The Ruby Rose and the Big Little Angels 3 Blog

  What is your favorite go to chewing item?  Antler?  Nyla Bone?  Real bone?   Dental bone?  

  It has been a long time since I have climbed up the mountain to battle it out with the Big Guy over him forcing the wrong dogs, especially the young ones, to leave their parents and come here.  But this week I became inspired to do it again.     I have loyal and outstanding friends including, Brooklyn, McKinsie, Promise, and Megan, all from the Magnificent Seven, a grand pack of Boston Terriers who delighted their Mom Judy, and dad, for years.  In the early part of the last decade, it seemed like a new pack member arrived at the Bridge every week.  The original Seven are now all here.  They worked vigorously to find replacements in their parents’ hearts and pack, and they were successful.     One of these dogs joined the pack five years ago.  Her name is Whisper, a delightful pup with a happy and mischievous nature.  Since they were all young, the pack should have been stable for a decade.  But, the Bridge had other ideas.     The Lions came for Whisper with little notice. Sudden

    I have written before about how dogs can help people even when they don’t realize they are doing it, just by being themselves.  This is a story about a Golden Retriever named Harvey, and the love he brings to a broken-hearted woman.     Harvey lived on the same street that Mrs. Adams did.  The only interaction they had was when Mrs. Adams would walk her little dog Wolf by Harvey’s house.  The goofy golden always ambled over to watch them.  A sturdy fence kept the tiny pup and the golden separated, except for swapping scents. Sadly, the lion angels came for Wolf.  The seventeen-year-old dog fought them as much as he could.  His mom was 80, and they hoped to go together.  But, scheduling Bridge departures is frowned upon, and unexpected arrivals sometimes are not allowed access to the Bridge and are left on the shore for years, until their due date.  One day in April, Wolf could not fight anymore, and he left his mom broken-hearted.  Because of her advanced age, and having no one

  I am always up for a car ride, as well as time away from Pocket, but when they happen at the same time, I know something is wrong.  Last Thursday, in the late afternoon, I thought my parents were going out.  Pocket was put in her crate, half because she pees everywhere when left alone, and a half because I get very worked up when my parents are away, and I might think a Pocket sacrifice could persuade the Gods to bring them back home to me.       Usually, my parents tell me I am in charge of the house while they are gone, but on this day, Mommy picked me up and carried me right out the door.  When we go to the groomer’s we are placed in our carriers, I hate that thing.  I want to sit with Mommy.   On this trip, I got to sit on her lap in the front seat.  While I liked it, I knew I was going to the vets.  That is the only reason we get front seat status.     Something very unusual happened when we got to the vets.  Daddy made a phone call. Then one of the nice techs came out of the

 

  Why am I always blamed when the cat goes missing?

  What kind of gear do you wear? Do you wear a collar? Do you have a harness? What kind of harness is it? Do you have a leash? Is any of it for training? Please comment below

  Lately, I can’t get a good night’s sleep or a day’s rest.  I have never been so inundated with new angel arrivals since I arrived at the Bridge.  Every time I swear in a new pup, it drains me a little bit.  My rest time rejuvenates me.  But, the angels are passing through quickly now, and I am getting tired and more depressed by the day.  I wish the stream of dogs would end.       Of course, it isn’t about me.  I am just like a postal worker whose job it is to put the mail into the sorter, and makes sure it gets to the proper place.  It seems like someone has removed the sorter, created a backup, and a steady stream is slowing to a persistent, never-ending trickle.  But who would be dumb enough to remove a mail sorting machine?     For whatever the reason, it seems like I can barely go a few hours, without being summoned to Hobo’s Landing to swear in another angel, and help them accumulate to their new world, where they will stay until they are reunited with their parents, and mov

  Bringing a dog into your home, and finding that they are not compatible with your family, has devastating effects on both sides of the River of Life.  The parents feel guilty that they could not keep the pup, which they happily had brought home just a short time earlier, and the angels are upset the pup they picked for their mom was the wrong one.  It makes everyone gun shy when it comes to getting the next dog.       Pintus and Rain, after Pintus came to the Bridge in 2017, began looking for a new dog to live with Momma Marisela.  After interviewing dozens of candidates, they settled on a beautiful pup named Icy Wind.  At first Icy fit in with the family splendidly.  But, there was something deep in Icy that caused him to be aggressive towards Junior, and sadly, their mom had to surrender Icy Wind.      Pintus and Rain took a break from searching for a dog, so their mom could come to terms with what happened with Icy Wind.  But, they knew she needed another dog. They had no idea

  One of life’s tricks is to bring joy into a person’s life while not trying.  Sometimes, we do things that we think are meaningless, but to other people is very important.  This is especially true of older people.      We go on our morning walks, really just bathroom sessions, and later in the day, our afternoon walks.  It is usually at the same time each day.  We didn’t give it much thought, it's just the way things are, especially during the pandemic, when there is little to do, and people find comfort in structure.       But, we never thought that anyone knew when we would be walking, or that the dependability of us parading by each day would bring comfort to a person we didn’t know.  We were just living our simple lives.     We take our morning walks in the common area behind our houses.  We travel near the line of bushes dividing the property.  There are always a lot of smells there in the morning.  Critters that come out at night prefer the safety of exploring along the

 

Get out of the way Henry.  This package is for me. 

 How do you get your food?  Do you buy it at a pet store?  Online?  Grocery Store?  Homemade?  Please comment below.  

