The Ruby Rose and the Big Little Angels 3 Blog

When my friends Molly and Cocoa were diagnosed with eye issues, I tried to assure their parents that we dogs can function very well without vision.  Our sense of smell and our whiskers can help us navigate through a dark world.  But I underestimated one of the reasons that parents become distraught about their dog's lack of vision:  They will no longer get the look. Our eyes provide many functions besides vision.  We convey our personality, and our love, through those eyes.  We also transmit the love and absolute trust we have for our humans via our eyes.  If we are unable to convey that our parents are denied the comfort our eyes provide. One of the emotions we express via our eyes is absolute trust.  When we look at our parents, we are telling them that we know that they will always take care of us and never let anything bad happen to us. That is what haunted my parents when they dropped Pocket off for her dental work.  That morning Pocket was bounding around the house h

Tuesday was a dramatic day.  We got up early.   I thought Daddy would shower and go to work, but Mommy showered first.  That was a bad sign.  When Daddy showered and goes to work Mommy, Pocket, and I get a blanket and pay Foley a dream visit.  But there was no dream date, no blanket, and even worse no breakfast. And no Pocket!  I am used to Mommy and Daddy leaving but the only time they take Pocket alone is when she has to go to the vet.  Was there something wrong with my sister?  Why does no one tell me what is going on in this house?  Everyone keeps the Griffon in the dark. Two hours later they came back, smelling of pancakes and bacon, with groceries, and no Pocket.  After they put away the groceries, they finally fed me, but after I few bites I stopped eating to look for Pocket.  She wasn’t anywhere in the house!  I finished, and Mommy offered me lap, but every few minutes I would get down and search for Pocket again. I finally settled down when they got a phone call and u

Hold it right there lady.  My sister is using the restroom and needs her privacy

My parents have a liquor cabinet in their living room.  They don’t have liquor bottles, so mommy stores her blankets in it.  On top of the cabinet are my ashes and several items our friends sent to my parents after my passing.  One of them is a lovely fold out card with many pictures of me with inspirational quotes.  It was sent by mommy’s friend Pam Bolton and her husband Brian.  It was signed by them and their Yorkie Tiny. I always have a special place in my heart for my fellow Yorkies.  Tiny’s family’s kind gesture inspired me to follow her closely.  I loved to see her bring joy to her family.  You can measure a dog’s worth by how happy they make their humans.  For a small dog Tiny is worth a tremendous amount. Last week Tiny suddenly became ill.  She could not walk correctly.  She did not want to eat.  She was vomiting.  Parents never expect their five-year-old dog to become seriously ill.  When I checked in on my friend, I became very concerned.  We little dogs can become v

On Tuesday morning Fox and Friends announced this year’s most popular dog breeds. I love Fox and Friends.  They have been very kind to me.  They are excellent people.  And they are the world leader in commercials for walk in tubs and carpet cleaners.  Every morning I like to start my day with a cup of tea, a scone, and Fox and Friends where Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, and an ever changing parade of blonde female co-hosts with the on air life expectancy of a Spinal Tap drummer (the last of whom spontaneously combusted on the air, or at least that is what I read), give me a fair and balanced view of the world for people who are incapable of turning around and seeing what is on the other side.  I like to think of Steve, Brian, and that random chick, as my good friends and breakfast companions. I had mixed feelings about seeing this year popular dog breed rankings.  All dogs are great and should not be ranked separately.  I don’t think people would expect to hear Steve Doocy say “T

I do not like loud noises.  Loud unexplained noises are even worse.  Last week I was peacefully lying in bed with my parents when suddenly there was a noise that sounded like a raptor knocking on our storm door.  My head picked up, my ears turned, I felt queasy and began to shake.  A minute later the sound repeated. The noise and me climbing to the head of the bed woke mommy up.  Daddy, who sleeps with earbuds jammed in his head, didn’t hear the sound.  He stayed asleep until I climbed on his head and began to shimmy. “Pocket what are you doing?” he asked.  He unstuck the buds from his ears.   “There is a noise,” Mommy said.  She was not getting out of bed to check.  Mommy does not get out of bed to check on possible monsters.  That is Daddy’s department. He got up.  The raptor knocking continued.  He left the room.  Mommy grabbed me and tried to hold on.  I was a rattling little pepper with four squirming legs.   Us dogs, when we first wake up, are fully cognizant.  Our

For the last time:  I did not say "Let's go to bed" I said "There's a dog on my head!"

Tanner Bub and I have been friends for nearly ten years.  We were buds when we were young and mortal, and we still are.  Seven years ago Tanner went to Rainbow Bridge.  I had the great honor of walking him to the Bridge, where, with a soft kiss, we parted company. Four years later he would meet me at the foot of that same Bridge when it was my turn to become immortal.  He was accompanied by his little brother Ruger, and his wife Sophie who had joined him before my arrival.  They helped me in adjusting to my new immortal life. Ruger was selected by Tanner to take his spot in his mom’s heart.  It was not part of Tanner’s plans to have Ruger join him when Ruger was very young.  Ruger’s departure hurt his mom as much as Tanner’s passing had and Tanner promised that his mom would not feel that pain for a long time. Tanner took particular interest in his sister Cocoa Puff.  Not many Angels who crossed seven years ago still have beloved siblings in the mortal world.  Tanner h

