Morgan is our September 27, 2015 Pup of the Week

I love my old Doggyspace and my current Tanner Brigade and Facebook friends but there is another world that I get to visit that means as much to me.  It is a world called Blogville.  The pups and folks there are all independent dog bloggers who read each other's pages and leave sweet and supportive comments.  I wish more of my friends would explore this world because it is a wonderful place.

Many of you know the Angel who, while on the mortal side of the River was called Morgan the Miracle Maltese.  Well we have another Morgan and she is proving to be a miracle dog too.  She belongs to the pack whose stories are told athttp://theportuguesewaterblog.blogspot.com/ . 

Morgan is a senior dog and she is showing the signs that all us seniors show.  She has become unsteady and confused with good days and bad days.  When the bad days come her parents prepare themselves for the hardest decision and when the good days come she seems like she has years ahead of her.  

She sleeps so soundly that sometimes her Mom has to check to make sure she is breathing.  She gets her water through a syringe to keep her hydrated and her appetite is spotty.  She gets an Ensure milkshake everyday which sounds pretty good to me.  I love to go to Otie Campbell’s drugstore here for a milkshake but I never got one on the mortal side.  That’s living the dream right there.  Morgan goes to sleep after that but then she wakes up at 2:30 and keeps her parents up with her staggers and bumps  

One recent night Morgan suffered a seizure and her Mom readied herself for Morgan’s final vet visit.  By morning Morgan was back to being normal.  Her Mom called the vet who advised her they could run some tests and put her on an antibiotic to control her ammonia levels.

Knowing that Morgan’s song would be ending her parents decided to do a bucket list for him.  They took her to her favorite spot in the backyard, where she hadn’t been for years do to her health, where she was very happy.  That small trip tired her out but meant the world to her.  She also has not been able to get up on the couch and enjoy her favorite quilt so her Mom put her on the couch and Morgan slept for a few hours.  One of her favorite toys that she no longer played with was pulled out of her crate so Morgan could sleep on it and remember being young.  Sometime her Mom catches Morgan staring into space without moving perhaps remembering her younger days.

Finally the day came to help send Morgan across the River of Life to the Immortal side.  But the appointed day came and once again Morgan rallied.  Again, the vet was called and he said that Morgan was not ready to make her journey.  He then introduced her to the world of B-12 shots.  

The next day Morgan was acting like she had five years ago:  She ate dinner, went outside by herself, ran up the stairs to the bedroom, then had a big breakfast and even went for a walk.  

Her parents wondered if everyone should take B-12.  But her Mom had a different conclusion.  She thinks Morgan sees her doctor, believes that the doctor is going to make her better, and she gets better.  In Morgan’s 16 years of life she has always gotten better after seeing her vet even if the doctor has only given her a kiss on the head and wished her well.

So I don’t know.  Is it the B-12?  The vet?  Is this another Morgan the Miracle Dog?  We don’t know.  We just hope Morgan is around for a lot longer so we can find out.  

Tails from Rainbow Bridge: Catching up with Morgan and Muffin

A few weeks ago I wrote about Jackson’s wonderful mother Jane Marinello and how she helped her 100 year old neighbor Thelma and her Maltese Muffin.  The 14 year old had not been groomed in a long time and Jane got her groomed so she could see again greatly improving the lives’ of Thelma and Muffin.

Unfortunately Muffin crossed over the Bridge earlier this month.  If life was fair then Muffin and Thelma would have crossed over together but life is never fair.  Now poor Thelma is alone.  How could she imagine when Thelma got a dog who was born when Thelma was 84 years old that she would outlive her dog?

Muffin was quite upset when she arrived.  She was more than just a dog to Thelma.  She was her child, her best friend, her companion, her confidant.  She was her whole world.  Now Thelma was alone and Muffin felt terribly guilty.  We had to gather around Muffin and give her soft paws and kisses to calm her down.

