When does the thought of getting a new puppy pop into your head?
For us, it started in November when our 14-year old Briard, Logan, collapsed and appeared to be dying. The whole family participated in getting him down our 15 stairs, into the SUV and to the vet’s office. We were devastated—even Elle (Briard, 18 months) curled into a fetal ball and became lethargic. We had already lost one Briard (Noelle) this fall and the thought of losing another (which would leave only Elle for company at our house) was unbearable.
We sent an email mentioning our dilemma to Liz Kennitz, Elle’s breeder. Almost immediately, Liz sent a return email saying that the perfect puppy might be available for us. We instantly (and excitedly) contacted Pam Ohlsson and learned everything we could about her new litter. For the next month, emails and telephone calls confirmed that we definitely wanted that puppy—he would be OUR PUPPY. We decided to name him Ranger, after a character in Janet Evanovich stories who dresses all in black and rescues the heroine.The puppy was in Oshkosh, Wisconsin—a place that Chelsea, age 16, thought was a store. It was about this time that winter started coming all across the country – with a vengeance! We had no way of knowing the adventures we would experience in getting this puppy…
Chelsea and I decided to fly to Green Bay, WI, to get this puppy and bring him to his new home. He would be our Christmas Puppy, since he would be eight weeks old the Monday before Christmas. We booked our flights to Green Bay through Chicago for Sunday, the 21st. We would meet Pam Ohlsson, the breeder, at the Green Bay airport for the transfer.And then…we woke up Saturday morning to a great surprise of several inches of snow in Seattle and more falling. We didn’t think anything of it until it didn’t stop...and didn’t stop…and didn’t stop! Our flights – with dozens of others - were cancelled. This set us of on a scramble to reschedule our flights before Christmas. As many of you saw on the news, airports across the upper part of the nation were packed with travelers and airports were ill prepared for the winter blast. They were operating only a few flights, we were booked on one for the morning of the 23rd of December.
On the morning of the 23rd, we had our bags packed and were ready to fly. When we arrived at the Seattle airport three hours ahead of the scheduled departure, we were absolutely shocked at the number of passengers needing service and attempting to get on flights. Many of them had been in the airport overnight. We couldn’t print boarding passes early, since we would be traveling with a dog, so we had to wait through the check-in line. We waited in several more lines just to find out that our flight had already been delayed and the departure of the next connecting flight out of Chicago to Green Bay was going to leave as much as 3-1/2 hours late. We sat in the Seattle airport for hours waiting to find out if our flight would even depart. United and the other airlines had run out of deicer and were still waiting on delivery trucks. Our flight eventually did depart from Seattle to Chicago with us aboard.
Chicago brought another exciting segment in this ongoing adventure. We thought that there
were a lot of stranded people in Seattle—the number of passengers stranded in Chicago was incredible! All flights in and out of Chicago had been delayed or cancelled, and passengers were attempting to reschedule or find alternate modes of transportation to their destinations. People – including us – were talking about every conceivable mode of transportation except dog sleds! Our original flight to Green Bay had been cancelled and the next flight had also been cancelled. We were beginning to lose hope of returning home on Christmas Eve with this new puppy, and we were not at all sure we would be able to get him on this trip.While our flights were being canceled, rescheduled and canceled again, Pam, our breeder, had gone to the Green Bay airport and was waiting for us with our puppy.
After six hours of Red Carpet Club socializing, we were told we would be put on the standby list for the last flight that day to Green Bay. The odds looked slim for getting onto this flight and there was concern that this flight, too, would be cancelled. As our backup plan, we made arrangements for Chelsea to sleep overnight in the Red Carpet Club and then be put on a plane back to Seattle Christmas Eve morning. Judy would make her way by plane, train, bus, or 18-wheeler to Green Bay as soon as roads or flying conditions permitted. Once we were on the standby list, we headed directly for the gate to find a mob of people who were also on standby. Our chances of making the flight seemed to be poor—our positions on the list had slipped substantially – until we heard our names called at 9:30 p.m. for boarding! We were fortunate – the Briard god must have been smiling down on us. Many other passengers scheduled for that flight had been delayed or cancelled and didn’t make the flight.
Because of the many delays, Pam Ohlsson had to return home. The plan was for her to return with our puppy the next morning at 5:30 AM (yes, that’s AM!).
Because of the kindness and understanding of the United staff in Chicago in getting us on the last flight out, we were finally headed to Green Bay. Plowing the one runway in use in Chicago,
deicing the plane, instrumentation flying, poor visibility, and rough flying conditions made for more than the usual amount of excitement on this leg of the trip. BUT, we were on our way!We arrived in Green Bay at 12:00 PM (that’s Midnight!) and checked into a local hotel. Three and one-half hours of sleep later, the alarm went off. Just as (re-)planned, we met Pam and the puppy, with paperwork and supplies and the transferred was done in about 10 minutes. Hallelujah!!
Of course, getting out of Green Bay on Christmas Eve day wasn’t easy either. We called the family in Seattle to set up backup plans in the event we didn’t get home for Christmas day – kids open presents, adults wait until Saturday, wait on Christmas dinner until Saturday, and so on. At the Green Bay airport, we woke up the United counter representative for service and then waited for hours for a delayed and almost cancelled flight to Chicago. When we had nearly given up, all of a sudden, passengers were directed to return to the gate immediately–they were BOARDING! We couldn’t get there fast enough! Once again the runway was scraped, the plane was deiced and it was an instrument flight due to the bad weather. The flight was bouncy and rough, but we arrived safely in Chicago.
The flight out of Chicago to Seattle had also been delayed. The scene in Chicago was like something out of a movie; there were thousands of stranded passengers, some of whom had been there for two or three days. We stood by until United felt it was safe. We waited our turn for de-icing and finally we were off the ground. This flight truly felt like we were, “goin’ home!” We arrived in Seattle on Christmas Eve day, about two hours late, but with Ranger! Dallas met us at the airport and drove us home. The family was preparing our Christmas Eve dinner when we got home, after driving through Seattle in the snow and ice. And, course EVERYONE Ooohed and Ahhhed over Ranger. And, we had a wonderful family dinner with everyone there including our Elle, Ranger and, guess who else?
Logan, our Briard who almost didn’t survive, had been, at the last minute, diagnosed with Meklazine Vertigo, Vestibular Syndrome, which is a neurological problem in old dogs. With the right medication, he has fully recovered and, in his cranky way, helped us welcome Ranger.