  There are some rules which must not be broken, like how a new angel crosses Rainbow Bridge, climbs the steps, gets sworn in, and is introduced to life in the immortal world.  It has been that way since the first dog was mourned by man.   Which is why I was stunned when I heard thunder rolling down the mountain accompanied by a cloud of dust.  A black figure emerged from the forest at the edge of the mountains and came towards me like a rogue tornado.  When it stopped in front of me, I was doubly shocked:  Because a new angel came from mountains, not the water, and that newcomer was R the black dog, from the Romping and Rolling in the Rockies blog, who I had thought, until this moment, was indestructible.    R had survived a shoulder replacement surgery, tumors, cancer, low red blood counts, blindness, and arthritis.  Whenever life knocked him down, R fought back, never letting anything keep him down.  Despite being blind, he never slowed down and made his way in the world like a

  In life, we make friends, then lose touch with them. We might have one time a year that we reach out to them, to make sure they are doing well.  Often that is Christmas, the perfect day to reconnect with old friends.   The last time I spoke to my very dear friends, Cali and Hurly ,was at Christmas.  We had been friends for as long as I can remember, which means they are on the senior side. At our last meeting, it was clear that Cali’s heartbeats were dwindling.  I used the Angel store to give him some more, but I didn’t know how long they would last.    There are a lot of districts at Rainbow Bridge.  They are needed to handle the number of dogs who cross over every day.  Judges are supposed to be able to swear in their friends.  But, Rainbow Bridge is not a perfect place, and, if there is a friend you have not seen recently, you may not be the one to swear them in.     There are thousands of villages at the Bridge where we dogs live while we wait for the arrival of our parents.

  I am very much loved and appreciated in our little home, but sometimes I feel neglected, not because I don’t get enough attention.  I am speaking, art-wise.  My parents have good friends who, over the years, painted pictures of Foley and Pocket.  While I treasure my time here, sometimes, I feel like Buggin’ Out sitting at Sal’s Pizzeria, wondering why there were no people who look like him on the walls. I do have one beautiful photo of me standing in a kitchen chair reaching across the table for a crumb that was visually enhanced by Freddie Girl’s dad Steve.  It is strategically placed in the center of the living room wall, above the TV, so all it takes is a glance up for my parents to see it each night (and too many afternoons since COVID, I am not complaining.)  I think it is the best piece of artwork in the house.  But, quantity-wise, I was still trailing. It was worse outside.  There is a flag hanging inside our porch, near a window, to be seen by people passing by.  It is a beau

 

    At least I tell my Mom it is lick

  How would you best describe your tail?

  Missy Diva came charging across the Bridge like she had been shot out of a cannon.  Most of the dogs who arrive here are happy, and relieved, after reaching their final destination.  They also carry sorrow with them, because they had to leave their loved ones behind.  While Missy Diva felt the same, she also brought one big piece of emotional baggage with her.  She was pissed. She said she did not think her mom; Mother Tracey should have sent her to the Bridge.   I told her that she had lived 15 long years, a marvelous achievement, even for a Yorkie.  She told me she didn’t care.  I asked her if she could remember her last days with her mom, and she said that she couldn’t.  I told her that it was because she had dementia.  She said she didn’t care.   I told her she had been both blind and deaf.  She said she didn’t need senses.  I then carefully explained that any parent who loved their dog senior dog, that was blind and deaf and whose dementia was so bad she could not remember from

  We angels do have a lot of responsibilities.  They are all essential, none more so than taking care of our parents.  But, the most rewarding duty we have is when we reunite pups and parents.  Here is a story about one dog and person I helped.     We dogs don’t judge humans.  We know some of them to fall on hard times.  A dog would never leave a man because he did not have a home or a warm bed to sleep in. Although some of our more pampered members may be insistent on having things the way they want them, if all that was taken away, they would be content with you.      Let me introduce you to Anthony Rogers.  He is an artist from Tennessee.  Sadly, his artwork did not sell enough for him to live on, and he lost his house, and his possessions, except for the most precious one,  his dog Bobo.     Life was hard on the street, but Anthony made sure that Bobo was well fed, even if Anthony wasn’t, Bobo’s fur was well taken tended to, and he was never in danger.  Anthony could bear all th

This week we were taking our early evening constitutional when we came upon a man walking his dog, a beautiful German Shepherd.  He was strolling perfectly in step with his dad.  He never wavered to smell the grass, or pulled in urgency to get to a scent lifted by the breezes.  Unlike Pocket and I, he neither barked or jumped to reach us.  It was odd behavior to say the least.     Pocket and I were looking up, and barking at the big dog.  Neither of us came up to his knees.  He chuckled at us.  When he di,d his father immediately gave him a “down” command, which the German Shepherd did, faithfully.  More odd behavior.  We quieted down too, but not on command.  We were just hot and tired from all the barking.     We introduced ourselves, and the polite pup told us that his name was Douglas.  Our dads began discussing the Red Sox, and something called the bullpen.  I don’t know what that is, but in the last couple of years, it has become the reason for much whining from Massachusetts’

Freddy hated when Felix wanted to play unicorn

Do you lick your parents' faces? What do you do if they try to kiss yo

There are some days I would rather be at Rainbow Bridge, than on the mortal side, and I have recently encountered a streak of them, because the second member of the Texas Yorkie Gals has joined us at the Bridge, and the mortal side just got a lot less fun. These two gals Chelsea and Ashton, and I have been together since we all were young.  I lived half a country away, but I got to know the duo on Doggyspace, and they were two of the first friends I invited when I formed the Tanner Brigade.  When we often get together for dream dates where we would play rodeo.  Our Yorkiness, and our love of our mom, made us fast friends.  I was the earliest to arrive at the Bridge, followed by Chelsea, and now beautiful Ashton. When small dogs get older, they tend to go downhill quickly.  It is not strange for us to be healthy one week, and then go to the Bridge the next.  Plus, we are not complainers; we try to hide what is wrong until it becomes impossible.  This week Ashton followed the familiar