pictures of her Eskie pack: Sam, Dixie and Casper. Susan was looking for a young Eskie girl to charm her shy boy, Casper. And, Miss Dinah just oozes charm. Susan had already adopted two rescue Eskies from our friends in Virginia and Maryland and was ready to add a fourth to round out her pack. And so, we made plans to get Dinah down to Diane Gonzalez, so that she and Susan could finalize the adoption.

Our plans were repeatedly delayed because of the recent sniper incidents which seemed to occur on each of the routes that Diane and Susan considered. And so, we put Dinah's adoption off a few weeks in hopes that the sniper situation would resolve itself. After Dinah's proud ways earned her a trouncing or two from the Angels From God, it seemed prudent to put her in another short term foster home. Ah...that gave me the opportunity to work over Cindy Halliday as a fostering volunteer.

Cindy offered to foster Dinah and Kemo for me, and boy, did she have her share of action! Apparently, Sweet Brie took exception to Miss Dinah, and the girls had a bitch brawl that sent Sweet Brie to the vet for a scratched eye. Girls will be girls. Here are some of Cindy's foster home reports:

Dinah fit right in to Cindy's growing pack.

Cindy has become quite popular with Eskies Online boarders.

Hi Denise -

The dogs are doing great. This may be an artificial environment since everyone is extremely happy here. Dinah and Kemo have fit right in. Kemo had a small fit of aggression when I came home from work but this pack was more than happy when I said "cookie". Dinah cheats with the ball. She is more than happy to bring it to you but won't let go. Her forever home owner needs to play with her A LOT! Dinah is definately a kisser and hugger. Gotta go, time to walk the pack.

Cindy

p.s. Right now Ollie and Brie are in the house zonked out and Dinah and Kemo are outside or in the sun room - there's not a peep of noise anywhere. You would never know there are four dogs, three cats and one sucker foster parent in the house.

And, so it went for two weeks, until finally Diane and Susan could arrange a safe meeting place. I drove Dinah to Diane's where she almost became the second Gonzalez dog, if we had left things up to Diane's husband, Willie. Finally, Susan met her new little girl, and the reports have been great. Here is what Susan has to say (and let me say off the record, that Dinah has completely hoodwinked Susan with the "insecure" act...Just wait...LOL):

Dinah, with her holiday bandana, and James Gonzalez

Hi Denise,

Well, we made it. Dinah is currently laying on my bed scoping out her new territory. My boys have readily welcomed her....Dixie was a little tougher, but nothing that couldn't be handled. I'm going to crate Dinah tonight just so she will feel safe. Tomorrow, when she can see outside and feels a little more secure, I think things will be a lot better. I didn't realize this was her third home in two years...no wonder she is so unsure of herself. I'll take some pictures tomorrow and will be sending some scans your way soon. Thank you for the opportunity to get another "angel" in my family....I'm thinking of changing her name to Angel....with a lot of objections from my daughter....Angela...

Best Regards,

Susan

Hi Denise,

I have sent pictures!....Dinah at the table..ready to eat whatever I put in front of her and the whole blooming Waymoth bunch in the back yard. You should be able to get a good sense of her acceptance into the pack. It's interesting, Sam and Dinah (oldest and youngest) seem to be "hanging out" together more so than Dinah and Casper. It may take awhile for Casper to understand what is going on...not the brightest bulb in the pack....sweetheart nonetheless. I had to scruff Dixie this morning and pull her off Sam...who she is quite smitten with...I'm not sure what happened there, but fur was flying and she quickly got the picture. Dinah is fine...if she is unsure of herself, she runs between my legs or behind me where she is safe. I'm sure things will settle down with a little work...everyone got in their crates this morning on their own, except Sam...I love it.

Susan

Dinah with her new pack in Virginia.

It's easy to see that Dinah feels right at home now.

Denise,

Just to give you guys an update on Dinah...she is a pistol...my constant shadow. She is now comfortable enough to engage Casper in play and will join in when he and Dixie are playing. It gets a little rough sometimes, but she seems to know when to back off. Dixie has tried a few times to "bitch" her around, but Dinah stands up to her and Dixie and Dinah now share space on my bed at night...until Dinah wakes us all up with her snoring...LOL. After a full weekend of having me around 24 hours a day, they got real perturbed with me this morning when I was getting dressed for work and started a chorus of howling and yapping to let me know that was not acceptable. But they dutifully went to their crates (except Sam...he always runs the other way)...and I think were secretly relieved they could settle in for a nice nap this morning. We start with grooming/vet visits on Wednesday..since Dinah doesn't need anything until November, the vet suggested I bring her in for their Rabies clinic in November. I take Dixie in for teeth cleaning Wednesday and nails clipped...Sam and Casper go for grooming on Monday. I felt like it would probably be too stressful on Dinah to take her yet as she may feel abandoned, even for the day. I hope you got the pictures I sent earlier. I'll probably send more around the holidays....should be a free for all. My co-workers and I are anxiously awaiting Dinah's rescue/adoption story so let me know when it is coming out. Thanks again for all that you do....these are truly Gods Angels with four legs.

Susan