Pepper is our November 12, 2017 Pup of the Week

Life is easier on the immortal side of the Bridge.  I am blogging proof that there is another world where we will all be together forever.  On the mortal side, while people believe in an afterlife, doubts still creep into minds which makes our separation more painful.  

The hardest part of being a Rainbow Bridge angel is witnessing how humans suffer as our ranks grow.

This week our lifelong friend Pepper, after battling kidney disease for six months, had her kidneys shut down and needed her mom’s assistance to earn her wings.  Pepper was her Mom’s, Miss Cathy’s, heart dog, her baby,  her snuggle buddy, and her walking partner.  Letting Pepper pass to the immortal side was one of the hardest events Miss Cathy had to experience.

When Pepper arrived, she was met by her mom’s previous dogs, neighbor dogs, and dozens of online friends who had preceded her. Pepper had tears in her eyes, mourning the loss of her Mom, Liz, their family, and her sister JuJu, but she also was laughing, delighted to see those she had lost during her lifetime.

There was no delight at her former home.  Pepper no longer ran to the door to greet her mom, she didn’t stay underfoot when dinner was cooked, and JuJu wandered the house confused.  Every thought, every visual image, was a cold reminder that something was missing.  For a small dog, Pepper took up a lot of the house.

All senses feel the loss of a passing, but one of the most sensitive is hearing.  A house is filled with calming sounds:  "There is the sound of Pepper’s paws, everything is alright; there is the sound of Pepper’s barking, everything is alright; there is the sound of Pepper playing, everything is alright."  When those comforting sounds are gone nothing is alright.  The absence of sound drowns out all other noise.

My friends feel guilty about enjoying a beautiful, happy, funny, and inspirational dog like Pepper at Rainbow Bridge. She is such a real lady, and a perfect definition of what a dog should be.  I love visiting her every day, but I know she would rather be with her mom.

Pepper is desperate to let her mom know that she is still with her, just in a place where she can’t be seen, heard, touched or smell.  It is a place where the senses fail to recognize, but, if the unknown sense that is hidden in the heart and mind come forth, an angel’s presence can be felt, if only fleetingly.

We pray for the day those unknown senses come forth for Miss Cathy to give her a brief respite from her pain and start the healing process.

Dear Aunt Foley: Rueful Romey

Dear Aunt Foley:  I love my Mom, and when she met my Dad I was very excited.  He’s a great guy and makes her happy.  Then Mom told me that I was her most trusted confidant, and there was no else she trusted planning her wedding.  The plans were coming together and we have worked together perfectly.  But then came the wedding dress.  I picked out one I thought was magnificent.  Mom agreed, but now she’s not sure.   Planning the wedding is my responsibility and I want her to wear the dress I picked out.  But, on the other paw, I think maybe I let Mom down by picking the wrong dress.  Please tell me what I should do. - Rueful Romey

Dear Rueful Romey:  I have been studying humans for a dozen years and nothing gets them more worked up than a wedding.  When humans are planning a wedding they take their brains out and put them on a shelf for a little time each day, and, as the wedding date grows closer they spend less time visiting their brains.  You can make lots of suggestions, and I am sure they’re all wonderful, but it is her wedding, and outside of the day you joined her pack it will be the best day of her life, so give her a lot of leeway and understand when she changes her mind.  It has nothing to do with your mind, her love for you, or what I am sure is a great job you are doing as a wedding planner.  It just has to do with her not visiting her mind too often.  So just stick by her, be the loyal friend you have been, ride out her changes of mind, and pray for the wedding day to come soon.

Dear Aunt Foley:  Hi Aunt Foley.  I have never asked for advice before.  But I am a new dog and I’m really not sure what I should be doing.  I have learned to do my business outside and not inside but I am stumped about the couch in the sun room.  It seems to come with odd rules.  I can get up on it (I am very proud of this) but I am not allowed to get on the back of it.  I lay down on the couch to nap and it is very comfy but if I stand on the back of it, or lie down on the back of it, Mommy makes me get down.  When I moved into the house I did not get a pamphlet on the couch rules, can you enlighten me? - Sophie on the Sofa

Dear Sophie:  The only rule to remember is that you Mommy loves you very much and wants to keep you safe.  Mommies are funny.   If we are sleeping on the couch, have a dream, and roll off, that’s funny, but if we jump on the back of the couch, then fall off, that’s a tragedy.  Speaking as another small in the leg pup I can tell you that Mommies get very worried when we get up high, so try not to get too high, and try not to make your Mommy worry, but, I can assure you, when it comes to Mommies, that is nearly impossible.

