Tails From Rainbow Bridge: Mollie's Sun Room

Everyone loves the sun.  It is warm, it makes things grow, it sparkles off of water, and it makes the leaves shine.  When I was mortal, and we lived in the condo, when Mommy could “do” stairs, we had a skylight above the stairway, and in the afternoon the sun would hit this one spot on the carpeted step.  That spot would become so warm.  Oh, how I loved to lay on that spot.

I have only found one such spot at Rainbow Bridge.  My friend Mollie, who came to the Bridge shortly before I did, after having her life tragically cut short by the terrible IMHF disease, had loved the sun during her mortal life.  Her parents built her a sun room that she could lie in and enjoy the warm rays.  She barely got to enjoy it before she departed for the immortal world.

Now she lives in a beautiful house that is totally made out of glass, and the sun is always shining.  Mollie has a two story house, and she has carpeted stairs.  I like to go to her house in the afternoon when the sun is the strongest, climb the carpeted steps, find the sunny spot, snuggle down, and dream that I am back in the condo with Pocket and  Mom.  

Sometimes Mollie comes and lies with me.  She is a very comfortable and sweet dog.  I do feel bad for her.  She did not get many years with her mom.  They adored one another.  Mollie went from being a healthy dog to being bound for the Bridge very quickly.  Before she, or her mom, could come to terms with what was happening, Mollie was gone.

She did find the perfect replacement, Sophie, who has done a marvelous job of rebuilding her parents’ shattered hearts after Mollie went to the Bridge.  Mollie visits Sophie’s dreams every night to make sure Sophie knows exactly what their Mom and Dad needs.  Sophie has never let Mollie down.

Mollie is a very special girl.  Dogs fly into the sun to get to the other side where they take ghostly forms to visit their parents for a long as their power holds out.  But Mollie stays inside the sun and becomes sunlight itself.  Whenever her parents are touched by warm sunshine, they should know that a little bit of the late and warmth is coming from Mollie herself.

I am going back to sleep in the sun, and if you fall asleep in the sunlight, today know there is a little bit of Mollie shining down on you.

Pocket's Assembles a World Cup Team

I was snoozing on Mommy’s lap.  The TV was on and, as usual I was ignoring it unless Tyrion Lannister is on.  I like watching little people outsmart everyone else.  But then I heard the man say soccer.  When we lived at the condo kids used to leave soccer balls in the middle of the complex where Foley and I walked.  Daddy would kick the ball and I would run after it,  hop on top of it and roll over with it.  I loved playing soccer.  But then we moved here to the Village of the Pruned and you don’t want to jump on any low lying balls left here.

But I never lost my desire to for soccer and this seemed like a golden opportunity.  That night I waited for everyone to fall asleep, jumped out of bed, entered the front bedroom and snuck into Foley’s Leopard Skin Vagina Kitty Condo.  I went down to the library and, in an old file cabinet, I found the codes that Foley used to upload herself through the series of tubes that make the Internet.

Then I jumped back on the bed.  I waited until morning to tell River my plan.  She sleeps on the upper part of the bed near Mommy’s head and gets very snappish if I approached, and any snapping might tip Mommy off to my plan.

The next day when Mommy and Daddy went shopping I convinced River to use her skills picked up on the mean streets of mid-Florida to help us escape.  I told her that we were going to play soccer in Brazil and win the World Cup.  River asked me if she could eat kibble out of it, kibble being River’s main motivation to do everything and I said yes.  We then put the codes into the computer and off we went.

First we went to our friend Mollie the Highland Girl.  She has shared with us many stories about her love of soccer and I knew she would make a proper striker, whatever that is.  She gladly joined us and then we wooshed to farm country.  We needed some young blood on our team and the Boys, Elvis and Moo, would do the trick perfectly.  I didn’t even have to ask them.  As soon as they saw us they were ready for any adventure.

We needed some agile players so we got Taz and Einstein, then we picked up Graycee and Hondo.  We got Hattie Mae for inspiration, Lily as our team doctor, Molly the Wally and Lou ee from England where they seem to think they invented the game, Luca from Argentina, Paco from Italy, and finally, for their wisdom and management ability, Tommy Tunes and Hobo Hudson.

It took a lot of code writing but I got us all downloaded to the streets of Brazil.  River said we still didn’t have enough players for a full team but I had a plan.  We went to the Dogs of Brazil shelter and asked if any dogs wanted to play.   A dozen paws went up in the air.

