Pup of the Week: Tommy and Rickey - The New



We angels have been inundated with prayers, of late:  For Leo, Josie, Paco, Dot, Junior, and so many more.  Life holds one terrible promise:  All mortal dogs will join me on the immortal side when it is their time.  When that happens hearts will be shattered.  I know of only one cure:  The New.

I have a couple of friends who are The New.  One is Tommy, named for the legendary Tommy Tunes.  He is a puppy.  Puppy breath is an elixir for broken hearts.  It is the new car smell of the dog world.

 

We have gleefully witnessed Tommy grow up.  We met him in the middle of March at seven weeks old.  We watched him as he grew from a constant pee machine and a chewer to learning the sound of the kibble bag and can opener.   Then through his toilet training, his invite to sleep in the big bed, his shots and gradual weight gain, and the loss of his baby teeth.  Watching, and reading about Tommy growing up has done us all good,  Puppies are hope and Tommy has given us hope.

The New don’t have to be puppies.  The New can be older.  These are the rescues.  Rickey is one such Rescue.  He was chosen by Angels Tupper and Max to live with his Mom, Boris, and new adoptee Macie.  But Tupper and Max were quite worried.  They had not properly vetted Rickey.  He was brought into their home on a seven day trial period.

Rescues bring a different set of problems than puppies but they are equally as taxing  He had food aggression, boundary issues, (anything on the counter was fair game to Rickey), not used to walking on a leash and had bad seperation issues.  He also tore a dew claw playing and he did not trust his Mom to treat it.  Adding a third dog to a family can be problematic and his Mom has wrestled, during this seven day trial period,  with what would be best for Rickey and  her own pups.   We do hope it works out for everyone.  Every family needs A New now and then.

It is very peaceful here, but sometimes, when the wind is thick and air delicate we can hear mortal, human, chatter rising from across the River.  These voices are angry and divisive.  Mostly say, hooray for our side.  

But there is also an undercurrent of words about love.  Many of these words were devoted to dogs (and some to cats.)  They were the same voices who spoke unkind words about one another.  That is when I realized an undeniable truth.

We dogs (and other pets, but I shall use the word dog, if a cat wants to write a blog they can use cat) bind people together.  Politically, culturally, racially, religiously, people are divided, but the love of dogs bring them together.

My parents are baseball fans.  They met at a baseball field.  In a movie a character talks about baseball and America.  It is a good speech, but it is better when you change the subject to dogs.

“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been dogs. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers.  Love has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But dogs have marked the time. These dogs, these blessed creatures are part of our past, Ray. They remind us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Ohhhhhhhh, people need dogs, Ray. People will most definitely need dogs.”

I could not have said it better myself. If you don’t have one, got get yourself A New.

Now who is this Ray?