On the mortal side of the River of Life, folks have become obsessed with people spying on them.  I don’t want anyone spying on my parents.  Having lived with them my whole life, I knew what they do, and I certainly don’t want anyone else knowing.  I needed to spy on the spies to keep my parents safe. I have learned never to go on a spy mission without backup.  Yorkies make the best sleuths.  We are quiet, smart, stealth, quick witted, and small.  I went to the top of the biggest apartment building and recruited my friend Chelsea.  When I told her about the spying she reacted as she always did when informed of my schemes:  Chelsea rolled her eyes, shook her head, but agreed to follow me because she was bored. We went to my parent's house.  It was late at night.  My parents were sound asleep.  Chelsea and I wore lights around our heads.  I shined mine in the bedroom and motioned for my sisters to keep quiet.  Chelsea and I then flew over to the microwave.  We were both able t

Never celebrate the end of winter in February. Two weeks ago I was bemoaning the fact that winter had disappeared just as I was conquering my fear of going outside in the cold.  I was confident, after a long, beautiful, summer that I would no longer be bothered by winter. Then winter came back with a fury.  The temperature hovered near zero.  We had a snowstorm, and a few days later a blizzard.  I was thrust back into cold and freezing wet. I attempted to go out and do my business.  It was an epic fail. At night, before bedtime, no matter the weather, Pocket needs a short walk, at least past a few driveways, before she doubles (produces a number two).  I pout if I don’t get to go with them, even if the weather is bad.  On the first day of cold weather, I didn’t make it to the end of the driveway. I sat down.  Daddy lifted the leash, picking me off the ground by my harness.  He put me down.  I sat again.  He had to carry me.  (How humiliating, to be carried during

"Your honor!  Not only is defense council leading the witness she is yanking her collar"

Brutus arrived at Rainbow Bridge a champion.  He didn’t win a dog show or an agility competition.  And he did not defeat cancer that punched his ticket to the Bridge.  But he fought the disease like a champion, and he kept it at bay long enough to be by his mom’s side during her own illness, until he had given every measure of his devotion. Last year Brutus was diagnosed with lymphoma.  His mom scheduled chemotherapy sessions for him.  Some of them he handled well, others he struggled with.  He had completed all but two of his treatments.  His parents began to dream that the insidious disease would loosen its grip on their handsome boy. While Brutus was going through his treatments, his mom was getting medical treatments of her own.  A check up with her hermatologist showed that her kidneys were failing.  She was hospitalized for three days.   “I hadn’t been feeling right for a couple of weeks,” Brutus told me after he arrived at the Bridge.  We were lying on the green grass w

I was walking down by the river one day when I came upon a dog sniffing a rock.  On the mortal side, rocks are crucial to dogs.  We pee on rocks to leave messages to one another.  We don’t have to pee now, but it is still a useful messaging service.  I took a few sniffs and started to walk away.  The other dog was slowly sniffing. “Is there anything interesting there?”  I asked. “There always is.  I have been coming to this rock for 150 years.  I find something new every day.” “One-hundred-and-fifty years!”  I exclaimed.  “Shouldn’t you be in the land of Happily Ever After with your parents?” “My dad likes it here.  People always want to meet him.  He gives speeches.  He is kind of a big deal.” “Who is your dad?” “Alexander Graham Bell.” “He’s the guy who invented the telephone!” I said impressed. The dog scoffed.  “Oh yeah, he invented the telephone.”   “He didn’t?” The dog looked at me slyly.  He stuck out his paw and told me his name was Trouve.  Then he told

I have always been jealous of my friends with good vets, the ones their parents trust completely. I have been to multiple vets.  There was the one who held me by my front paws and looked me up and down, there was the one who charged way too much money, there was the one who only saw dogs in the morning and didn’t seem that interested in our well being.  Last Tuesday we went to another new vet. We walked into the small waiting room.  The walls were covered with thank you cards, drawings, and pup pictures.  I liked that.  My parents put me down to sniff.  The Sniff reviews were good. We went into the exam room.  I got weighed (I am up to six pounds) then I checked out more sniff reviews.  The vet came in with a tech.  They both began to tell me how cute I was and they fawned over me.  They certainly knew how to impress ]parents.  My dad held me as they took a picture for their wall. Then they began to check me over, and they said everything seemed good.  I did some shaking w

I must be getting old....I can't remember why I wanted to go out

I have too many friends here at Rainbow Bridge who arrived because they ate something they shouldn’t.  Every day I stop by to see Brody and Romey.  Sometimes they are watching over their families.  Inevitably they will say “I wish I never ate that thing.” But we dogs can’t help it.  Humans put squeakers in our toys.  Those little things drive us nuts.  We have to get them out.  When we finally find them our instincts take over and we gut that toy like a wolf with a rabbit.  Occasionally the urge is so strong we forget we aren’t a wolf and eat that whole toy. Our parents get frustrated when we destroy toys, and they spend more money on stronger toys.  Now, let me take a minute to address these parents.  There is no such thing as a destruction proof toy.  Every toy has a weak spot that, when we find it, will, with a short bit of work, get us to the inside and that damn squeaker.  Big Dog Toy is never going to make a chewie that is indestructible because then you wouldn’t buy anot