I have been a huge dog lover since the day I can remember. I feel guilty about talking Vantage because, I loved every dog I ever had and they were all great. Almost every dog I had was rescued. I found Vantage when she was just a little pup. I was making what they called a Vantage Turn, and that is hauling a set of Doubles (2 Trailers) from Seattle to an area west of the Columbia River where I would swap my trailers with a set coming in from Spokane, and then return to Seattle. Going up Vantage west to Seattle is on of the longest pulls in the country (11 miles)and coming down the hill, we would take the last ramp before you cross the river, cross over the higway, and stage yourself in this barren area waiting for the rig from Spokane. It was in late November, 1973, just about freezing outside. The wind was blowing strong down the Columbia like a conduit, very common. A cold, raw night. I saw this puppy running around out in this barren loction and got out of the cab and picked her up. The engine was idling in the Cab of the cabover Kenworth. I got back into the cab, put the dog on the nice warm insulated top of the dg house covering the engine and the dog went to sleep immediately. I named her Vantage and for the next 13 years, she was bonded with me as much as any pet could be. I did a lot of road work in those days, (Running), and she would rather run with me than do anything else on the planet. Thirteen years later, at almost the same time of the year, I was keeping her at my Mothers house. My Mother called me and said, “Vantage wants to lay out in the cold rain under the tree and won’t come into the house.” The next morning, I took her to the Vet, he did some X-rays and told me,”there is nothing I cn do for Vantage. She has a big Cancer in her shoulder.” I held Vantage in my arms while he inserted the needle into her leg.” I left about 5 gallons of tears on the floor while he did it. A grown muscled man crying like a 12 year old. I took her home and burried her in the hard pan of my backyard. That day was the springboard to a lot of bad things that happened, the worst week of my life. Vantage was a great companion.

— Mike from San Antonio, TX