The Ruby Rose and the Big Little Angels 3 Blog

The next time you wonder why I pee on the floor think of this moment and ask yourself why you had to take a picture before you rescued me.

Amico, a brown dachshund, from Italy, borrowed all the heartbeats he could, and fought off the Bridge Dementors who were determined to bring him to the Bridge with every ounce of energy, until, as is true with all of us, finally he had to submit, and pass on to the immortal side. Amico, for many years, lived with his mother and father.   They were two senior citizens with little to do but dote on their loving little boy.  They were a close pack of happy thieves.  But, illness caught up with his dad, and a year ago, he went to the Bridge, leaving his wife and dog with only one another. If you had to choose a time to leave the mortal world last year was perfect.  The past six months have been a disaster movie with no ending.   Amico and his mom Marie, who was unable to leave the house,  spent every minute together.  They would have anyway, but it is different when you have no choice. Amico and Marie were also getting old simultaneously, and they hoped that they would go at the

It is nearly the end of the most stressful June Tiananmen Square and I decided it would be the proper time to write a garden report.  It has been a tough year for delicate flowers.  Spring arrived late, and the perennials are a few weeks behind.   Almost all the flowers Mommy planted after her first foray to the greenhouse didn’t take.  Trying to make the world beautiful has proved a greater task than ever before One thing that had grown this year without hindrance is various families of weeds that are threatening to take over the garden and bring both my parents to their knees, mostly to pray, but while they are down there, to attempt ripping up the hideous vegetation including an especially stubborn growth that may be bind wood, a determined weed that roots deep in the ground then spreads like gonorrhea at Mama June’s family reunion barbeque.       We have lived in our current home for eleven years.  My parents liked the gardens when they moved in.  Over the years they have ex

I loved going on walks when I was a mortal dog.  I sniffed everything I could.  I became excited when I picked up the scent of a strange animal.  Occasionally, I went for a walk in the woods, before ticks became such a threat, and I thought I smelled everything there was to sniff in the world.  I did not realize how naive I was until I arrived at the Bridge and met real dog explorers.       At the Bridge, dogs learn to explore.  What held us back from such endeavors as mortal dogs, were collectively entitled “The Worst That Could Happen,” and often included being sent to the Bridge prematurely.  When you arrive on the immortal side of the river, the worst that can happen as already occurred, it is very freeing.      I have enjoyed exploring the mountains since arriving at the Bridge.  I began to think of myself as a real expert at high elevation sniffing.  But then a friend joined me at the Bridge this week who taught me I knew nothing about living high above river level.  

Okay, Mom, I have my mask on.  Let's go to Petco

Have your parents ever taken you to the vet because they talked themselves into believing you were sick, when, in fact, there was nothing wrong? Pocket:  My parents took me to the vet for a growth that was a tick.

Dear Sweet Mommy:  I have been fortunate to make many kitty friends since I arrived at the Bridge.  When I was mortal, I had a problematic relationship with cats.  The only ones I knew were outdoor kitties, who did not respect boundaries and would sit on my porch and taunt me.   I never met an indoor cat, which is a whole different species.       Now I count several house cats as my closest friends and even a couple of law-abiding outdoor kitties.  I have had the distinct pleasure of meeting Brian and his large cat pack.  He, and his siblings, have taught me to appreciate kitties’ strange and somewhat mysterious ways.  Not only are cats no longer my enemies, but they are also some of my best friends.     That is why I traveled to cat landing, where Simon swears in the kitty’s who cross the Bridge.  Zoe, Brian’s sister, after a long battle with illness, was arriving at the Bridge, and I promised to be there to greet her and help her adjust in any way I could.       I often writ

It is the middle of June and a perfect day for me to visit my mommy on garden day as a butterfly.  I got up early.  I wanted to be the first in line at the store.  I hoped to pick out a beautiful butterfly with red and purple swirls, and some green sprinkled in.  When I got inside the store, I was thrilled to see my chosen outfit was on the rack in pristine condition.       I started walking to one of the changing rooms when I was stopped by a salesperson standing in front of a rack of plain back butterflies.  She asked me if I would like to try one on, and I thanked her but explained that I already had the body I wanted.     “You don’t want to try on a black one?” she asked.     My face scrunched up, betraying my dislike of the suggestion.  “No, thank you, I prefer my bodies to be a little more flashy,” I explained.  I tried to move onward.     “Bland?” she remarked, offended.  She held the butterfly body up for me.  “It is simple elegance.”     I shook my head. 

