The touring life of a musician can be grueling, and Miranda Lambert's busy schedule is no exception. These days, Lambert is now boarding the plane (or tour bus) without one very special traveling partner: Delilah, her first rescue dog.

"Delilah was my first rescue dog, and she went everywhere, but she's kind of retired from the road at this point," Lambert tells CMT. "She's just over it. So she stays with my grandmother." While Delilah, a West Highland white terrier mix stays home, Lambert gets her dog fix with her two smaller tour companions, Cher and Delta. It may be a bit easier to bring them along, as she says, "They're little bitty dogs, so it's easy to maneuver them."

Lambert is very passionate about her four-legged friends, exemplified by her partnership with the Pedigree Feeding Project. She wants to put animal shelters in the spotlight. "People think shelters are scary places, but they're not like old-school dog pounds anymore. They're really nice places to go find a great pet."

Hopefully Lambert doesn't miss Delilah too much as she's out on the road with Dierks Bentley, performing on the 2013 Locked and Reloaded Tour. When she gets home, the 'Mama's Broken Heart' singer will be reunited with her dogs, who she says happen to rule the roost in the Lambert-Shelton household.

"Our dogs probably run our life a little more than they should, truth be known. But with rescues, you make up for lost time. And ours have the best life now."

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