Flying dogs

 I spent most of yesterday at the airport, flying two dogs to their new (excellent!)homes. I ended up taking Ella with me as I was worried about making it home in time to pick her up from school(turned out it was very lucky I did) and she is such a great help with Marshall.
 The first dog flying with Westjet to Edmonton went off without a hitch, no problem, all was well...just signed a few papers and he happily went off to become an Albertan.
 The second dog flying with Air Canada to Prince Rupert was not so easy. I had heard that Air Canada wants dogs to be in way oversized crates and I always use Westjet when I can. But of course, the only airline going to Prince Rupert from Victoria was Air Canada. The crate I brought with me was the same size as what the dog sleep in every night and is more than big enough for her to fly in, but no, to them it wasn't acceptable. They want the dog to have three inches above their head when the head is straight up. Now that is HUGE on a prick eared dog. They were kind enough to help me track down a crate(which I paid through the nose for!!! $380!!..I'm sure that pet store knows they have the market cornered being only 10min from the airport and they are way overpriced), and I packed up the kids and the dog and rushed off to get it. Air Canada even called the pet store back to make they they would assemble the crate while I was one my way which was very nice of them. There was no way that crate would have fit in anyone's vehicle but my enormous dog van(when the dog arrived at her new home they had to disassemble it to get it in the door), it was huge! Definitely meant for the giant breeds(just like the crate says...the size is called GIANT) like Great Danes, not Dobermans.
 It was a little tight but all the running around got done and the guy at Air Canada did some of the paperwork while I was racing to Sidney. Other than needing a ridiculously big crate Air Canada was very nice and helpful.
 Ella was a great helper for Marshall(and earned herself three chocolate Timbits for her efforts) and they watched cartoons on my iPhone, which is why there are no pictures with this post.
 We arrived home at about 3:30 and put a sleeping Marshall straight into his bed. I headed right back out the door to run errands and came home with Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken for dinner. Lee's just moved into a brand new location and they were very busy but the staff seemed to work like a well oiled machine.
 My days seem to be thwarted on the low calorie eating front(or as my Bring Up Bebe book calls it "paying attention"...they don't "diet" there apparently which I think is great). I need to have some easy quick to assemble ingredients on hand so I don't go for the quick fix.. i.e. take home dinner from Lee's. I started this morning with a smoothie and a cup of tea so we'll see how the rest of the day plays out.
 Off to Pacific Northwest Raptors  today with the kiddies. Photos later!