Pups of the week: Ruger and Pintus

Ruger

The handsome German Shepherd regally ascended on the escalator towards the spot at the edge of the cliff where I would give him the oath.  When he reached me he gave me a kiss on the head.  I began reading the oath.  Then I heard the sound of eight paws pounding the ground, quickly headed towards me.  I spoke faster, then even faster.  I had to get done before the big bodies attached to those paws arrived.

I got done and slipped away as the three German Shepherds collided with a roar that shook the mountains.  They wrapped their legs around one another and danced in a circle.  The clouds of sad tears caused by our newest member’s passing mixed with the Shepherds’ tears of joy.  Then the three boys turned, finally reunited, and ignoring everyone else, charged into the hills to run.

Ruger had joined his brothers Daddy and Taser at Rainbow Bridge.  The Shepherd brothers were together again.  As they disappeared up the hills, we could still hear their paws, and their hearts, pounding.  Their joy even touched my cynical little Yorkie heart.

But with joy comes great sorrow.  I could hear the sobbing on the mortal side.  While we were lucky to witness the boys reunited their parents could only use their imaginations to see them.  It will be a very long time before the boys and their parents are reunited.  In that time their parents will share love with a herd more of German Shepherds.

It was stage four kidney failure that brought Ruger to us.  His parents took excellent care of him before and after his diagnosis.  They gave him the loving home he had each day of his life, only more so.  But their beautiful boy only had so many heartbeats, and they finally expired.

How we wish their parents could see their three boys frolicking again.  They came running down the hill and then rolled on the ground nipping at one another.  A game of chase began again.  Daddy and Taser used their wings to fly leaving their brother on the cliff.  Ladybug flew over and attached Ruger’s wings, specially made by Scooby to match his brothers.  Ladybug was going to teach him, but Ruger did not have the patience.  He flapped, flapped, flapped his wings and then he took off to the skies and now the three brothers played in the sky, zipping past one another.  They put on a terrific show.  We gave them a long round of applause when they landed.

But they didn’t hear us.  The three of them were curled in a perfect ball around each other, sleeping.  Reunited at last.

By morning they would work out a schedule, so one of them was always with their parents, and around their little human’s sisters side.  And when their parents were sleeping, or the boys knew they were safe, they would charge into the hills, and then the skies to play.

Flying German Shepherd brothers are quite the sight to see.

Pintus

While we, and his family, had lots of time to adjust to Ruger’s arrival, Pintus came with little warning.  He had a seizure, and a short time later he passed to the immortal side, in his Mom’s arms, on his bed.

His sister Rain had arrived a short while before.  No mother should lose two children so close together.  Instead of the thundering paws of Daddy and Taser, Rain slowly trotted up to us. She knew how unprepared her mom was for Pintus' passing.  Before I gave Pintus the oath, I let Rain go to him.  They stood on their back legs and hugged for a long time.

Pintus and Rain had always gone together like peas and carrots.  It was hard to think of them separate,  It did all the Angels’ hearts well to see them reunited but we stayed silent respecting their shared sorrow.

Rain took Pintus by the paw and led him to me.  I grabbed his paw too, and I gave him the oath.  He repeated my words.  He seemed as stunned to be with us as his mom was that he was gone.  Rain saw how upset he was and she stayed near him through his wing fitting and his reuniting with the hundreds of dog friends he had here at the Bridge, and the other animals his mom had owned who he had never met.

I could tell that Pintus was anxious to learn how to ghost and dream visit so he could see his mom again but he has always been the sweetest boy.  He knew his friends loved him, and he spent time with each one, making every dog feel like they were his best friend.

When the long line of friends ended Rain announced that she would like to teach her brother how to fly.  Pintus learned very quickly.  Then, before we knew it, they flew together to visit with their mom.  Rain had done this multiple time before, but now she flew with a partner.

Like the German Shepherd brothers, Pintus and Rain have been inseparable.  They don’t play as hard as the boys (I don’t think I have ever seen Angels play that hard) but they do spend a lot of time together sharing memories, laughing, and talking about their favorite subject, their mom.

They have shown me that the River of Life, and the unbridgeable gap of being mortal and immortal cannot extinguish love.  It lives on in the afterlife and is lit a new when parties are reunited.

Every angel is filled with love.  It is majestic when we get to see the love shared with a family member.