Tyson McMillan – Ontario – Part 1

Hello, Everyone!

Whew! What a day! I can’t believe all these wonderful people making a fuss over me and then I got to ride in six different vehicles today. How great is that!

First, the wonderful lady who looked after getting me “rescued” woke me up, patted me many times, and scratched me behind my ears and told me how special I was and how lucky I was going to be. Then she let me jump into her car and away we went – leaving the land of the Indy 500 and the Indianapolis Colts behind. I figured, “What the heck, it seemed like a pretty good reason for a car ride.”

Tyson with Sandy & Bill Jackson

Then about an hour and a half later we stopped and the beautiful Sandy Check introduced me to a new lady named Sherry and after a few tearful goodbyes, Sherry let me hop into her car and away we went. Hey, I thought, “This is pretty neat, another road trip!” So I just settled down to enjoy the ride.

Another hour and a half and I woke up to another lovely lady taking me for another road trip. What kind of lucky guy am I. So back to sleep after investigating all these new smells.

Another hour and this time we met up with this really neat guy. He spent almost an hour and a half talking to me about using the internet (that’s how I know how to send everyone this message) and then he spoke of this wondrous place called The Bruce Peninsula in some far away land called Canada or something like that. Time flew by but somehow we managed to find the highway closed and we had to make use of the rallying skills taught to us by our transportation co-ordinator – I think his name was Rich or something like that.

Tyson looking outside of the car

Tyson enjoying the ride

Then we pulled up to this booth and this very stern person asked my friend quite a few strange questions but in the end we got waved past and my friend (Kirk, I believe) told me I was now in a different country! Wow – what a road trip.

Then we pulled up to this park and my friend introduced me to this wonderful lady – Her name was Sandy. She made a phone call and I heard someone on the other end babbling like an idiot – whoever it was sounded pretty excited. Anyway, off we went in her neat van. I could stretch out completely (and I have a pretty big stretch – if I say so myself).

Anyway, I fell asleep again and the next thing I knew we were pulling off this highway and into a parking lot where there was this blue vehicle with a big sign in the window reading Welcome Home, Tyson !!! Anyway, apparently we were earlier than expected because my wonderful lady friend spoke into her phone and the next thing we knew this guy comes flying out of this building with a sign that said Pizza Hut. He had this goofy grin on his face and he kind of spoke with a bit of a different accent. Soon after this really pretty lady with red hair arrived, threw her arms around my neck and gave me a big hug. Wow are these people in this new country friendly!!

By now, I was kind of tired of traveling but they gave me lots of tasty treats, a big drink of water, and they kind of kept gushing over me so I thought, “What the heck, it’s been fun so far, so I may as well join them.” Off we went for a really long ride.

This one seemed a bit different though cause these nice people kept telling me I was finally going home. We stopped a couple of times for pee breaks (them and me).

Tyson with a happy couple

Tyson with his new mom & dad,
Mike & Brenda

Well, it got dark but finally at 9:45 we pulled into this really neat looking driveway and there was a home with a big fenced in yard. Again these people said to me, “Welcome Home, Tyson.” Anyway, we went in and I got to sniff EVERYTHING in every room. They said something about me being rather tall enough to stick my head in places that will have to be moved. But boy, I got a little walk, a big bowl of water, and dinner. Then this neat guy grabbed a pull toy and we played tug-of-war for awhile. I got to explore this yard and managed to leave a couple of big deposits to show my gratitude!!

Anyway, I went up and down and up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs because there so much neat stuff in both places. These people said something about meeting my new sister tomorrow morning but now I’ve got this really neat fleece bed I’m just going to curl up on. I will dream of all these wonderful people who were so nice to me today and we’ll see what tomorrow brings. G’night!

Oh – my new friends just gave me scarf with this maple leaf on it – so I guess that means I’ve got a new home. They also wanted me to say, “Thanks!” to everyone. Anyway, we’ll be playing tomorrow and probably take some pictures so everyone will get to see me in my new home!

Tyson McMillan

Click here to go to Part 2 of Tyson’s Tail Wagging Tale.

Click here to go to Part 3 of Tyson’s Tail Wagging Tale.

Click here to go to Part 4 of Tyson’s Tail Wagging Tale.

Transporter Sandy Jackson sent in the following note after handing Tyson over to his new mom & dad:

I must say my leg of the trip was very quiet as this big beautiful boy slept the entire trip.  He had decided to stretch out across the rear seats of the van and promptly fell asleep.  His legs were stretched wide, hanging over the seat like he did this every day of his life.  He certainly is a wonderful traveler.
I arrived in London around 6:00 p.m. and spotted Mike and Brenda’s vehicle with a big cardboard sign in the window reading WELCOME HOME, TYSON.  They were so excited to meet him that they’d spend most of the afternoon waiting in London.  Tyson will certainly have a wonderful life.
Sandy Jackson

Thank You …

To Allie Hostetter, Tyson’s foster mom.  He was a handful for her, but she hung in there for him.

To Stephanie O’Dell, who did such a wonderful job training Tyson and to Father Largent, who paid for the training.

To all the transporters listed below who gave Tyson the ride of his life to his new forever home and to Rich Felton who coordinated the whole trip and worked out all the details. 

Sandy Check Indianapolis, IN to Fort Wayne, IN

Sherry Regnier Fort Wayne, IN to Coldwater, MI

Kirk Nims Williamston, MI to Windsor, ONT

Sandy Jackson Windsor, ONT to London, ONT

Mike McMillan London, ONT to Mar, ON