Tails From Rainbow Bridge: Saving Private Enzo with Totti, Chelsea and Queenie

I was lazing in the sun when my emergency angel beacon went off.  “Angels, oh Angels, please help me!”  I picked it up.  I could see my dear friend Enzo standing in a vast cornfield.  At first, I thought he was his usual joking self but then I realized he was terrified.

“Angels,”: Enzo yelled.  “I was hunting with my parents and chased a bird into this cornfield.  I saw another bird and ran after it, and now I am hopelessly lost.  Please, angels, help me find my way back to my parents.

We needed an Angel Rescue Squad.  I checked who was on call for emergencies:  Queenie, Chelsea, and Totti.  I could not assemble a better group.  I told them to assemble by the river bank.  

We held one another’s paws and flew into the sun.  We emerged over the dense cornfield.  Enzo’s dad was walking around the perimeter calling his name.  His mom was standing by the truck praying for a miracle.  She did not know it, but her miracle had arrived.  Queenie, Chelsea, Totti each took a side of the field and began calling Enzo’s name.

I heard Enzo whining on the south side of the corn.  I flew down and saw Enzo huddled under a stalk.  I called his name several times until he looked up and saw me.  “Oh Angel Foley, I knew you would come.  You have to help me out of the corn.”  I called for Queenie, Chelsea, and Totti to come to me and then had them go to the edge of the corn and call him.

Enzo tried to reach them, but the corn became too thick.  He kept getting blocked.  He begged me to come into the corn with him.  I hesitated.  My Mommy told me never to go into the corn.  I didn’t want to get hopelessly lost too.  But, if I had to get hopelessly lost at least I could do it with Enzo.  I flew into the corn.

It was dark and thick.  I asked for Quennie to fly over us and direct us to the end of the corn.  Every way she tried to direct us we got stuck.  It looked hopeless.  Enzo asked if I could try to fly him out.  I got underneath him, but he’s a big boy, and I’m a little girl.  I only got him a foot off the ground.

We both fell backward.  Enzo hit the stalk hard.  I had tucked my wings in, but they popped out as I fell and they sliced a stalk in two  Enzo said:  “Yummy, corn!” and started eating an ear before I realized that our wings were the way out.

I called to Queenie, Chelsea, and Totti to come into the corn.  Queenie and Totti flew right down, but Chelsea, being a cautious Yorkie, like me, said she would guide us with her voice.  Smart dog. Queenie, Totti and I began walking backward and flapping our wings as we cut through the corn.  Chelsea guided us towards Enzo’s dad.  Once we could see light through the field, Enzo ran off to his dad, and we gathered above the corn to see the tearful reunion.

As Enzo walked back to the truck, and his mom ran to him, they turned and gave us a tip of the tail and a big smile for helping us guide him out of the corn.

But that is what angels are for.

If you are ever get lost in the corn, thinks of us, and we will be there to help you.

Chelsea is our Pup of the Week

When Pocket and I made the decision to break away from Doggyspace and start our own social network, called the Tanner Brigade, in 2009, we invited many friends to join us in our experiment to give dogs a place to play and have the Freedom to Bark.

One of our first friends to say yes and set up a profile without having any idea if the site would work or be fun were our brave Yorkie friends Chelsea and Ashton.

We had been friends for two years before we began the Tanner Brigade.  That makes nine years of friendship, longer than many dog’s lifetimes.  While we loved all our friends, we had an extra bond with Chelsea and Ashton because only Yorkies truly understand Yorkies.

We lived quite similar lives.  Our moms were both retired.  We lived in retirement communities.  And one of our packs was illegal.

Both places only allowed one dog per owner on their sites.  Mommy and Chelsea’s mom convinced the management to give them permission for a second dog.  Both mommies would rather be homeless than living without one of their beloved pets

While our mother lives in a modular home, Chelsea’s mom lived in an apartment.  Chelsea and Ashton had their own pee area outside on their porch.  They rarely went out of the building, and their feet hardly ever touched the grass.  The three of them lived together in great happiness high above the Texas plains.

As I wrote, nine years is a long time to know pups.  Many of our original members are with me now, and some are showing signs of their advanced years.  Chelsea was showing signs too.  She was at the vet undergoing treatment when she decided to take a nap.  When Chelsea awoke, she was no longer at the vets.  She was sitting next to me.

“Foley?” she asked jumping up when she saw me.  She felt the soft grass under her paws, the bright sunshine high in the sky.  Then she saw Samantha and Ashley, two of her predecessors whose love still lived in their mom’s heart.

“Oh Foley,” she said, her voice both mournful and hopeful. I put a paw on her shoulder and told her that she had indeed arrived at the Bridge.  Chelsea became very distraught lamenting the loss of long, leisurely days with her mom and sister.  It took me, Samantha, Ashley and several of our other friends to calm her.  We showed her how to watch her mom and brother, both in the water and on the many secret windows located at the Bridge.

Samantha, Ashley, and I took Chelsea to Ladybug’s house to get fitted for her wings.  Her training took longer.  It always does with we little dogs.  A good wind current will blow us off course. But we three experienced Yorkie angels took Chelsea under our wings, taught her some tricks, and soon she was flying high and strong.  Leo told her she was ready to fly into the sunset so she could visit her mom and brother and Tommy Tunes promised to show her the secret warrant to her mom’s dreams.

Samantha, Ashley and I took Chelsea by the paw.  We asked her if she wanted to fly high into the clouds.  She anxiously agreed.  She flew into the clouds and the towards a tower.  At the very top of the tower was an apartment, exactly like the apartment Chelsea had left the day before, except without Ashton and her mom.