Dear Aunt Foley:  I had one of the strangest experiences of my life.  My Mommy sent me across the border to Mexico to get groomed.  She was very worried about this but my Dad said it would be fine.  And when I came home nicely groomed it seemed that Dad was, in fact, correct.  But that night I went out to do my business and when I laid my Vick on the grass a small plastic bag came out with it.  Then a man stepped out of the bushes and said “yo, dog, thanks for the package,” picked the bag out of my poo and left.  What’s up with that?  - Stuffed Pepper

Dear Pepper:  Oh Pepper I have seen this happen a thousand times.  We have wonderful friends in Mexico, and there are hard working, honest people there, but there are also bad people who will do anything to smuggle barkotics into our country.  It is obvious to me that sometime during your grooming you were fed a bag of these barkotics and when you were brought home, and Vicked, the package of drugs came out.  Don’t worry, you will be fine, but just keep in mind that, for part of this month, you were more mule than dog.

Pepper, Kaiser and Four New Bridge Angels Star, Max, Christian and Old Pup are Our Pups of the Week for June 3, 2012

The life of a dog can be a rollercoaster ride somedays, especially in the Internet Age. I have so many friends if I went to the dog Olympics and counted paws it still wouldn’t equal their number. Us dogs, we live normal length lives (not like you humans who stick around long passed your usefulness until you’re nothing but tired and lose all interest in your balls) but it does make for a lot of friends heading for the Bridge, and a lot of friends picking their forever homes, over the course of a week.

(FYI: Us dogs, when talking about our parents, usually refer to their age in pup years. Every nine years of human life equal one year of pup life. If a Mom is 45 we think of her as five. After that it goes to a year for every five years. At 50 she is 6, 55, she is 7, at 75 she is 11, If a Mom lives to be 100 she is 16 in pup years which is pretty darn old for everyone except Tommy Tunes.)

This week we lost some good friends from DS. Star Cintron is a dog we go way back to our original time on DS with. When we were off DS Mom kept track of Star on the Face Space. We were so happy when she was our friend again when we returned to DS. But Star was older, 15, and had cancer. Her Mom fought so hard to keep her with us but when the Big Giant Dog wants you at the Bridge you have to go no matter how strong willed a Mom is. On Saturday we said bye to Star, who now twinkles forever high above us. She left a Mom with a broken heart which we must help repair. We will miss you Star, fly high my sweet angel.

Although I did not bark at him as much as Star I would be remiss if I did not mention my friend Max, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel from Ireland, who went to tbe Bridge on the 30th at the age of 11.

Also Christian, a mixed breed, who went to the Bridge at the age of 6, and Josie, Koda and Wills brother Old Pup, their farm dog.

But for every dog lost there is a new friend to fill our soul with excitement. First is Benjamin’s new brother Pepper. In the middle of May Pepper was another dog left at the shelter facing execution. Benjamin’s Dad saw on the Face Space that Pepper was on death row. He swooped in and rescued Pepper, expecting the wife/mom to be mad because their home is already bursting with pups but she was thrilled. Pepper is one smart dog. He went from almost trotting the green mile to choosing a great family, and a great dog, as he has become Benjamins’ shadow, and in line to be a first deputy.

Finally, while I don’t want to spoil the thunder from his sister and his Mom, we have another new member, Kasier, a beautiful German Shepherd rescued by Baron our beloved Bear’s Mom, who is going to have so much to learn from his sister Chey, another rescued dog save from the Bridge.

Some days I go online a cry in sadness because I have lost a friend, other days I cry in joy when I meet a new friend who has been rescued. Somedays I do bost. A roller coaster indeed.

Now, if you excuse me, I need to update my address book.

(Max’s and Christian’s pictures courtesy of Tommy Tunes)