So now we had our team comprised of males and females, Americans, Brazilians, Britons, Italians, and Griffons. We were lucky to not be placed in the Group of Death but Group E along with Switzerland, Honduras and France which was known as the Group of Ambiguous Sexual Identity.

Our first game was against France.  Mollie was able to get on top of the ball and ride it all the way into the net in the first five minutes while the French stood around looking for the men they were going to play.  Once France figured out that they were playing dogs our staunch defenders from the Dogs of Brazil chased and nipped them all over the field.  If a human can bite another human why can’t dogs bite humans?  The French retreated and we were victorious.

Most of our Brazil dogs were banned for the second game against Switzerland so we recruited more dogs over the Internet and added them even though it’s against the rules.  (Thankfully all dogs look alike to humans.)  Our new defenders were not as ferocious as the Dogs of Brazil and we fell behind 3-0.   River added a brilliant bit of strategy.  She peed on the ball.  The Swiss did not want to go near a piss covered ball and we came back with six scores as their goalie kept running away from our shots.

We had qualified for the round of 16 by the time we played Uganda.  The grass was very cool, and the sun strong, so we all just laid on the grass and enjoyed the day while the Ugandans scored 23 goals.  But it did not matter. We were ready for the next round.

The night before our next match we had a team meeting and decided we all missed our Moms too much so I uploaded everyone back home and let Brazil advance to the Round of 8 as long as they let the Dogs of Brazil play defense for them.  They agreed and we were all very happy.  (Until the dogs fell asleep against the Germans, but that’s another story.)

Especially the seven other teams who knew we would kick their butts!

Pup of the Week: For Our Moms

I know Mother’s Day is not for a few week but we should be celebrating our Moms every week, and I am going to do it today, especially for those Mom’s who are struggling right now.  

There are some, like my Mom, who struggle with pain every day.  Besides the pain from her worn artificial knees and bad neck her vertebrae is compressing giving her back pain.  She is also getting smaller.  Don’t tell Daddy.  He thinks he is getting taller (and larger.)  When it comes to humans men are much sillier.

When something is wrong with us our Moms go on the Humanbook and spill every little embarrassing detail of our illnesses.  Us dogs do a much better job of protecting our Mom’s privacy, and sometimes all we write is that our Mom needs prayers.  Pups don’t ask questions, we just pray.

This week, at the Bridge Cathedral on Tanner Brigade, Benjamin, Butkus, Barry and Pepper asked for prayers for their Mom,   We don’t know why, but we pray very hard that she is OK, for her, and for Benji and his pack.

I know some of you have not heard from Matilda for awhile.  And I know that many of you remember her big brother Moses.  Matilda’s Mom lost her Mom a short while ago and it hurt her very much. Matilda’s Mom is a wonderful dog Mom and a wonderful human 
being and she needs our prayers.  Pup prayers are the best and I know you will help out.  

Molly’s Mom has a problem that often occurs with us dogs.  She got bit by a tick and developed Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.  She is in need of prayers too.  I hate those ticks and I can attest that ticks are not allowed near the Bridge along with other bothersome insect life.  I think they all go to the bad place to bother bad humans.

Tupper, Boris and Max’s Mom has had terrible problems with a tooth.  She went to the dentist who would have fixed the problem, except the dentist worked on the wrong tooth!  So now she has two tooth problems and no money to fix either.  So you can add her to our ever expanding prayer list.

While Buddy Boy Smith’s Mom is fine, his Aunt is having a very difficult time, she recently put down her pup Sandy Girl after 14 years together.  I swore Sandy Girl in and she is doing very well but please say a prayer for her Mom.

Finally we have to give a shout out to a Dad, Buddy, Moose and Sydney’s Dad, who is in the hospital until tomorrow with spinal meningitis.  While this was quite scary for his family he should be fine.  Even though it left Moose very depressed while his Dad was in the hospital.

Moms (and Dads) say so many prayers for us they deserve a few of their own so let’s rally together and keep all our parents safe and healthy.

Mollie, Jilly Girl and Emmy are our June 17, 2012 Pups of the Week

I consider myself quite a wordsmith.  I have always prided myself on my ability to turn a phrase.  As I look back on the last seven days the same thought comes to my sharp as a tack mind:  This week fiicking sucked.

