I Helped Drive 16 Rescue Dogs Over 1,700 Miles Across America In EVs And The Hardest Part Was Saying Goodbye

Yesterday, I reached the conclusion of an epic quest. I drove four different electric cars about 2,190 miles across America over the course of five days. A whopping 1,700 of those miles were spent with 16 of the most awesome beagles I’ve ever met, each of whom was rescued from dire situations here in the Midwest. I thought the hardest part of my mission was going to be nursing EVs across desolate parts of the continental United States. Instead, it was saying goodbye to the furry friends who captured my heart along the way.

Back in April, Autopian contributor and auto technology analyst Sam Abuelsamid invited me to join Operation Frodo. Every six months, an army of car journalists joins an array of animal rescues and automakers on a mission to save as many dogs as possible. On the surface, the Knights of Frodo are just drivers who transport dogs who were abandoned in the Midwest to loving homes in Salt Lake City, Portland, and Seattle. Since 2022, the Knights have rescued well over 100 dogs, and just added another 16 dogs to the tally.

Yet, as I got to learn firsthand, Operation Frodo is far more than just a quest to get lovable animals to their forever homes. I didn’t just feed and walk random dogs. I got to watch these animals evolve, regain their confidence, and become happy again. These 1,720 miles changed me, too. I didn’t know it at the time, but driving four electric cars across remote portions of the country wasn’t the hardest part. Instead, it was finding the heart to say goodbye.

Why Car Journalists Drive Dogs Across America

As I mentioned in earlier entries about this road trip, not every companion animal gets to live a happy life, at least not at first. Every year, millions of animals enter shelters, and of those, hundreds of thousands of them are put down after families never step forward to adopt them.

Here in the Midwest, beagles are often the victims of abandonment. While some shelters may not have a problem finding families for all of these cuties, the reality for many shelters is that there are more animals that need space in the shelter than there are animals leaving. Eventually, the overcrowding of animal shelters leads to the euthanization of the animals that never find their forever homes.

Operation Frodo seeks to help turn the tide one road trip at a time by getting up to two dozen dogs to loving families. But the Knights that guide these lovely creatures across America are far more than just drivers.

In my last update, I explained how eight car journalists took the keys to a Hyundai Ioniq 9, a Cadillac Escalade IQ, a Kia EV9, and a Lucid Gravity to transport 16 rescued beagles across America.

Most of these dogs had something going on, be it fear, general anxiety, trust issues, health issues, or eating disorders. This meant that their care was far more than just walks and feeding.

The Knights of Frodo were these dogs’ proof that there are humans out there who do care about those who cannot help themselves.

I Found Love In My Fur Babies

Each car journalist was given two dogs to take care of for the duration of the quest. My pair of ladies was Libby Lemon and Naomi. Both of these cutie pies were just as unique as their coats of fur were. Here’s what I said about Libby in my last update:

I don’t really know their stories, so I am learning about them in real time. Honestly, both of them are making my heart melt. Libby is three years old, while Naomi is two years old. Libby is a 20-pound firecracker. She does what she wants to, when she wants to, and she always has to do it big. When she wants to be petted, she will get up on her hind legs, place her front legs on your body, and pester you until you give her what she wants. If you ignore her, she will whine nonstop.

These demands to be petted overrule what any other dog wants. If Naomi wants my attention, Libby will move her out of her way to get to my hands first. Libby is also ridiculously strong, and when I take her for walks, it feels like she’s walking me. It’s wild because, again, she only weighs as much as carry-on luggage! She was also strong enough to kick down one of the walls of her crate, which impressed me!

She’s also very impatient. I left her uncrated in the hotel room while I went downstairs to eat. In the time of maybe an hour, she managed to pull a hairdryer off the wall, destroy a roll of toilet paper, overturn the garbage cans, and break into Naomi’s jug of food. That last one is confusing as the jug was secured with a screw cap. What the? Thankfully, they eat the same food, so it was okay, but it genuinely confused me. What I’m getting at here is that Libby is pure chaos. She goes zero to 100 quickly and doesn’t slow down until she falls asleep. I love it.

