Her name will be Adele, and this is the story of how we got her and all the great people that helped us. I was going to call this love and loyalty, but I like her name better. Love and loyalty, love because she is one, and loyalty because it is a big part of making this happen.

I believe in being loyal to companies that are loyal to you. They do not have to be perfect, who is? But they need to realize when they have a chance to make a huge difference and build on an already good relationship.

So back to the story. My family has been talking about a new dog, one to keep our current dog company. We talked to a few local rescue groups and nothing really came of it. We talked about a puppy, but it is financially not an option at this time. I was talking to a friend of mine that I work with on the veterinary conference show schedule. She does some volunteer work for the Humane Society. I mentioned that if she ever ran into any Corgi's to let me know, that we were looking to adopt.

Not expecting much, she mentioned at a meeting shortly after our conversations that she was involved in the following, http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110917/dogs-seized-quebec-110917/

More than 500 dogs seized from farm in Quebec
Vanessa Greco, CTVNews.ca Staff

Updated: Sat. Sep. 17 2011 4:15 PM ET
Authorities seized more than 500 dogs from a Quebec kennel in what could represent the largest animal cruelty case in that province's history.
Inspectors say they confiscated the dogs from the Paws "R" Us Kennel, a dog breeding facility in Clarendon Township located about 90 minutes northwest of Ottawa.
Guy Auclair, a spokesman for the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, said it's the largest such seizure ever in the province.
Hundreds of dogs of varying breeds and ages were found at the property without sufficient food and water, officials allege. Many of the kennel dogs were reportedly suffering from skin and respiratory problems.
"We have had this kind of situation before, but (with) a lower number of animals," Auclair told The Canadian Press.
The dogs are now under the care of Humane Society International.
Paws "R " Us is owned by members of the Labombard family, who have been running the facility for more than 16 years.
Co-owner Nicole Labombard said that the confiscated dogs were not mistreated.
"There's a veterinarian that visits the facility every two weeks and vaccinates my puppies," she told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Saturday.
Labombard says the facility has automated feeding equipment on every animal pen and that the visiting veterinarian would have told her if the puppies were malnourished.
Officials inspected the puppy farm three years ago and didn't have any complaints with the facility, she said adding that officials didn't visit again until Friday's inspection.
Weeping over the phone, Nicole Labombard alleged that the recent seizure by ANIMA-Quebec was premeditated.
"Transport trucks from out of town came to my home to take the dogs on Friday and [Saturday]," she told CTVNews.ca. "It all happened way too fast."
Calls to ANIMA-Quebec were not immediately returned.
Auclair said the investigation into the facility is ongoing and charges could be laid against Paws "R " Us Kennel.
With files from The Canadian Press

I am pretty sure I asked very quickly if there were any Corgi's...she said she would let me know. I did not hear much for a while and then I got a text from her:

Hi Michael, I wanted to give you an update on the Canada puppy mill case. Still no surrender of the dogs but we have a corgi girl that would be perfect for you!!! One ear up one down.....red and White and sweet as can be!!!!!

Of course I said we were interested, and asked if there was a way to get a picture. No picture yet, but I did hear again from her later in the month:

Hi I have news that you may already know, but we won the case in Canada!!!!! If you want to adopt you have to fill out an application and it's no guarantee if you'll get the dog you are interested in:( The girl that I think would be good for you is a female, Pembroke corgi, red and White, one ear up the other folded!!!

So I did all of the paperwork and was told it could take quite a while to hear back about whether we could get her. I had mentioned to the family that there was a chance, but that was all that there was a corgi in Canada and we "might" be able to get her.

On Tuesday December 6th I heard from the Humane Society in Canada about the adoption, much faster than I expected, which usually means that it is not good news;

Dear friends, Thank you so much for expressing interest in opening your heart to one of the amazing dogs that we rescued in September. These dogs have come a thousand miles since we removed them in September, and their old lives of neglect are on their way to being no more than a distant memory. The courage, forgiveness, playfulness and trust that the dogs show, despite everything, continue to astound everyone who meets them. We are so grateful for the tidal wave of support that has come forward for these dogs; from never having known toys or soft bedding, the dogs and puppies suddenly found themselves in a shelter overflowing with both, all generously donated by the public and by compassionate businesses. Right now, we are in the process of placing every single dog in a loving forever home. The number of people who have stepped forward to offer a loving new forever home for one of the dogs has been tremendous. We received over a thousand adoption applications! Because of the incredible outpouring of local support, we are confident that we will be able find placements for all of the dogs locally. Obviously this reduces stress and travel time for the dogs and that has to be our priority. Thank you again for your willingness to bring one of these wonderful dogs into your home. If you are still looking to bring a new best friend into your life, I am sure that a perfect match for you is waiting in a shelter or rescue group near you. Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with us to ask any questions! Thank you again for your support! I hope that you will continue with us on our journey as we strive to end cruel commercial breeding of dogs and cats once and for all. Regards,