On most days Mommy and Daddy take us for a walk, but sometimes Mommy is not up to it so she stays home.  Daddy leashes us and takes us down the end of the driveway where we begin our journey.  But, we don’t go on a walk.  We go on a sniff.      The difference between a walk and a sniff is that on a walk you take a lot of steps with a little sniffing in between and when you go on a sniff it is a lot of smelling with some steps in between.     When we go on walks we stay either on or on the edge of, the road, depending on how hot the surface is.  There are a lot of good smells wherever we go, but only from my fellow dogs and maybe a stray cat like Ugly Joan.  Mommy doesn’t have much patience when we smell on walks.  She never comes on sniffs with us.  We don’t know if she would have no patience if we walked instead of sniffed.      But, Daddy knows the need for a good sniff.  I am not sure if he would be a patient if he did not have a smartphone.  When we get to a sniff spot

Don't judge me.  You're the one taking pictures of rabbit porn.

When people meet you initially, what is the first thing your parents say about you? Pocket:  My parents apologize for our barking and tell people we really are friendly when we calm down.

When Boris joined his siblings Tupper and Max at the Bridge in April, he quickly rebounded into his mom’s dreams. He had a prescription for what he knew was the only medicine that would rebuild his parents’ broken hearts:  Another dog.     But his mom told him that there were several reasons why they could not acquire a new pet, the main one being their health.  They were not capable of raising a puppy.  A disappointed Boris told her he understood and kissed her.  Both he and his mom were upset the next day because Boris could remember what was said, and his mom had no recollection of the visit.      Tupper consoled his brother.  Max insisted that they knew what their parents needed more than they did.  He suggested that they overwhelm their parents' dreams by continually bombarding them with the suggestion that the only way for them to be whole again was to get another dog.      Tupper told them it wouldn’t work. He knew his parents needed more of a reason to get anoth

  Dogs do an excellent job of keeping our lives, and all the drama that occurs outside our walls, separate.   We have learned to accept that we cannot change what goes on outside our walls and have the strength to manage what occurs within.       I have observed humans for close to two decades. I know that when they think an injustice occurs, they overreact, swinging the pendulum too far to the other side.  Mostly, I find their decisions humorous until that pendulum touches our lives.     That is what happened this week when humans suggested that Nickelodeon had to remove Chase the police dog from the Paw Patrol program, for, according to one person, “brainwashing children to think law enforcement is a noble profession.”     Chase, who had the reputation of being an exemplary officer, was distraught that his program had gone dark for several days, and, if it does resume, he may no longer be part of it.  I knew Chase needed legal representation, so I put aside my judge’s robe a

I am a peaceful dog who loves everyone except the dog who lives across the street. I spy him from the only window I can see without climbing on a perch, in the kitchen, by the porch.  He comes outside, and I begin to bark with a ferocity that can be little matched in this or any other neighborhood.     My Mommy tells me to be quiet and that I am over-reacting.  The officious dog is a senior beagle, who is blind, has no teeth, and takes stiff steps because of his arthritis. Mommy tells me he is harmless, but I see through that veneer.  He is pure evil. I have only come snout to pressed in snout with him once.  It was shortly after he moved in with his parents.  Pocket and I were in our front yard, enjoying our soft grass and beautiful flowers when the beagle’s dad made the brutal mistake of leading him outside.  I pulled on my leash and stood on my back legs letting loose a string of vitriol that would make sailors blush.  Pocket joined me, not knowing why I was barking, but s

I had them all by myself and didn't even get an epidural.  I hope their dad shows up for a midnight feeding sometime soon

Does your name have any significant meaning? Pocket: The day I met my parents they remarked that I was so small I could be smuggled out in a pocket. River Song:  I was named after a character in Doctor Who and because my parents thought the name was pretty.

Like all creatures, dogs have fears.  The biggest one is that something will happen to our parents.  That goes with our second biggest fear, being homeless.  If we lost our parents, not only would we be beyond heartbroken, but if no one took us in, we would have to live on the outside. The only comforting thought about being homeless is if we could have a dog family member with so we weren’t alone.  A pup, who the humans have named Guardian, was homeless with his sister in the city.  Life was difficult, but the two of them made their way, always watching one another’s’ backs and giving each other someone warm to cuddle with at night.  They were inseparable. It was a dangerous existence. They would have to fight for food and dart across roads.  They did it successfully for a year, but one of the truths about living on the edge is inevitably you fall. One morning Guardian and his sister were crossing the highway when she got hit.  Her soul left her body like it had been fired from a

I am getting tired of people misbehaving and their dogs being the ones to suffer.     The entire world knows what happened in the part of Central Park known as the Bramble, where bird watchers congregate to see several different species, including ground birds.  That is one of the many reasons that dogs should be on a leash in the Bramble.  A loose dog will disturb the ground birds.     Amy Cooper let her recently adopted dog Dreyfuss off his leash in the Bramble.  She was confronted by a black man named Christian Cooper, who was bird watching.  He asked Amy to leash Dreyfuss so he wouldn’t disturb the birds.  She reacted by calling the police and falsely saying the man was threatening her.  Christian recorded the exchange, put it on Facebook, and soon the video went viral.     While she did lose her job, Amy Cooper was not criminally charged for her actions.  But, as usual, it was the most innocent party involved who paid the highest price.   Dreyfuss was returned to the Abandoned