Then we parted and Muffin met a dog she had heard so much about. It was Jane’s dog, Morgan the Miracle Maltese, former personal advisor to Tim Tebow, and best friend to every dog he ever met.  Morgan told Muffin that she could live with him, and they would watch over their parents together.

Morgan is such a special dog he has all sorts of powers here that other dogs don’t have.  He got into Thelma’s dreams and Thelma, being older can remember the dreams better than younger people and now when she sleeps she has two beautiful Maltese visiting her during the night.

So Jane is taking care of Thelma while she waits for the mother and child reunion and Morgan is with Muffin.  They could not be in better hands.  Kindness passes from parent to dog (and vice/versa) and then that kindness is spread throughout the mortal and immortal worlds.

That is what Morgan and Jane have taught us. 

Morgan and Jackson"s Mom Jane and a Maltese named Muffin are our April 12, 2015 Pups of the week

      Pocket and I began this blog in May 2008 after getting thrown off a website that doesn’t even exist anymore.  Since then we’ve written about 1,000 of these things.       In November of 2009 we began writing our Pup of the Week tribute blogs.  Two months later we named Morgan the Miracle Maltese Pup of the Week after he went to the Bridge.  It is six years later and I was shocked to find that, despite years of doing great work, we have not honored Morgan’s wonderful Mom.  We are here to rectify that.

    Morgan  (and now Jackson and Ginger's) Mom is our Aunt Jane Marinello and she has been helping homeless dogs find good homes for all these years.  But what she did recently truly deserves to be celebrated across the globe.

     Aunt Jane has a neighbor named Thelma who turned 100 on April 10th.  A couple of weeks before her birthday Aunt Jane took Amanda some gardenias just to make Amanda’s day a little brighter.  Amanda has a 14 year old Maltese named Muffin.  Up until last year Amanda had a traveling groomer come to her house and provide Muffin with a spa day.  But the groomer had relocated and Amanda could no longer drive, or groom Muffin.  Poor Muffin’s hair had matted so badly he could not see.

    Aunt Jane explained to Thelma that the mats were hurting Muffin.  Aunt Jane called her groomer and told she had an emergency case.  The groomer, whose shop was scheduled to be closed the next day, agreed to open the shop especially for Muffin.  Aunt Jane knew that Thelma loved Muffin, and Muffin loved her Mom, but Thelma’s eyes were bad and she could no see how bad Muffin’s hair had become.  Aunt Jane, without looking for any credit, unassumingly decided to be Muffin and Thelma’s hero.

    Aunt Jane took Muffin to the groomer’s and thankfully the groomer was able to shave Muffin without having to give him anesthesia.  Here is Muffin getting groomed.

    A few days later Aunt Jane went to see Muffin and brought him a shirt (that had belonged to Morgan) until his hair started to grow in.  (Aunt Jane cannot stop giving.)  Aunt Jane got thanked for the shirt and the grooming with lots of Muffin kisses.   

The groomer did find a large mass on Muffin’s chest but it was not bothering him and being 14 it was decided to leave well enough alone.  Also, like many older dogs, he has leg issues, but Muffin can still get outside to do his business.  Aunt Jane decided that she had not done enough for Thelma and Muffin and she asked her hundreds of Facebook friends to send birthday cards to Thelma to make her birthday special.

As Thelma’s birthday drew near the birthday cards started streaming in making this one of the happiest birthdays she has experienced in ages.  Aunt Jane visits her everyday and she reports that Muffin is getting his strength back.          

Thelma and Muffin are even walking for a few steps each day, all because Aunt Jane, as she has done with hundreds of dogs, saved them, and for that I call on all dogs to give a tip of the tail to this wonderful woman.

And help yourself to one of these cupcakes Aunt Jane ordered for Thelma and Muffin because she can’t stop doing her countless good deeds.

January 31, 2010 Pup of the week is Morgan

I would like to say that this week's Pup of the Week decision was hard. But unfortunately it was all to easy, because this week we all lost one of our best friends.