This past week has been like living through the Battle of Hogwats with no wizards, spells, or trolls.  Just the carnage.   We lost sweet Emmy, the spokesperson of the Dogs of Brazil, at the age of nine.  Her blogs about the flooding in Brazil in January 2011 were like reading Ernie Pyle’s reporting from the Pacific.  She was both truthful and compelling.  She just got to a new home and money was becoming available to her family to build a no kill shelter so desperately needed in her area.  But she won’t be there to enjoy it.

Then we lost Jilly Girl.  A short time ago her brother Jack got diagnosed with Cushings Disease  Before he went to the Bridge we learned that Jilly Girl had the disease too.  An operation was planned, but then got moved up when the vet had an opening.  The operation went well, but poor Jilly never awoke.

And finally after a brave struggle against the horrible IMHD we lost my very good friend Mollie and this just broke my old Yorkie heart in a thousand tiny pieces.  We lived Mollie’s life with her.  I remember her first blog which was about going to training as a pup.  It seems like yesterday.  She kept us informed when her Mom had a retinal tumor.  She rallied us to pray for her mother’s operation and those prayers helped her through it.  She told us about Tabby, the uninvited kitty who took up residence on her porch, much to her umbridge.  In October of 2011 she informed us of what would be the greatest project of her life, the building of her sun room.   That was interrupted by her Dad having heart problems, but, again, Mollie nursed a parent back to health.   In February the sun room was finally done and we rallied together to make sure Mollie’s chair was placed in a place where she got plenty of sun and could see outside.  Then she got hit with terrible allergies this spring.  Most of May was spent with visits to the vet.  But there was good news.  After 38 years her Mom retired to spend time with Mollie in her sunroom.  But it was not to be.  She got hit with the IMHA and there was nothing nobody could do.  Mollie was gone.  

I must admit I got angry.  I try to help other dogs.  I put in a lot of time.  And I have never asked for anything, so I asked for this one thing, for Mollie to live, and I was told no.  I don’t like being told no.  We did everything right.  We had prayers coming from pups on TB and DS.  We had humans on the Face Space praying.  Mommy got prayers going on Twitter and Blogger.  There were enough prayers to move a mountain.  And they were all answered no.  I went outside, looked up at the night sky, and I howled in anger at the moon.  Pocket joined me.  She asked me why I was upset and I said that Mollie was gone and I wanted answers.  She asked if this was the way she felt when I lost the siblings who came before her:  Blake, Jax, Copper and Skye.   I said yes.  She asked if Mommy, Daddy and I had prayed for them to live and I said yes.  She then asked if they had all lived if we would have looked for another pup after she was born.  And I guess we wouldn’t have.  And if we hadn’t Pocket wouldn’t have been with us.  “So maybe that’s why they had to go,” she said.  “So I could have a home.”  It was a rare moment of clarity for Pocket.  Then she said something either very deep or very silly.  “Plus, if no one ever went to the Bridge we would have no place to put our stuff.”  When I asked her what she meant she said that, if there were six dogs in the house, some would have to sleep on the floor, and we would have to put bunkbeds in my kitty condo.  While I was still sad, somehow her words had made me think, and I’m not sure why, but I was no longer mad.

We are all sent here with jobs to do, all of them to help humans.  Some are long term, like mine, almost 12 years, and others are short term, like Blake, Jax, Cooper and Skye.  Looking at all that happened during Mollie’s much too short lifetime, nursing her Mom back to health after her retinal surgery, nursing her Dad back to health after his heart problems, seeing her Mom through retirement and helping build the sunroom I wonder if her work ws done. Then she was called home.  I don’t know if this is true.  I’m just trying to make sense of something that makes no sense.  

But I have to tell humans the big difference between us dogs and humans.  And it’s not that opposable thumbs thing.  That’s way overrated.  So you can button a shirt and got a job at The Gap.  How’s that working out for you?  No, the difference is that we enjoy every single second with you.  Every moment.  In  the words of Pete Townsend:
I dig every second
I can laugh in the snow and rain
I get a buzz from being cold and wet
The pleasure seems to balance out the pain

So enjoy us as much as we enjoy you.  Because we enjoy and love you so much, and I know you do too.  Don’t let the little things in your life get you down when you’re with us.  

Despite what the Dog Whisperer or Dog the Bounty Hunter or the Road Dog might say, when you come to do a silly dance of joy with us.  Run with us, play with us, kiss us, laugh with us, and just enjoy us.  If you think you need to be calm and assertive with us little pups who do nothing but love you then do it, as long as the day comes when it is time for us to go to the Bridge, you can make the decision calmly and assertively too, if not, take my advice, pull down your pants, and let’s slide on the ice.