“This is your home,” I told Chelsea, whose tail was wagging excitedly.  “You will live here, with Samantha and Ashley, until you are all reunited.  If you get tired of living in the tallest tower, you can come visit me in my little cottage by the river.”  My long time, dear friend gave me a kiss on the nose.  We hugged, and then I flew out the window down towards my cabin.

I turned over my shoulder to see Leo gathering Chelsea and her siblings for a visit to her mom’s house.  While her mom’s house may see empty, it is more full now than ever before.

And I checked the rules.  No humans can limit the amount of Yorkie angels a human can have.

Jax, Daisy, Chelsea and Frankie are our July 19, 2015 Pups of the Week

It has been a quiet week here at Rainbow Bridge which is a good week.  It has given me a chance to check up on the families of some of my closest friends.  

Cooper has been looking for a new pup for his Mom since he came here.  After several meetings he chose Jax.  Jax is a loving, sweet, friendly dog who was in need of a good home.  He met all Cooper’s criteria.  Except Cooper never checked on destructiveness.  “Ooops,” Cooper said as he watched Jax destroy his Mom’s favorite pen,  electrical cords, clothes, and furniture.  Jax only needs some coaching to be a good dog and Cooper is willing to send Jax to his dream academy to hearn.  Jax  has the most important thing.  His Mom’s heart.  

Being in our Mom’s heart is a wonderful place to be.  And we fill those hearts with joy but sometimes we fill them with sadness and worry too.  We never want to do it..  But it happens.

Our beautiful sweet friend Daisy has filled her Mom’s heart with worry and sadness when Daisy tore her ACL.  It is a nightmare for Daisy because no dog ever wants to do anything to give her Mom a seconds worry and for her Mom who is trying to decide if her baby should have surgery or not.   Please say a prayer for both of them, to help her Mom  make the right decision and for Daisy to heal.

Chelsea is another dog who showed trouble walking this week. She is like my Mom, like all of our Moms, anything wrong becomes a large concern.  Chelsea’s Mom recorded her walking, posted it, and got advice from friends.  She spent half the night sleeping on the floor with Chelsea until Chelsea was well enough to get up on the bed.  Saturday morning she took Chelsea to the vet who diagnosed her with a pinched nerve.  When Chelsea got home she wouldn’t eat but her clever Mom built a makeshift stand for her food, she ate, and she quickly improved on the medication.

Finally we must recognize our long time friends and top angel aides Max and Tupper.  They had been looking into getting their Mom another pup even if she didn’t know that she wanted one  They slipped into their Aunt’s dreams and told her about a Min Pin at a local rescue.  Their Aunt told their Mom who thought she would take a look.  There she met the dog Max and Tupper had found for her:  One look at Frankie was all it took.  She brought him home, helped him through his first thunderstorm and made sure he knew he was in a very special home.  The home of Max and Tupper.

So this week let’s say prayers for those who need it and welcome our new friends and pray for comfort for all our worried Moms and Dads.

The Tornado Dogs are our June 2, 2013 Pups of the Week

Meika

Friday night I sat in front of the computer scared to death.  I wasn’t watching a frightening video or watching stories about how the humans are messing up the world, I was reading post after post from my beloved friends who were living in the path of killer tornadoes.  

Thankfully all have checked in and were spared from the storm’s wrath, but it made me realize just how fragile our hold on life, and our friendships, are.  One horrible storm can cause so much havoc and devastation it is unimaginable.  The names of towns become synonomous with destruction, Moore, Joplin, Oklahoma City, Rainsville, like the towns that became famous for Civil War battles:  Fredricksburgh, Antetiem, Shiloh, Gettysburgh.

Practically every day we bark with our good friends Reese and Mieka from Missouri.  Reese is very proud that he can howl just as loud as the tornado sirens.  But his talent scares us.  We never want him to use his howler because that means danger is coming.  On Friday night they were excitedly waiting on word of twin family members being born in Michigan.  But they couldn’t contact their family, and they couldn’t contact us, so there was a big circle of worry going on.  We were happy to hear from them yesterday, but their human twin cousin is in a hospital and in need of prayers.

Then there are our very good friend Koda, Josie, Wills and Emme.  They all had to pack up and leave their farm Friday night as tornadoes were headed right for it.  Thankfully the twisters spared their homestead and by the next morning they were back at the farm, but for one night there were lots of prayers said in their name.

Chey’s and Kaizer’s Mom had to ride out the storm in their basement.  They lost contact when the tornadoes grazed their neighborhood and all us friends held our breath. They came through the storms in one piece but the hotel where many friends stayed during last year’s Baronfest was hit.  Chey’s and Kaizer’s Mom made a wise choice pushing this year’s Baronfest until after tornado season.

On Wednesday Chelsea and Junior Johnson’s family got a warning about a major tornado and had to hunker down in their bedroom.  Two nights later they had to go through the same hell and then again on the 30th.  Their Mom’s Facebook page became tornado central, as did many other peep’s pages.

Shakira, Napa, and tiny Travis had to go into the storm cave to wait out the tornadoes that swirled around them.  It was Travis first storm but he came out fine  thanks to his Mom being so calm and Angel Apollo watching out from overhead.

There were lots of other pups in the path of these terrible storms like Summer Grace whose stories we have not told.  But we want them all to know we prayed very hard for them and are so happy they came through the darkness OK and pray it is a long time until they face another week like this.

For now we give you and your parents a big tip of the tail for being calmer and braver dogs then either us or our parents could ever be.

May you have nothing but sunny days for the rest of the summer.