The Ruby Rose and the Big Little Angels 3 Blog

I got up early on a Saturday morning in late May of 2009.  It was odd that I had the energy to wake up early since the night before had taken part in what was called the raid on the castle. A few weeks prior I was banned from the site called Doggyspace. Before this happened I was ready to stay there site forever  It was perfect for me. I had a thousand friends. It really was like a big playground. The friendships I had made there meant everything to me. I would fight to the death for my comrades. One of those friends, Tanner, was growing tired of the increasingly authoritarian rule and unruly members.  Our dear friend Hattie had left the site, weary from being bullied by younger, unsupervised pups. Tanner was upset that his group Yellow Labs had been assimilated into another and all the threads and comments wiped out. He complained to the management, who was disguised as a Yorkie named Princess.  Her profile picture had been taken from a stock photo site. Her biography fabricated

I was sitting next to Momma on the big recliner. I had achieved the perfect fugue state, neither awake or asleep.  I was in that comfortable spot in the middle, experiencing a peaceful easy feeling. I lifted my head, yawned, then rested on mommy's leg. I glanced at her IPad. She was reading the most distressing article. It said humans are treating pets like they are human. What a revolting development.   This news completely knocked me out of my comfort zone.   I would not have been as worried if the story said we would be treated like babies.  Those helpless little creatures have their parents wrapped around their tiny fingers. No, what I had read meant human adults.  The bottom of the food chain. For years I have enjoyed being treated much better than the way humans treat one another.   This would be a significant change in my lifestyle If my parents started treating me like a human, what would happen the next time I pooped?  Humans don't clean up one another'

Cleanliness may be next to Godliness but dirty is more fun

Do you like to tip up tissue paper? Pocket:  I ignore tissue paper. River Song  I chew it up and leave it all around the house whenever I get the chance.

In my ten years of writing tributes to dogs who have passed to the Bridge three has become my least favorite number.  When I first started, I hated the number two. It was sad enough when one dog from a pack passed to the Bridge. A second was tragic.  The longer I have been on the immortal side; the more dogs have arrived. And some of these dogs have driven up the number of pets lost from a single pack to three.  That is why I hate that number. We have had Tanner, Coco Puff and Ruger Ru arrive from the same pack.  Also, Hattie Mae, Fella, and Smartie. All of these pups became famous on Doggyspace and then followed us when we started the Tanner Brigade.   This week another TB family had sent a third pup to the Bridge when Mama Elisa lost Barry. He joined Benjamin the Sheriff of Fun and their brother Butkus the Grumpy. When they were together on the mortal side, Benjamin, Butkus, and Barry could not have been more different.  Benjamin loved to have fun all the time. Butkus took his

Words are the tools of my trade. I'd be lost without them.  I remember how frustrated I would get when no one understood my barks.  That is why I learned words. I had long thought that being without words was a disadvantage.  I had forgotten the entertainers, Harpo, Chaplin, Jaws, and Pluto who thrived without words. But that was film. My venues were blogs and books.  You cannot succeed in those fields without words. This past week my friends Toby,  Geordie and their mom J. Lawson proved me wrong. I already owned one of their books, “Poopiter.”  It is a fanciful collection of humorous cartoons, sketches, and drawings. The humor was both in the pictures and in words captured by air bubbles that floated above the character’s heads. I was eager to get their latest book “Dream Our World” (available on Amazon by clicking here .)  I anticipated more funny lines and pithy quips. I opened the book and quickly flipped through the pages.  I admired the sturdy paper. Much more d

As has been documented in this space previously, I don't squat still when I poop.  Pooping is a waste of time, which is why humans read when they do it. I am not granted this luxury.   When I hold a magazine and poop, I tip over. I consider myself house trained with benefits. Before I lived with my parents, I went on the pads. When I arrived here, I took to doing my business outside right away, unless it was too cold, wet, windy, or I was not so inclined. Usually, I poop on the pads. I still roam around a bit, but mostly I hit the target. The pads are placed in front of the north bedroom door. It is closed unless someone needs the room for storage or random spurts of exercise. The bathroom and laundry room are to the east and west of the two pads. (Mommy tapes them together to make them longer believing the bigger the landing strip you have the least likely I am to crash). Usually, I drop my load on the pads, but occasionally I don't a factor for the artificial wind cre

I don't care if you are Mommy's favorite you can't get on my blanket

"Are you a digger?"   Pocket : Not me. My precious nails   River : I dig on the bed everywhere. There is a method to my madness. The mattress was made in China.

