By Josette Keelor — Daily Staff Writer

BENTONVILLE — With his tiny snout poking out from under sunglasses, a do-rag and a personalized motorcycle helmet, Isaiah, a 7-year-old leather-clad Chihuahua, has become a well-known face in the biker community.

His owners, Carol and Buddy Sours of Bentonville, have been bringing him along with them on rides through the countryside and in charity events for three years, but Isaiah has long been a part of the Sourses' excursions into the wild.

After years of hiking, cycling and horseback riding along just about every trail in the Northern Shenandoah Valley, the Sourses fell in love with motorcycle riding on their Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad 1600.

The husband and wife, both 61, who have 10 acres just outside of Browntown with a mountain view in every direction, took up the hobby three years ago and never looked back.

"We've been blessed with a wonderful life," says Mrs. Sours, who explains that since her husband retired in 2001, the two have walked 2,000 miles along Massanutten Mountain and many trails in Shenandoah National Park. They have climbed Old Rag Mountain a dozen times, says Mrs. Sours.

"We love being outside," Sours says, explaining that he rode a motorcycle for many years before his wife became interested in the two riding together.

The couple, who have three Chihuahuas — Isaiah, Isabella and Gabrielle — have a dog with them at all times. Isaiah will ride with them in charity events, but Isabella joins them in visiting hospitals, because of her calm demeanor, says Mrs. Sours.

"She's the big hit at the VA [Veterans Affairs] hospitals," Sours says. "[Isaiah's] attitude is just the way he looks. He's not friendly. We take him as General Patton," he adds later. "When the military people see him, they give him a salute."

Mrs. Sours has crafted various costumes for all three dogs to wear, both at home and in public. Though she jokes that people might think she has an obsession — her living room is full of the dogs' portraits, with no sign of her grown children in sight — she knows that her interests also bring joy to others.

"People enjoy seeing Isaiah or Isabella much more than anything else," says Sours. They drive up, "and out come the camera phones," he says.

"[We have] met people from all over the world because of our pups," Sours says, relating how someone told him he saw Isaiah's picture on the Internet.

The Sourses have not posted pictures of the dogs online; any photographs of the dogs are from admirers, says Sours, though the photographs are not exclusive to the Web.

Local painter Norm Choiniere has a watercolor of Isaiah hanging at The Mill in Millwood for the spring show. The Sourses have a similar work by Choiniere that Mrs. Sours' mother purchased for them when she discovered the painting. Other artists have also used Isaiah's likeness in their work, and Mrs. Sours has a small collection of them decorating the walls of the living room.

"People love this stuff.

"We have so much fun with them," she says.

If the dogs cannot come along with them when they travel, Mrs. Sours says, she and her husband don't go.

The couple decided to participate in charity rides about three years ago after spending nine months riding to and from the VA Medical Center in Martinsburg, W.Va., where Sours' father was a patient before he died. They would bring Isabella along for the ride, but saw how much of a success she was with other patients and decided to continue their visits.

"There are a lot of veterans in these hospitals that no one goes to see," Mrs. Sours says. "We have them say 'this is the best thing that's ever happened to me,'" she says of the couple's visits with Isabella. They have also visited Mont View Nursing Home in Luray and Hidden Springs Living Center in Limeton, where they recently performed a fashion show with their dogs.

"That was so much fun," says Mrs. Sours.

Mostly the couple joins other bikers for charity rides, such as Rattle the Runway, which honors those who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks; the Bone to be Wild ride, which starts in Williamsport, Md., and benefits the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Washington County; and the local God Bless America Ride, which stretches from Browntown to Greencastle, Pa., and raised $46,000 last year to donate to the Martinsburg VA hospital.

Another charity ride they do every year is Rolling Thunder, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, and commemorates all of the wars, says Sours.

About 500,000 bikers attend annually, he says, including bikers who come out to honor prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action. The slogan of the ride is "we will never forget," says Sours, "and that's important to me, because I was a Vietnam veteran."

When traveling down Interstate 66, with all of the bridges lined with people with flags waving, Mrs. Sours says, it's an amazing moment. The ride leads into Washington and ends at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Rolling Thunder lives up to its name, Sours explains. "When they start up, that's all you hear is the thunder in the background."

"It's just a sea of motorcycles," Mrs. Sours says, adding that she has found bikers, in general, to be charitable, generous people.

"A biker will help anyone," she says.

Despite their enjoyment of joining other bikers for charity events, the couple are not interested in joining a motorcycle group. With their dogs along, they cannot join the other bikers for breakfast at a restaurant, which is what the Sourses say motorcycle groups habitually do before heading out for the day. The couple also prefer to pick and choose their events throughout the year.

"All of the benefits that we did last year we're repeating this year," says Mrs. Sours.

When they are not participating in charitable events, the couple take to the country roads. Over the past three years, the couple have ridden more than 27,000 miles, they say.

"Every rideable day, we're out there," Mrs. Sours says. "I live to ride — that's the joy in my life, to get on these bikes with my dogs."

*Contact Josette Keelor at jkeelor@nvdaily.com.