The Ruby Rose and the Big Little Angels 3 Blog

I was sitting here minding my own business when the chair split open and a family of squirrels ain out.   Honest!

Where do you sleep at night? Pocket:   We sleep in between our parents in the big bed.  I am usually closer to my parent's heads  River stays near the bottom because she is a big woman and needs a lot of space.

Hard times should come and go. But sometimes hard times linger and only grow worse. When there is long-suffering the initial hard times Are looked back at fondly as being the good old days. New angel, Sabrina's family has seen enough suffering to equal the quota for an entire sub-Asian village. Four years ago Sabrina’s father Ward suffered a debilitating stroke. Sabrina's mama Dolores and papa Ward had promised one another they would never allow the other to be placed in a home. But when you're young, you have no idea just how horrible a debilitating illness can be, and the enormous effort it takes to care for a soul who can no longer do so for themselves. The worst part of Papa Ward’s stroke was that it stole his memory. His body was the same. To Sabrina and her littermates, he smelled the same. But he was no longer there. Something had stolen his body and was using it. Each morning Mama Delores would dress Papa ward.  She would make his food and feed him. She woul

I got a message that a new dog had arrived at the Bridge.  As I walked to Hobo’s Landing where the dog waited to be sworn in, I noticed that no other dogs, not even a litter mate was there to greet him.   Did this dog have no one to mourn him? Then I saw the newest angel. You would think, after being at the Bridge for almost six years, that I would have seen everything. But the sight of a robotic dog patiently waiting for me to usher him into the Rainbow Bridge community was something new. I retreated and immediately called a meeting of the Rainbow Bridge High Counsel. The four members, Easy the Weimaraner, Tommy Tunes, Odie, and  Paco, guided me when I made the most difficult decisions. Whether we should allow the robot dog into our community was one of the hardest I had faced. I immediately told the council my predicament. Easy ran out of our meeting place.  I didn't know if he was investigating or if he was overcome by the need to Zoom. Within two minutes Easy was bac

For the past year, we had waged war on the feral cats who snuck under our house, damaged our dual HVAC unit and caused us to have a very chilly weekend before it was fixed. Until they lost the heat, my parents took a cavalier attitude towards the kitties invading our southern border. "They aren't hurting anything," my parents said. They had unwittingly created a sanctuary crawl space under the house. Their policy of open skirts had resulted in a hefty heating repair bill. My parents finally understood they needed to secure our southern border. Still, they would not listen to me about the necessity for a wall. They took extra care in making sure they had a tight skirt. One day last week as I was looking for the perfect spot for a daily double poop and pee I dragged Poppa past the HVAC unit. The piece of the skirt by the unit was pushed in. I wanted to give him my superior I told you so look, but that's hard to do while popping. Papa came inside and told Momma

Reputed dog mob boss Sugar Plum has escaped from prison.  On the left is what he looked when  he escaped and on the right what he would look like after grooming and when someone put a comb up his butt

A simple question this week.  How much do you weigh and are you considered overweight? Pocket: I weigh six pounds.  I still have my girlish figure. River; I weigh fourteen pounds.  Mommy keeps an eye on me.  I love to eat, but I don't like to move so if I overeat it is going right to my hips.

When something big arrives at the Bridge the ground beneath us shakes. I am not talking about from weight but from the space, a soul takes in human hearts. When Hazel of the Idaho Pup Ranch arrived this week something big shook the ground for sure. Hazel is a giant in the dog world.  She is a champion athlete who has won scores of ribbons for agility, and a faithful blogger who provides her friends with thousands of laughs, emotional support, a furry shoulder to cry on,  and powerful prayers when one of her readers take Ill or passes over.  But most of all Hazel was the perfect family dog and pack leader. There has been a lot of tragedy at the Ranch in the past. After the loss of little Greta who passed over much too young and her brother Bailey who arrived here last year, It was Hazel, the heart of the ranch, who helped both humans and dogs through the long road of grief.  She guided them into the sunshine. Everyone on the Ranch knew Hazel would get her family through anyth

This week’s post won't be light or funny. It is the story of something horrific that happened at a PetSmart on a Sunday morning. The sun was shining brightly. The temperatures were in the 60s. It was the first day people left their jackets at home and wore their short sleeve shirts. The weather made everyone at ease. Winter was over. The carefree days of summer were in view. A puppy training class was scheduled to begin in fifteen minutes. Some students had arrived early to get their dogs acclimated to the store before class started. A young woman with a corgi was talking to the mother and her adolescent daughter. At the end of their lead was a four-year-old long-haired dachshund. A young man with a pit bull entered the store. The pit bull had recently had a litter. Her long hanging nipples were the sign of a dog that had been over bred. When approached by staff the dog backed away. The man said he had the dog for a month. He adopted it from the city shelter. He had been

Monday was also going to be the start of our long-awaited gardening season.  But, per usual this spring, it rained. We were more disappointed than 1,000 wet marathoners.   But Tuesday broke warm and sunny.  For the first time in five months, my nose was filled with freshly mown grass, tilled Earth and warm air.  After a day’s delay, Mother Nature finally let us have a garden day. My parents insist on garden days once a  week. If they miss one, they'll fall behind, and their gardens will go all season being just a little behind.   This winter has been so raw that the ground itself is two weeks behind. The back of our shed where the gutters empty is the only place where the grass has grown green and thick.  There are some sprouts in Foley's garden, but nothing has bloomed. If you are close to the ground, you can hear the roots singing if as they make their way to the sun. During the cold winter months, we met Foley in our dreams and planned the upcoming garden season.  

Whatever it was Mommy I didn't do it

How much exercise do you get and how often do you get it? Pocket, when we get a walk it is for around 20 minutes.  Our walks depend on our weather.  In the summer we can get walked every day.  In the winter months, we are lucky to get a walk a week.  But we aren't' breeds that need a lot of exercises so we're good.

