Meet our new family member!

I’d like to introduce you to someone very special who joined our family last week.

This is Rosie! 😍

We decided that we were ready to adopt a dog after our 13 year old (very good) boy passed away 2 years ago. Rescuing a dog was something that I felt very strongly about, I wasn’t looking for any specific breed. I began my search of rescue organizations in Nova Scotia & quickly realized that there seems to be more people looking for dogs than dogs available.

I googled “dogs for adoption in Atlantic Canada” and a whole new world opened up. I quickly realized all the dogs I was seeing were actually located in the States and were being transported to Canada. I started asking around and sending messages, because I’ll be honest, my first thought was this sounds sketchy. 

The more I researched, the more I learned about the process & found hundreds of posts from people that did the same thing and found amazing dogs. Okay. We were doing this, lets begin searching listings.

Now, you may be wondering, “I thought you said you got her last week?”

Yeah. We did. This is where the story takes a turn. The dogs (about 60) were loaded into the transport trailer the week before Thanksgiving & they began the journey to the Maine/New Brunswick border. They made frequent stops to let the dogs run and play & arrived with no issues. Until they attempted to cross the border. I’m still not 100% clear on what the issue with their paperwork was but border officials denied them entry. They were forced to head back to Texas. (Puppies require, along with the normal vaccines, something called a Health Certificate that is only good from 72 hours of issuing – those expired while the transport team did everything they could to get the dogs into Canada) We were heartbroken. But, they assured us they would re-do the paper work & head back to Canada in about a week.

Our girl was being fostered by a wonderful woman named Elizabeth that runs a smaller rescue called Pawsitive Paws of Texas out of her home & she took Rosie back for the week, we will always be grateful to her for doing that.

Fast forward to October 19. Transport day #2! They load up the puppies & dogs again with their new paper work & hit the road. Thursday is the planned crossing day. Again, they arrive at the border with no issues and attempt to cross. Denied.

We were prepared this time but still floored. How could this be happening again? Thankfully, they ended up getting permission to bring the adult dogs into Canada but the puppies were turned around. It was hard to watch the updates of people getting their adult dogs. We were so happy for them but also sad it wasn’t us. Mixed emotions to say the least.

So, it’s now Friday morning (Oct 22) The puppies spent the night with another rescue in Maine but the clock was ticking on their Health Certificates & the transport team was exhausted. They take another try at the border. Denied.

They say to us, were going to do everything in our power to get these puppies to you and begin searching for a vet in Maine that is willing to re-do Health Certificates for 40 puppies. No luck. It’s looking grim. Then, the most incredible news, a vet in New Jersey would do them all! That vet clinic was amazing. (Westwood Regional Veterinary Hospital) They had doggy daycare rooms that allowed the dogs to run and play, they even brought the transport team breakfast!

Now it’s Tuesday and all the dogs have new paperwork and the vet checks they need. Back to Maine. They attempt to cross shortly after 4pm. When in customs, you can’t use your phone, so we have no idea how it’s going. (you can just imagine how lengthy the group chat was lol) We’re feeling good though, the transport team and the crew back in Texas (all of them volunteers, mind you) were making sure everything was in line with what border officials & the CFIA required.

5:40pm we got the message! “We’re through! We are on the way”

I could have dropped to the floor lol – what a relief!

They made 2 stops, the first was in Rothesay NB & the second in Amherst NS.

This is our “Gotcha Moment” on Gotcha Day!

That woman in the pink shirt? Her name is Angela and she is a clear saint. Her and the other 2 on the transport (they stayed back in Maine) were on the road with 60 dogs and then 40 puppies for 7 days. To say they moved heaven and earth to get our dogs to us is an understatement. Then they had the 3 day drive back to Texas. Saints.