I had four days to get to know these poochlings, and it was heartwarming to watch Libby evolve through it. As the farms of Nebraska became the rolling hills and mountains of Wyoming, Libby became less scared of humans. As we climbed into Utah, descended into Salt Lake, and shot west to Oregon, Libby stopped destroying her environment and learned to enjoy the little things, like lying in bed.

When we reached Portland, Libby was still pure chaos, but I no longer felt overwhelmed by it. I felt comfortable leaving Libby by herself, and she had gotten enough confidence to use the bathroom in my presence outside.

But the dog that I found myself attached to the most was Naomi. Here’s what I wrote about her before:

On the other hand, Naomi, who also weighs 20 pounds, is the exact opposite. She is the most chill dog I have ever seen that’s supposedly a beagle. All she wants to do is relax, take slow walks, and get belly rubs. She loves rubs so much that she will sit on the hotel bed for hours just waiting for me to come back and give her a rub. Naomi is so laid back that the only noises I’ve heard from her thus far are the noises of being satiated with being petted. The really cute thing about her is that if I stop petting her and she thinks she didn’t get her fill, she’ll gently grab my hand, pull it back, and give me a look that says, “continue, please.” She also seems to be bonding with me. At first, Naomi didn’t want me to put a leash on her. When I walked her, she tried to run as hard and as fast as Libby.

However, now, a day later, Naomi is so much different. Not only is she okay with getting the leash on, but she’ll help me get it on her. Then, when we walk, she walks at the pace I go, which is really slow because my busted knee is still healing. She enjoys it all the same with her tail happily wagging along.

What really blew my mind was when we stopped at an enclosed dog park. We let all 14 adult beagles off their leashes and all of them went nuts playing around. Naomi did, too, but what really warmed my heart was that she frequently checked in on me. She’d walk to me, ask to be petted, then go play with her friends again before she came back. If I happened to start walking around the park, she’d quickly run over to my side and start walking with me. That totally blew my mind. Here she was without a leash, and she chose to spend that time with me.

Naomi’s progress was far more revolutionary than evolutionary. When I met her, she was scared of humans, didn’t want to wear her leash, and tried to run off so hard that she choked herself on her leash. She wouldn’t even sleep in bed with me, preferring the security of her crate instead.

By Salt Lake, all of that had changed. She didn’t just find sleeping with me fine, but she wanted nothing else. If I tossed and turned in bed, she’d wake up and move herself closer to me. If I took my hand off her when sleeping, she’d take her paw and drag my hand back.

By Oregon, she was so chill with me that, during our walks, she rarely made the leash taut. She also learned to love humans and begged every passing kid and adult for a head pat. Her transformation was honestly shocking to watch, and the fact that it happened after only four days blew my mind.

Of course, I could tell that Naomi wasn’t completely out of the woods. There were still plenty of times when she randomly went into flight mode for no obvious reason. She also seemed to have some sort of anxiety from her previous life, in addition to some other weird quirks. At first, Naomi never ate, drank, or used the bathroom in the presence of a person. I had to hide in a bathroom and pretend I wasn’t there to get her to eat.

By Portland, she was willing to scarf down a bowl of food and scoop up water in front of my face, and I was so proud of her. I was even prouder the first time I got her to take a morning dump in front of me. I’m not going to lie, I actually cheered, which made me laugh because I was cheering on poop. Still, I can tell that she’s still uneasy about food, but I think more time in loving care could help change that.

It also seemed that Naomi and I really bonded with each other. She genuinely lit up every single time I came into a room, and was always oh so excited every time she realized it was me who opened the tailgate on the car. Meanwhile, I had to have her next to me in bed, and every time I heard a weird sound in the back of the car, my first thought was “is Naomi okay?” One time, one of the stupid hotel luggage carts toppled with her crate on it. I then spent a good 30 minutes consoling her, hugging her, and telling her it would be okay.

She and I even had similar personalities. When we reached Portland, we both sat on the sidelines as the other beagles jumped all over each other, going nuts. Instead, she got food and pats. When the excitement in the crowd died down a little, that’s when she asked for a walk, and she got to enjoy nature and her other dog friends at her own pace.

Over the course of four days and 1,720 miles, I watched this beautiful soul completely transform. Naomi was another dog who held her head down back in Nebraska; now she stood tall, wagged that tail, and trusted humans a whole lot more.

