Tails From Rainbow Bridge: Odie's First Bridge Birthday

Birthday parties are very hard at Rainbow Bridge because, unless you have moved on to the land of Happily Ever After where all loved ones are reunited, there is always someone missing from the party, and for we dogs that someone is our parents.

And first birthdays at the Bridge are even harder because, for your entire existence, birthdays have meant celebrating with your parents, and now it means something else entirely.

That is why we try to make first birthdays at the Bridge so exciting for our friends.  I know there are more immortal dogs than mortal dogs, and you must think that means we have a lot of birthday parties.  We do.  But don’t judge us.  We have an eternity to kill.

This week was Odie’s first birthday at the Bridge.  He celebrated 14 with his family and his mom always put her heart into each of her babies’ parties.  To keep Odie from thinking about her we needed something special.

I put my minions to work.  We set up a table with a seat for Odie at the head.  The table started at a crook in the river and it extended for miles over hills and down in deep valleys.  Then we had deliveries of what all Angels want on their first birthdays: What they could not consume on the mortal said:  Kegs of beer, garlic, onion, many different kinds of chocolate, baked bread, pizza, and lots of cake.

We also asked lots of his mortal friends to attend in their dreams.  My sisters Pocket and River, Odie’s brothers Baron and Max, Reese and Kole, and many more friends sat at the table surrounded by angels.

Scooby kept Odie busy while the party was being assembled.   When it was time he put a blindfold on Odie, and, with the help of his brother Rusty, Odie was flown to the table, where everyone stood for miles along the white table and howled happy birthday then applauded.   When everyone quieted Scooby swallowed the cake and sheepishly grinned at his brother.

Then came the plates and plates of food, both the forbidden and the bidden, steaks, pizzas, chicken, turkey, fish, ever some kibble just for the old days.  We ate, drank, toasted our friend, talked about our mortal lives and laughed long and hard.  Odie was given another cake and despite being sorely tempted Scooby didn’t eat it.

Then came the dancing.  Pocket took Odie by the paw and, despite there being three feet difference is size while standing on their back legs, they danced beautifully.  Then we all danced, romped, ran and sang songs together until we became tired and snuggled under the silent fireworks.  

We know Odie was very happy with his party, and we do hope it helped him forget that he missed his parents for a short amount of time.  It helps us forget our parents too.

I hope the large amount of ice we had shipped in did not cause snow anywhere, and the raucous party did not set off waves of thunder, but when this happens know it is a sign of how hard your Angels are working to forget how much they miss you.

Odie is our September 6, 2015 Pup of the Week

We are all very lucky to have such marvelous parents.  But two of us have parents who are so marvelous they are downright magical.

Odie and Scooby are two Great Danes enjoying life in their mid teens.  What makes this amazing is that Great Danes should only live to be eight or nine.  And I think it is the love and care of their two parents that have kept them healthy so long.

Scooby spends most of his time on the couch now  While his heart and mind are strong the legs aren’t working too well.  His parents have to bring him outside to pee and move him around the couch when he gets restless but except for that he is leading a very good life.  Scooby gets to go on walks and see his friends.  His parents got him a stroller to push him through the neighborhood so he can enjoy the outside.  They have known for some time that Scooby is their special needs dog but now his brother Odie needs your prayers.

He had been losing weight so his doctor gave him a CAT scan.  The CAT showed that Odie has a tumor.  The only way to find out if it is cancerous is to operate on him.

His advanced age causes his Mom concern but the doctors assure her he should be fine. If Odie does not have the operation the tumor then it could burst and start internal bleeding.  There would  be little time to save him after that.  

After the tumor is removed it will be sent out for a biopsy. We are praying very hard that the tumor is benign.   If it is not benign then Odie will have to have chemotherapy.  At his age chemotherapy is a risk but the greater risk, as always, is to do nothing.  

We have absolute confidence that Odie and Scooby’s Mom and Dad will make the right decision for him.   Like all our parents who are faced with life altering decisions for their beloved pets Odie’s parents are under an extreme amount of stress.  They are trying to balance the quality and quantity of Odie’s life.   They want him to be with them a long time but don’t want him to suffer for a minute.  

Please send them prayers so they can make the right decision for their sweet baby boy and he can come through his ordeal healthy and live a normal life again.

And never take a normal life for granted.  Normal is fleeting while trouble has a way of seeming endless.  

Thanks for the prayers.

The Snow Dogs Are Our December 15, 2013 Pups of the week

Here at Rainbow Bridge it doesn’t snow   We do have mountains  where we can climb then play in the snow, go sledding, and partake in snowball fights, while Huskies and their ilk have wonderful fun romping and rolling.  But we don’t have any of those cold, windy, icy, snowy days that we hate.

This week, on the mortal side of the Bridge, all across the country, many friends got slammed with snow, ice, wind, and downed power lines.    When they went to do their business they got snow covered paws, icy and damp fur, and the dreaded toweling off.

Thankfully no one was lost in the big cold fluffy.  All our parents survived. As I sit up here on the green banks looking in the River of Life I must admit I don’t miss sticking my who who in the freezing snow to melt a little with my pee, and I was able to muffle a snicker when Pocket went to settle into a squat and ended up spread eagle on the ice.

When I was a youngster Mommy, Daddy, Blake and I would go walking in the early evening at the state mental institution, through the snow, and I would scoot my bottom on the cold.  This got both my parents very upset, and they took me to the vet, who found nothing wrong.  But there was something wrong:  I thought it was a bad idea to be walking at the state mental institution at night and my scooting got them to reconsider their fallacy.

Let’s see how some of our friends soldiered through the storm.

Snow can’t keep our friend Leo from looking regal and proud.

Meika has already formed her opinion and is done with the snow for the year.

Scooby and Odie pose for a picture despite cold paws.

Molly is done with the cold and wants in now!

Toby, Maggie and Pokey make the best of a cold situation.

It looks like this is going to be the start of a long winter with plenty of snowy pictures.  So here is to the snow dogs:  May they always have a safe and warm place to hide from the cold.