I don't need to save it to the end. We all know Morgan is our pup of the week, of the month, of the year, of the decade, of the century, of the last century. His humble Mom, who adored him with a love as great as any in the world, in the blog announcing his going to the Bridge, put her friend's father's passing first, always thinking of others and even with her heart breaking, she still is putting her friend Martha's pain before her own.




We look up in the sky, and we can see Morgan's Sheriff badge shine, and we know he is looking over all of us. But in his own way he always has been. His Mom's been looking over us too, and now it's time we look over her.

Sometimes when we can't find words we steal and modify the words of others, and that's what we're doing here. So this is for Morgan the Miracle Maltese, our Pup of the Week, and his beautiful Mom.





Morgan came down from heaven yesterday
He stayed with me just long enough to rescue me
And he told me a story yesterday,
About the sweet love between a wonderful Mom and a Miracle Maltese
And then he spread his wings high over me
He said tomorrow I will be by your side

And I said "fly on my sweet Morgan,
Fly on through the sky,
Fly on my sweet Morgan,
Forever you will be by my side"

Sure enough this morning Morgan came unto me
Silver wings silhouetted against the child's sunrise
And Miracle Morgan said unto me
"today is the day to put tears aside,
Don't miss me, my love you'll carry every day
You'll see it in every pup's pretty smile"
And then she took off high over yonder

And I said "fly on my sweet Morgan,
Fly on through the sky,
Fly on my sweet Morgan,
Forever you will be by my side"

Morgan is the Pup of the week December 20, 2009

'Twas the five days before Christmas, when all through the brigade
Pocket and Foley were picking a puppy to parade
They needed a pup of the week so pretty and fair,
Whose wonderfulness to all was very rare;
The other pups were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of Snasauges danced in their heads;
And Pocket in her neckkerchief, and I in my bandana,
Were munching on Mommy’s antipasto platter,
Our arguments over pup of the week usually raise a clatter,
This week we agreed so nothing was the matter.
We agreed on who to pick in a flash,
Then went through the cupboards looking for suckatash.
We saw the moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
And hoped before we had to wee it would find somewhere to go
Unlike the sky our pick for pup of the week was clear,
It is a Miracle Maltese we all hold dear,
What a little old pup, so lively and quick,
Our pup is holding strong even though he’s been sick.
His name is Morgan, he’s our Miracle Maltese
He’s the first to say thank you, excuse me and please;
He’s handsome, he’s brave, he’s smart, he’s strong
He’s loyal, he’s faithful, he’s heartfelt, he’s warm
From the south of Florida to the Vancouver coast
He’s the Miracle Maltese who has the most
His wild stories make our hearts fly
His friendship makes us as high as the sky
Over the Internet all his love and friendship flew
All you had to do was ask and he’d be your friend too
He was a big aid to this friend Tim Tebow
When he was sick for the championship the Gators hit a new low
We don’t know what will happen when he goes pro
Without a Miracle Maltese he won’t know where to throw
He wears all white from his head to his foot
It’s beautiful and curly with not a speck of soot
He carries all his friends troubles on his back
Which is why he’s the leader of this pack
He’s such a beautiful pup, his eyes so merry
His hair always perfect, his nose like a cherry
His bright red tongue curls out like a bow
We’d be afraid we’d lose him if he got out in the snow
He never bite you despite his sharp teeth
Like most Maltese he has one stick out underneath
He has a cute face and a little round belly
And it shakes when he laughs like a bowl full of jelly
He is sprightly and bright, a right shiny elf
And we all laugh when we see him in spite of ourselves
A wag of his tail, a turn of his head
Smiles on our face he knows how to spread
He speaks not a word but he’s ready to work
Helping us all when we’re acting like jerks
Giving thanks for every small trinket he gets
He is truly one of the world’s best pets
He trained so well he comes when Mom whistles
His feelings can’t be hurt he never bristles
So Pocket and I would like to say to our friend so at his peak
Merry Christmas to all; Morgan’s our Pup of the Week