Driving EVs Across America Was The Easiest Part

The cars were awesome, too. Every car had grand strengths. The Cadillac felt the most luxurious, had the best frunk, and skipped multiple charging stops thanks to its comically huge battery. GM’s Super Cruise also worked like magic. The Hyundai had style dripping from every corner, from the pixelated lighting to the light and bright interior. The Lucid was the driver’s car of the four and was a showcase of engineering. The Kia was a great, affordable family electric crossover with the same bones as the Ioniq 9.

None of them was perfect. The Kia’s highway range was low enough that it required more charging stops than anticipated. The Lucid’s technology was quite buggy, the Hyundai bricked itself once, and the 9,100-pound Cadillac was pretty inefficient. Its 205 kWh battery also required a really good charger in order to get back on the road sooner than three business days.

Yet, none of us could really complain, because all four EVs effortlessly swallowed four dog crates and luggage, then proceeded to drive across the country. This trip would have been impossible to do in only four days in an EV just 20 years ago. So, it’s incredible what all of these cars did. Because today’s EVs are so capable, driving them across the country was actually the least challenging part of the trip.

Instead, it was those final minutes while I still held Naomi’s red leash. She and I had been through so much over the past four days. We watched farmland transform into hills and those hills into mountains. We crossed the Continental Divide, stretched the EV9’s range, and watched countless Union Pacific trains roll through Cheyenne. Naomi became a better version of herself, and I did, too.

My wife and I had a rescue dog before, a chihuahua we named Malort, and my wife had lots of rescues before that. Sheryl did most of the work in taking care of Malort as she had the most experience. With Naomi, I dove headfirst into the world of rescues. I wasn’t just Naomi’s chef and walker, but her cheerleader and her best friend. I became personally invested in her future. I loved her.

There were lots of times when I considered asking the organizations and the other Operation Frodo crew if I could take her home. Sheryl even prepared to pick up dog toys, food, a crate, a bed, and more. I even looked into getting Naomi on my flight home.

But I also knew that there would be challenges to bringing her home. Naomi would have to be okay with two very devious green-cheeked conures. While she might not have been a pure beagle, she’s still a beagle, and two colorful birds could be seen as food one day. It would tear me to shreds if Janeway ever got seriously hurt in an altercation with a dog.

Then there’s the fact that a foster mom was already waiting for Naomi, and those people probably had way more experience in taking care of a rescue than I did. Maybe I’m making excuses, I don’t know. But I passed that leash over and watched Naomi get loaded up into the Lucid one last time, bound for her new life in Seattle.

I got to watch all 16 beagles either immediately land in the arms of their adoptive families or be cuddled by rescue organizations and fosters. The dogs were ecstatic, and it’s rare when I see people with smiles as huge as they were when they picked up those animals. There’s not a car on this planet that can generate the kind of happiness that I saw in Portland. That alone made me think I made the right decision.

I Found A New Part Of Myself

What I didn’t expect was to feel like I do after a breakup. I suddenly had a void in my heart that was roughly the size of a 20-pound beagle. I immediately missed her. Honestly, I still do. I sat behind an EV charging station power box and cried a little. I’m tearing up again writing this. Thankfully, I wasn’t alone. The other Knights of Frodo were also feeling the heartbreak after letting their pups go.

Nik Miles, the man who created Operation Frodo, warned me that this trip would change my life, and he’s right. I’ve always cared about the well-being of animals and have supported efforts to save animals. But to experience it firsthand? Getting to witness these dogs becoming happy right before my eyes was absolutely engrossing, and I cannot stop thinking about how awesome it is that there are well over 100 dogs living happy lives because of Operation Frodo.

You can help future Operation Frodo missions out by visiting the Animal Rescue Rigs website, as well as the rescues it supports. You can also follow the remainder of our Operation Frodo updates on social media through #FrodoEV26.

So, I’ll be back. I will don my Knights of Frodo pin again and get to watch up to two dozen other dogs get to enjoy the lives they deserve. I’ll get to see families with smiles a whole Columbia River wide, and rest easy that these pups have been saved from a possibly dark future. Getting to do it in America’s hottest EVs only made it better.