So I was ready for this news, and was not upset, at least I heard back from them and although not what I wanted to hear, it was still closure and the dogs were finding homes...and ultimately that is what matters most.

I was in Nashville, at the last meeting of the year for me, when I got this email. I told my family that we had heard and that we can start looking elsewhere or wait for more news from my friend if they rescue more dogs down the road.

On Wednesday in Nashville, I was headed to the airport and on my way home when I got a text I did not expect;

Hi, the girl I wanted you to get is ready and can go!! What is your schedule? Want to come to Montreal? Let me know your availability a.s.a.p. if you are still interested

I text her back a little shocked!

I got an email saying they were only going local? I am I Nashville now and California on Monday. Hmmm. So are they saying I can take her?

She text back to me:

Who knows??? It's absolute chaos!!! She is going to an SPCA today and they will hold her, but check with them again and ill work on this end

So I asked her to check before we got too far and got disappointed:

Hang in there, I have the HSI person here and I will get you confirmation really soon.

A short time later I received this;

Okay book your ticket!, she is yours. I'm so excited!! We will have all her paperwork for you! Make sure the airline is okay with her flying, she is a very sweet girl. Ill get you directions to the shelter.

So now my mind is racing! I have a lot to do. I need plane tickets, hotel, car rental, and a carrier...where am I going to find a carrier...argh! I hope I do not have to abandon her just because I cannot get up there.

At this point I am in the American Airlines Admirals Club in the Nashville airport and it starts the beginning of the loyalty part of this story. Most of you who know me, know that I spend a good amount of my time in planes, hotels and airports. I believe in being loyal to companies and in being a nice person. It is my belief that this will come back and make a difference someday…today was that day.

When I approached the desk at the American Airlines Admirals Club, I never expected to meet two truly wonderful and caring people like Karen and Carol. I explained my situation, and I am sure I was even more confusing in describing it than I normally am.

At this point I called Laura, my wife and asked her about it, and laid out what I thought the costs might be and waited for her to say, "we better not", but that did not happen. I also asked her if my daughter could go with me, could she miss a day of school and make it kind of a special trip for her birthday ( on Thursday) but we would be leaving on Friday and spending the night.

So back to the desk and Karen and Carol. I will not bore you with all the back and forth, just the highlights. I gave Carol the details and what I needed, and lets just say she was amazing. She found us a great flight, using as few miles as possible. Next we started going over all the stuff I need to do to get her on the plane and home from Canada.

Where am I going to get a carrier….hmm…have you ever priced these things, they are expensive and I only needed it for this one trip. Don't get me wrong, I am sure I can afford to pay for all of this, but it is Christmas time and I wish I could say money was not an issue. So I am trying to adopt her with the least amount of money as I can during these times...just in case.

So I called around, and was able to find a carrier, big thanks go to Tri-City Animal & Bird Clinic ( my veterinarian) who had a client who had a carrier. Prior to this, and I just want to point out how great people are, Carol was willing to help me (us) pay for a carrier for her to get home. She had given me cash to go purchase one, which once I found one I was able to give back to her, but it just goes to show how great people can be. So I have the tickets, and I understand what I need to get her home and a carrier...what next.

I called the Marriott Premier line to get the hotel arranged. At first we talked about staying up near the shelter, but then I checked the weather. It called for light snow in the evening and I thought I would rather be in Montreal if that was the case. On the other end of the phone I got Ashley Turner. Again, I am going to say loyalty counts. I stay at Marriott's for various reasons, but individuals like Ashley make me realize just how important people make a place and not just the amenities I look for.

Ashley was awesome. She helped me find a great hotel (that accepts dogs) and she went out of her way to attempt to keep my costs down. She called the hotel not once, but multiple times to talk to the manager to make the best effort to help us out. Again not to bore you with all the back and forth, lets just say Ashley was and is awesome and I am very grateful to her.

