(Seeupdate 2011 Apr 08 below:  Magic has become a gentle gem and still needs a home!)

Transport: 2011 Feb 09-12

It's almost impossible to understand why people hoard cats and small dogs and fail to care for them, but imagine someone hoarding St. Bernards and not caring for them!  That's how Buffy and Magico ended up together in a shelter in Van Nuys -- unaltered, dry skin and poor coats, sores around their necks. The network of rescuers in California had the cyberwaves hopping for these two special beings.  

First, they had to be neutered, vaccinated, de-wormed, and generally confirmed to be healthy enough to be adoptable.  Then we wanted to get them out of the shelter and to a no-kill St. Bernard rescue where they would be cared for until the perfect family and home could be found.  The lovely people at Glendale Humane offered to foster them at no charge for three nights until we could fly them to Saints Of The West St. Bernard Rescue in Reno, Nevada, so just before closing time on Wednesday, with Magico barely conscious again from his neutering surgery and Buffy only just beginning to walk, we rolled them out on gurneys and put them in our SUV to take them to Glendale, where volunteers were staying for hours past their closing time just to welcome us. And what outstanding accommodations for these two Saints!  A fresh new double-double kennel for them to share in a far, quiet corner of the kennels -- it couldn't have been nicer.  When we left them, I wondered if they would remember anything about the trip or recognize me when I came to pick them up early Saturday morning to fly them to Reno.

I need not have wondered about the memories of those Saints.  When I arrived at 7 am Saturday morning at Glendale Humane and the morning volunteers let me in to get them, Buffy and Magico met me at the door to their kennel, gave a couple of happy barks (and Buffy even gave me a quick lick on the face!), and let me slip the leashes over their heads easily.  Lucky for me that these dogs are so gentle and wanting to please, for their combined 300+ pounds of weight barely knew that my 115 lbs were behind them asking us to turn a different direction!  The whole trip, in the car, loading them into the airplane, and flying to Reno, went like a dream.  Larry Buchanan, our airplane mechanic and fellow pilot came along for this trip and surprised us by telling us that he had grown up with a St. Bernard and loved the breed.  So this four-place mutual admiration society took off from El Monte airport without any confusion, and enjoyed weather so beautiful that we were able to fly almost completely direct to Reno, right across and through the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountain range.  

Much of the trip, Buffy stood up where he could enjoy the view out the window or stay close to the back of my head.  He couldn't have won me over any more had he been deliberately trying!  I told Larry before we landed that if the folks from the rescue didn't show up right away, I was sorely tempted to get back in the airplane and keep these two Saints with me forever!  I wouldn't have believed it if anyone had told me that I would fall in love with these dogs.  After all, I'd heard that they slobber and drool, and who needs that?  The joke was on me, though, and Larry had a good laugh, knowing full well that once I got to know their hearts I wouldn't even notice the drool.  He was 100% right about that.  Those two Saints could not have been sweeter, more self-contained but friendly and cooperative souls in every situation we had them.  When the rescuers came to pick them up in their van, and we learned that they  had a 40-acre facility devoted just to caring for St. Bernards, and we saw how well the Saints responded to them, we felt fine for the dogs about leaving them.  The only trouble we had was our hearts.  We missed those boys in the back of the plane more than we could ever have anticipated.

Update 2011 Apr 08:
Trouble was not quite over for these saints when we left them in Reno.  First, the neuter surgeries that had been performed on them prior to their transport had not been completed properly.  The result was that both Buffy and Magico developed serious and painful infections that had to be treated by veterinarians in the Reno area.  This required considerable care for recovery, no simple feat for their foster parents during a winter of tough mountain weather up in Reno.  On multiple occasions, potential adopters who had arranged to drive up to meet the boys had to cancel their plans, usually due to weather.  All of this has required the proverbial patience of saints, from both dogs and foster parents!  

Sad to report, Buffy developed other problems and recently had to be euthanized.  Magic, however, is in perfect health and has become quite the lovebug, gentle and obedient with people. (He's the darker-colored one of the two boys in these photos, the one with the more classic St. Bernard coloring.)  He hasn't quite learned that cats are not fun to chase, so maybe it's best if he does not go to a home with cats.  (Boys will be boys?)  

If you are interested or can help us advertise Magic to find him a wonderful home, please contact us through this site, or through his foster folks in Reno here.   As always, On Wings Of Care will help with transport and related needs!