After being shattered by the deaths of many beloved friends in the past few weeks, and having to watch their parents grieve, we here at rainbow bridge District four got a much-needed reprieve this week.  There were no new angels and no newly broken hearted parents. And now I can do something I haven't Been able to do in a hound’s age.  I can celebrate a hero who still walks among you. I present for your approval Harley from Round Rock Texas.  Harley is a pitbull mix. If we were not domesticated and living in the wild, the Pitbull would be, with his strength and intelligence the leader of the dog world.  But we have allowed humans to rule us by serving them. Instead of ruling pit bulls live on the edge of the dog world. Some communities shun them altogether. I got to know Harley through his prayers.  He was born feral. His mom was a pittie disowned upon pregnancy. Harley was born in an alley on a cold and rainy day.  His mom found a place behind a dumpster to nourish him a

In 2010 I was a nine ye.ar old little fireball.  I had already made a name for myself on social media. Every dog knew Foley Monster. I began to think of myself as above the rules. When I saw an unknown cat entering a neighboring house, I stopped him from going inside and accused him of being a cat burglar. Unfortunately, I was wrong. I had blocked a cat from going in his own home The next morning the news reported that I was an anti-catdite.  Kitties picketed my house. You can read the original recounting here . Fearing a permanent schism between dogs and cats President Obama invited the cat and me to meet at the White House and resolve the issue. You can read about that historic meeting here .   There was an encounter during my White House visit that I thought best left untold. But now, amid many terrible stories about powerful men humiliating women by treating them as sexual objects I am compelled to come forward with my tale. After meeting with the President and the kitty

Every day our bedtime routine is the same.  First I go out for my last poop. I am taken alone because River Song is a selfish pooper .  For her and her expanded butt hole pooping is a breeze. But I am short, fluffy and tight all over.  I can't just stop and pop. I have to sniff, circle several times like a bombardier sizing up its Target then let my payload out and hope gravity does the rest If River is with me she gets done first then begins pulling to go home.  How rude! Usually, it is right when I am circling my target. If you jostle the bombardier, you put the mission in jeopardy.  And if the mission fails tragedy will follow in the form of me getting gas and nasty diarrhea I am lucky Papa recognizes the danger and arranges to take us out separately.  Humans, unless at one point they were forced to poop as part of a chain gang do not know how difficult it is to poop tethered to another soul.  I don't think that even the thieves, murderers or fornicators would begin to

Game of Thrones fans were stunned to learn George R R Martin is really a Wheaton terrier.  

What is the strangest animal you have ever had in your house? Pocket:   Before mommy and daddy were married mommy had the first floor or a two floor, two family unit.  The man upstairs liked the feed the ducks.  If mommy left the door opened the ducks would come inside. One night Daddy got home late and there was a bat in his apartment.  It took him a half an hour to get the thing outside.   It was quite the battle

There was a time as recent as five years ago that we knew everything our pet friends did during the day.  We were aware of each bump and bruise. When one of us was sick and in need of prayers, hundreds of them were heard above the clouds. The number of dogs that keep us informed of their daily lives has diminished to just a few dozen over the last few years.  All across the internet dog sites are closing because of lack of interest. More and more people invest their time on Facebook, Twitter and other sites that reaffirm what they believe about the world no matter what that may be. Tiara is an old school friend.   She kept us posted about her life with her sisters Trixie and Tasha.  No matter how mundane those activities may have been the Triple T’s made them fascinating. We knew immediately when she was diagnosed with diabetes, and we prayed. We knew when the vet said she had congestive heart failure and we prayed harder.  And we knew that on Thursday she was going for a gluco

Some parents need another dog in their lives after a loved one goes to the Bridge faster than others. This need is expedited by having a surviving dog in the family. The parent may not be able to admit to themselves that they need a new pup, but they will still get one “for the sake of my other dog" When Maverick arrived at the Bridge less than a month ago, he knew his dad wouldn't wait long to add another heartbeat to the household.  Maverick had a co-conspirator in his quest to find another dog for the family - his mortal sister Lily. My parents went through a similar period after I passed.  They watched Pocket closely to see how she was adjusting to being a single dog “I think Pocket is missing Foley,” Mommy said, “Actually, I am doing quite fine thank you,” Pocket said. “Poor baby needs a new sibling,” Papa said. “Not at all,” Pocket said. “I am enjoying the individual attention.”  That is when my parents decided to get another dog, who turned out to be River.

Small Tales: Walking Time Means Barking Time : Because the temperature has risen, we have started walking again which means Pocket, and I bark at anything we see.  Usually, it's jus...

Because the temperature has risen, we have started walking again which means Pocket, and I bark at anything we see.  Usually, it's just humans out for a stroll. We bark for attention, but we rarely get any. The barks that say “we are fierce creatures that will rip you apart” are the same as the “come play with us” with bark.  One of the few design flaws dogs have. It isn't only people who are on the receiving end of our barks.  There are those home-wrecking cats that are always lurking about causing who knows what mischief.  There are the plump turkeys that somehow stay upright despite their fat bodies and spindly legs. We bark at the cats to chase them.  We bark at the turkeys to scare them off. And then there are the dogs. Dogs understand our barks.  If there is a pup inside their house we back a friendly greeting of "Hello, bark bark.  How are you, bark bark?" If our parents could understand us, they would find this exchange as dull as our monotonous barking.

I like her.  I don't think she needs to be changed.  Do you want to try and take her away from me?

Are you or your parents on other social network sites and if so under what names? Pocket:  We are on Blogger under the name Small Tails                We are on Facebook under the and Marsha andTed Gay                We are on Twitter under the name TedG63 but we never use Twitter.