So back to the story, we have all the arrangements and we are ready to go. On Thursday, my daughters birthday, my wife and I showed up at her school at lunch to surprise her about the trip, but not tell her about "why" we are going. She was extremely excited.

Highlights of the trip. We took off pretty early on Friday and went through Chicago. Once we arrived in Chicago, and we knew that there was no way to hide it I told her where we were headed and now "why". She said that her and her brother *knew* and that they had figured it out. I need to improve me skills at hiding stuff, they are getting very smart.

We were scheduled to land in Montreal a little after 2pm. Before we left the advisory for the weather was light snow, I don’t like driving in the snow...I am not a fan. So lets just say I was a little nervous and I am sure my daughter would say wimpy about the whole thing, but we were in it for the long haul no matter what.

When we landed, it really was light snow. I text my friend at the shelter and let her know we were on our way. The whole distance to Lachute QC Canada was only supposed to take about an hour or so. I did splurge and rented the GPS, but that was hilarious to hear her attempt to pronounce the French words.

*a funny (now) side note. If you are traveling with your child who is under 18 into Canada, make sure you have a note from their mother that says it is okay to take them into another country. Almost derailed the whole trip right there.

Traffic was murder, and the light snow/rain was not helping. At times it was bumper to bumper and it was getting dark. I really was hoping to get her and be headed back before it was too dark out...no such luck.

When we were on the last stretch of road, of course at this point it is a 2-lane highway and now it is "snowing". When we arrived it was as my friend stated *chaos*, they were loading trucks and helping folks left and right. Everyone was really pleasant. We finally got our first real look at our new girl. She was very excited to see us, jumping up and down on the front of her cage. We were hooked.

About 45 minutes after we arrived, we were on our way. Dog, food, toys and a carrier for her...again, what a bunch of awesome folks. Let me stop and say how much these folks gave of their time to help find homes for over 600 dogs over a 3 month period. Someone has to feed, clean and care for these dogs, and these wonderful folks did it with a smile and for no money!

It is still snowing, and it is dark and it is getting cold. I am not a happy camper, and I must say I appreciate my lovely daughter for being calm and keeping me calm at this time. We arrived back in record time ( no traffic) and my stress level definitely went way down. By the way, Adele was very good the whole way down, in fact almost too quiet, we had to check on her a couple of times to make sure she was still there.

Checking into the hotel, I wanted to say how much I appreciate all that Andrea Gauntlett, the Assistant General Manager at the Marriott Residence Inn Montreal Airport . She and her entire staff were amazing and very nice and helpful for any and all needs that we had. We grabbed dinner from the marketplace ( we were starving at this point) and headed upstairs. This was waiting for us in the Fridge.

We do not know much of Adele's history, I am quite uncertain if she has experienced much of what she was getting with us, grass, snow, outdoors, a leash, all of these things could be new, or were at least not concepts that were terribly familiar. She handled them as well as possible.

I took her out no less than 5 times during our stay, and she did not once use the bathroom outdoors. Made me wonder if she ever would use it or knew how. As far as I knew she was accustomed to using the bottom of a cage and newspaper.

The next day we are scheduled to head out at 3pm from Montreal through Chicago and get home about 7:15 into St. Louis. My last hurdle that I am stressing about is getting through customs with her and that there are not any problems with her paperwork and all of that. Again, let me say how great the folks at American Airlines were and are. The paperwork was easy and really made me feel much better about getting all of this done.

Once we cleared all of the customs and were waiting for our plane, we ate and again had to check on our new little girl. She is and was the most mellow and quiet little thing all day in her carrier. We checked a few times during the flights to make sure she was okay she was THAT quiet.

We arrived home, tired and relieved to be on familiar ground. It was about 8:30 at night and we let Adele out in the back yard for her first time. We brought our current dog, Libby out in the yard and let them meet each other for the first time.

To wrap up my long and yet needed story, the last hurdle in our adventure was getting her to use the *outside* to go to the bathroom. So far it had been almost 3 days and she was not getting the point of all of us going out in the 30 degree weather and standing in the grass. I left for my next trip on Monday and when I called back on Monday after landing, she had used the outside…..:-)

So again, thank you to all who helped us in so many ways have a wonderful and pleasant trip and bring home a really sweet girl who will be spoiled for many years to come. She is getting comfortable with her new surroundings