Pepper and Juju were the perfect pack mates.  Both girls, of similar size, age and temperament were like peas and carrots, inseparable, until late 2017 when the Bridge snatched Pepper away. Juju did her best to adapt to the sad new normal. She gave her two moms lots of attention and tried to mend their broken hearts.  She welcomed her new sister Penny into the family and made sure the rookie knew what their moms needed to ease their loss. It was a struggle for JuJu. She had a terminal illness and suffered from seizures.  Mama Cathy called her the miracle dog Even the vet did not know how she kept going Juju used her heartbeats sparingly so she could stay with her mother and sister until their terrible transition to a Pepper-less life was completed. Juju's final day arrived on Wednesday.  A vicious seizure signaled to her moms that it was time. In her eleven years on social media, Juju had made hundreds of friends who were now angels.  They began lining up in two rows from

When I was asked to test fly one of the new 2019 bird models, I hoped I would get something cool like a bright red cardinal, a pretty hummingbird, or even a sweet singing Robin. I got a plain Crow. Getting a bird body is like reserving a rental at the airport.  You may ask for a Lexus but end up with a ten-year-old Hyundai with no air conditioning.  The crow is the bird equivalent of a ten-year-old Hyundai. I had to test drive it in the Northeast on a cold drizzly day.  I hate getting my wings wet. When you are a Crow, a single raindrop can be a deluge.  Also, I found out the brakes were faulty after I flew into a tree. I was about to abandon my test fly when I saw a Home Depot on the horizon.  I set course for the garden department. I flew in the open doors and perched above the entrance that connected to the main store. When shoppers walked thru I flew into the safety of the store. I don't know why humans find these places useful, but if you test flying a bird bod

My sister is slowly driving me to madness.  Not just in her usual ways of getting me stirred up by needlessly barking, or taking my spot on Mama's lap.  Since she got her teeth out, she's eating so slowly that I can't stand waiting for her. We both dine twice a day in the living room.  I eat out of a bowl she eats off of a plate. I begin inhaling my food as soon as my bowl is put down.  Pocket walks around her plate like she has discovered an ancient fossil. After a bit of coaxing from my parents, she begins to eat. Meanwhile, I am halfway through my food. This is how I eat: slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp, slurp.  This is how Pocket eats her food. Sniff, sniff, bite one kibble, drop it, bite another kibble, drop it, pick it up, chew, chew, chew and swallow. Only another 10,000 kibbles to go. You may wonder why I care about how long it takes for my sister to eat.  It ‘s because I get her leftovers. With every kibble, she bites I think she's full.  She noses ar

To hell with Petco's Natural Food Push.  I am living my best life

A few weeks ago we wrote about a puppy who was bitten by a pit bull in PetSmart.  We are happy to report the dog is fully recovered.  Looking at the pup you can't tell there was an incident.   All your prayers are greatly appreciated.   This week's question:  What stores have you go into? Pocket:  No many for River and I.  I think just Petco.  Foley had been to several small stores in her stroller.  When my parents travelled Foley went with them.  Now they are homebodies.  That is fine with us.    

The young woman has just barely escaped her ferocious enemies and besieged on all side, was asked by the red witch “what do you say to the god of death?” “Not today,” she answered. Then she left the castle to save the day. All dogs dream of saying “not today” to the god of death.  Some of us are successful for a short period. But, there is a one dog I know who has been saying it for years and continues to do so.  He must know something we don't because he's still on the mortal side with his mom. I have a particular spot in my heart for  Pokey the dog who said no. He belongs to Mama Laura.  He is one of the few online friends I've actually met. Pocket and I spent a lovely day with Mama Laura and pokey eight years ago. I liked his online presence, but when I met him for real, it was love at first enough sniff. I was a couple of years older than pokey.  Since I was smaller, the mystics predicted that I would have the longer mortal Life.  But The fates had other plan