Because I think that was the way Mollie, Jilly Girl and Emmy lived.  And this past week has been senseless, and when something senseless happens, you have to try to make sense of it, even if the sense you make of it makes no sense.  Does that make sense?  I don’t know.  I miss my friend.

Although I don’t bark about it often I know someday I will be at the Bridge, and when I get there, and I am reunited with Mollie, Jilly Girl and Emmy and they tell me that I lived a life they were proud of and my Mom lived a life their Moms would be proud of, then I would know I accomplished whatever I was sent here to do.

Good night Jilly Girl, Mollie and Emmy, my Princesses of planet Earth, my Queens of North America.  May we follow in your paw prints.  

Foley Monster Reflects on the Online World, the Onfoot World, and Peace Love and Understanding

When dogs are born we are clear of our mission:  To serve man (and no, it’s not a cookbook, well, for most most of us.)  But, like the servants in The Help, we don’t just aid, we observe our humans, certainly the most complicated of creatures we have encountered.

This is a dog’s philosophy:  See something out of the ordinary, charge at it, and deal with it, unless we are corrected by those we serve.  But humans, they see what is right in front of it, and analyze it to such an extent they don’t even notice it.

I am not sure where this Internet thing came from, who invented it, or why, but I hear lots of debating if it is a good thing or not.  Humans debate too much.   We know what things are when we see them whether they be good or bad.

For the most part I declare the Internet a good thing, even though it’s like a Pit Bull, a wonderful beast that can be corrupted by those with ill intentions.  Because the Internet has rekindled the fire in humans igniting two long list skills.  The first is to use the written word to communicate in short, well thought out (for the most part) sentences.

But also it has recreated the idea of a community, or, better yet a village, where everyone is your friend, watches your kids (meaning pups) and no one locks the doors because everyone is trusted.  What is great about an online community is that you choose your neighbors which you can’t do in an on foot community (the term on foot community is trademarked by Foley Monster, don’t mess with me on this) or family. I often hear complaints about our friends’ neighbors but seldom about online friends.  And let’s agree not to get started on family.

But over the Internet we have created our own village where we care, we trust, and everyone knows our names, both human and pup.

I have never seen a better example of how a village can pull together, how a family can provide support, then the way people and pups rallied to sweet Mollie’s side.  It began with a post on Tanner Brigade stating the she had taken ill.  The old cranky DS machine wasn’t cooperating with her Mom so we copied the post for her.  And we copied it on Facebook, and the sub groups, Doggyspace Moms and Doggyspace Groups.  On Tanner Brigade we set up a vigil for her in our events section (an event section would be a great addition to DS.)  Although it’s a small group the vigil, along with her blogs, quickly filled with comments, some from members we barely hear from.  And on DS a multi member candle lighting for Mollie was held.

Our DS blogs filled up with even more comments, friends praying, asking what they could do.  And on Facebook those Moms who have guided their pups through the same similar illness were there ready to help and to provide advice and a strong shoulder.  I shouldn’t say I’m surprised by the response I saw because I know what a wonderful community we have.  But I was still awed by it, by the love, by the caring, things that seem so hard to come by in our on foot community.

So from this dog’s perspective this Internet is a really cool thing.  Because it has allowed us to create little villages filled with people who realize that us dogs are your angels, who love you, and fill your heart with joy, and we should be celebrated.  And in this village we have so many wonderful, caring, living people.  They are truly the finest kind.

We may not be able to live with people who share our interests or are as caring as we are, but we can build one in the cyber world, where no one pops in during your favorite show or tracks mud on your carpets.  The compassion shown here is beautiful, while in the on foot world compassion is considered a weakness.

The reaching out to help here is seen a thousand time a day while in the on foot world reaching out to help is frowned upon because those in need should help themselves.  I would much rather live with my wonderful friends in my online world than with the rude, mean people with those annoying signs on their yard in the shape of a dog squatting and a no thru it (but I never see one with one dog humping another with a no on it so they are discriminating against certain bodily functions.)

We all love Mollie, our hearts ache for her and her Mom and all we want is for her to get better.  And it’s so wonderful that her Mom can find all this support right at the end of her own fingertips.

Prayers for Mollie

I am turning this blog over to our friend Mollie who is in need of as many prayers as we can muster. In her words this is what is going on.

