Erin is our February 15, 2015 Pup of the Week

            On that fateful day so many lifetimes ago when Pocket and I were banned from Doggyspace we began contacting our friends to form another group.  Then I got a message from Erin.  And I hesitated.

            Erin was a key cog in the DS machine.  She was the pup everyone went to for advice on how to lay out their pages, post videos or answer questions.  We were friends but when I first saw her e-mail I wondered if she was a mole sent from DS.  I almost ignored her request.  But I answered it.  When I did history was made.

            She was as tired of, and disappointed with, the old DS management and anxious to move to another site.  When we started the Tanner Brigade we checked with Erin first.  While we could invite the friends and drive content we needed her expertise in setting up the site.  She agreed.  If she hadn’t the Tanner Brigade may never have occurred.  Everyone who enjoys the site should tip their tail her way.

            She is also responsible for creating our motto:  “Freedom to Bark.”  We wanted a place where dogs could bark freely and her phrase fit our group perfectly.  It was the name of Erin’s website.  She helped hundreds of bloggers set up their own web pages by designing web sites and posting helpful tutorials on her page.  Her Freedom to Bark website was a guide to so many bloggers.  Her work can still be seen on them today.

            In the last few years Erin slowed down.  Her Mom got sick and had a long recovery.  Erin had a litter of pups and spent more time being a Mom than being a brilliant computer creator.  She left the site she helped create for a while and we mourned her loss.

            She recently came back to us and spent her last few days with her beloved online family.  She had trouble standing and walking.  She collapsed several times.  She could not get up the stairs on her own.  Her time had comes.  Her Mom made the hardest decision of all.  She sent her heart dog, the one she chose to be the face of her blog, , to the Bridge, to join so many other legendary dogs.

            After I swore her in Erin and I hugged for a long time.  We had accomplished a lot together, and now it was time for us to rest.

            Or so I thought.  I was awoken the next morning by Erin.  She had wires in her hand.  She made me come with her to the base of the mountain.  She moved some rocks away and then she showed me a jumble of wires that I had no idea that existed.

            “Look at this!” she said.  “The wiring here is archaic!  I have to completely re-work everything.”  She began ripping wires out and putting them back in.  “It is going to take me all week,” she said shaking her head.

            I left her doing what she loved best, fixing the messes we all made with our computers.  She is still doing it, while taking breaks to check on her Mom.

            While we know that hearts are broken on the mortal side of the Bridge with another original TB member joining us on the immortal side of the River of Life, and our hearts go out to her wonderful Mom Donna, we know our communications to all of you will become more reliable now that Erin is with us.