After delays, one lost Word file, one computer crash, and two restarts I am pleased to announce that Tails from Rainbow Bridge 2 Tributes and Observations written by me, Foley Monster can now be purchased on Amazon.com by following this link .  It should also be available in Kindle. Form. The dogs written about in my book are listed below.  Included in this work are my observations about life at Rainbow Bridge, as well as some adventures undertaken by my angel brethren and me.   The tributes are mostly accumulated between 2016 and 2017. Some, like Nigel, who was somehow was not included in my first book are written about in this one. If you had a pup pass to the Bridge during 2016 or 2017, you remember me writing about them at the time of their passing,  and are not on the following list kindly let me know. Pepper, I know I did not include your December 2017 passing in this work, but I am already formatting my next book which will cover 2018 and 2019. Hopefully, that work will be

It was a lovely early spring evening.  River and I were looking forward to a pleasant stroll. I walked with River beside me.  Papa held on to both our leashes in his right hand. I was feeling a little draggy, so I deposited a poop to lessen my load.  We began to turn onto another street. “ Help help” we heard a human voice cry.  I being a socially conscious dog walked towards the sound.  River wanted to ignore it. I understood. She was still carrying a full load.  Papa was frozen, not sure what to do. We heard the plea again. Papa sided with me, and we hurried to the sound. River lagged behind wanting us to stop for just a minute so she could unburden herself.  I told her she should have thought of that before we left the house . We walked up the driveway. A white car was running.  Ahead of it was a red 2016 Camaro. A distressed senior citizen sat in the front seat.   “Thank God you stopped,” the man said breathing heavily.  “I'm trapped inside here. It's been two an

"I think all my problems are linked to me being taken from my litter too soon.  My feelings of inadequacy come from being removed from my mom's tees to early." "I am sorry, we are out of time.  We will pick this up during our session next week." 

What kind of computers, tablets or phones do your parents use on the computer? Pocket:  Out main computer is a Toshiba Satellite laptop that is older than dirt.  A few years ago we replaced it because it wasn't working properly.  Then the replacement broke and we began using the Toshiba on an emergency basis.  It has been working perfectly ever since then.  We do figure it is going to die soon. My parents also use an IPad and Pixel 3 phone.  

Two weeks ago I wrote about a dog at PetSmart that was attacked by a pit bull.  It was horrifying, But sadly only a prelude to what would happen in our city a few weeks later. A woman was walking her daughter’s seven-month-old puppy named Ace on Broadway near the center of the city.  This is an area with a lot of apartments, and where people sometimes don't make the best decisions A man opened his door.  His Pitbull ran outside and began chasing the woman, and the dog.  The man held the door open telling the Pitbull to get back inside. This allowed his five other pit bulls to follow the leader, and they too chased the woman and the dog. The Woman picked up the puppy to protect it.  The pit bulls tore into her thighs and calves.  They ripped at her flesh until she could no longer stand. SHe tried to cover Ace with her body, but, now she needed to save her own life. She was on the ground as the assault continued.  Now, her side and shoulders were bitten. She tried to fight

Not every dog finds a home and not every home finds a dog. It just works that way sometimes. Some people want a dog their whole life and Are never able to get one. It Could be for financial reasons, allergies , or dogs not being allowed where they live. These people come into the next life dogless. But this is the place where dreams come true. Many of us dog Angels volunteer to spend time with humans who never had a pup on the mortal side.  It is gratifying to work. These people are usually housed together.  If pups want to interact with a human, they can visit their home, and in some rare cases, the dogs can even adopt the human. I wasn't looking for anything long-term, but I thought it would be nice to walk with a person again.  The dog manager at the home gave me a Leash and brought me to meet a small woman named Esther. “Keep her out for about a half hour or so, make sure she gets water, and maybe a poop,”   I told them she was in good paws. I hooked the leash to

We dogs are born with two brains. One is for show. This is the goofy one with the wagging tail that seems perpetually confused. The second we keep hidden from humans. This is the one that knows everything that is going on. It remains in the shadows. We lose our advantage when humans realize that we understand more about life than they do. I knew I was having my teeth done on Tuesday, but the part of my brain that understood that stayed tucked in bed that morning. I got up as happy as a clam. I did my outside business, and then things began to fall apart.  Mama was already dressed. She was going somewhere. Then I realized that somewhere was with me. River pouted that she was being left behind. But nothing good happens to me when River is left behind.  Plus, there was no breakfast. .Da da dum. We all got in the car.  I sat in the front seat with Mommy instead of being put in my bag in the back.  I was interested in all the hustle and bustle occurring outside during the car ride