June 10, 2012 2:30 AM


Hi Everyone,

This is Mollie's mom writing this blog. Her dad and I had to take her to the emergency vet hospital. We noticed that on Friday she was looking a little puney and she was sleeping a lot. This morning she wouldn't eat her breakfast and that is just not like Mollie. I made her some boiled chicken and she did eat that three times today. At dinner time she wouldn't eat anything. She has been diagnosed with IMHA Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia. Her immune system is killing her red blood cells. Her platelets were also low. The doctor felt like we had caught this disease in time but there is always the chance that Mollie won't respond to the meds they will be giving her for the next couple of days. Yes, we had to leave her there and my heart is just breaking. Her dad and I cried all the way home and I can't hardly see what I am typing because of the tears. Please pray that Mollie will respond well to the meds and can beat this disease. We need lots and lots of prayers.

Love to all,

Mollie's Mom

UPDATE:

Just spoke with the vet. She said Mollie was doing OK. She wouldn't eat this morning but she did go outside to pee. They are giving her fluids through an IV and they had to put in a tube to give her the meds because she threw up once last night. She will be there tonight as well.

June 10, 2012 12:00 PM

The vet just called and said Mollie's blood levels had dropped from 18 to 9. They are going to have to give her a blood transfusion. Please pray that this works. I am so afraid that her body is going to reject the transfusion. The vet said there is a possibility that she might need 2-3 transfusions.

Please pray for Mollie.

Mollie's Very Worried Mom

UPDATE: The vet just called and said Mollie had finished with her transfusion. She says it takes 4 hours. She did very well but still hasn't eaten any food. She is keeping the meds down so that's good. At 8:00 p.m. they will check her blood again to see if the transfusion worked. If not, she will get another one. Praying very hard that this transfusion worked and Mollie can be on the road to recovery.

Thanks to everyone for all your prayers and support. Keep the prayers coming because I know how powerful TB prayers are!!

June 10, 2012 10:34 PM

Just spoke with the vet. Mollie's blood count went up three points to a 12. Not a big increase but encouraging. Dr. Choate said they are monitoring her vitals every hour and her crate is actually in the room with the doctor and technicians. I feel confident that she is being well taken care of. Dr. Choate said they will check her blood count again at midnight. Hopefully, it will continue to go up. If not, they will give her another transfusion. She still isn't eating but her gums are starting to get pink again. Another good sign. I'm going to call in the morning and will head over to the hospital to see her. I will be sure to give her lots of love from all of this wonderful group of friends and their parents.

KEEP THOSE PRAYERS COMING!! They seem to be working.

Love,

Mollie's Mom Cindy

June 11, 2012 2:20 PM

Mollie seems to be slowly getting better. I visited with her this morning and she actually wagged her tail and gave me kisses. The tech said she hadn't wagged her tail since she had been there. She drank a little water and I tried to get her to eat a little food but she didn't want any. One of the doctors called and spoke with Mollie's dad this morning and said she did eat some yesterday. Mollie looked a little better this morning too. When I left the tech said they would be doing another blood count on her at noon and they would call with the results. At 12:30 they called and said her count was up to 19!! I asked when he thought she would be able to come home but he really couldn't give me an answer. I did tell him I didn't want to rush this. If it was best for her to stay another night that's what I wanted. She still has a ways to go so keep the prayers coming. The Tanner Brigade sure has some powerful prayers!!

Love to all,

Mollie's Mom Cindy



Just spoke with the vet at the hospital and they will be taking another blood count at midnight. They are also drawing a little extra blood to send out to a lab to check for any tick borne disease. I told Dr. Myers that I had thought about that because we do live in the country and I have pulled a few off of Mollie but none were ever embedded. I check her every time she comes back in. Dr. Myers also consulted with an internist and the internist felt like Mollie didn't need to be on three medications and she didn't need the aspirin. The internist felt that until Mollie's platelet level comes back up they could stop the aspirin which could also be causing her tummy to be upset and why she doesn't want to eat. Dr. Myers was going to see what her blood count is at midnight and she may ween her off one of the medicines. I know these doctors are doing their best for Mollie but it is very disconcerning when they all have different opinions on protocol. So.....I think Mollie will probably be there a couple more days. Boy, do I miss my little shadow!! I haven't been able to sit in the sun room because it makes me so depressed. I miss her little butt trying to squeeze in with me in the new chair!!

Keep those prayers flowing!

Love and many thanks,

Mollie's Mom Cindy