Shadow is our Pup of the Week

“There are places I remember / All my life though some have changed /Some forever not for better / Some have gone and some remain / All these places have their moments / With lovers and friends I still can recall / Some are dead and some are living / In my life I've loved them all.”

That was written by John Lennon.  Talented chap.  Great storyteller too.  Now that his friend George is here they are making great music together.  Angel Simon is playing drums for them.  John and George agree he is a better drummer than some dog named Ringo.

I have been very lucky.  I have been able to stay in touch with so many friends both mortal and immortal.  But sometimes our friends disappear from our lives and we never hear from them again.  They are just gone.  This is what happened with our friend Shadow.  He was part of our little online group one day and then, without a word, he was gone.

But no dog can hide from the world’s greatest dog detective Hobo Hudson.  He put his cats and his brother Wiley on the case, and he scoured the Internet until he saw in a far corner of the World Wide Web a small Shadow and he knew it was our friend.

It took some prodding to get Shadow to talk.  When he did he told Hobo a sad story.  His family had fallen on hard times.

While Shadow was still in contact with us his father had been quite ill.  Shadow’s on line time was curtailed because his Dad had four surgeries and was in and out of the hospital.  Thankfully it was his Mom who helped Shadow with his correspondence.  But last year his Mom took ill and Shadow disappeared from our lives.

She had been plagued with intestinal issues for a long time.  Last last year Shadow’s Mom got a bad attack which caused internal bleeding.  The internal bleeding caused her potassium levels to drop which put her in danger of having a heart attack.  She was in the hospital until just before Thanksgiving.

She began to recover during the holiday season but the Monday before Christmas Shadow’s Mom fell near her pool.  She split open her eye and needed four stitches, took the skin off her arms and legs, and worse of all she broke her hip in three places and needed to be hospitalized again.

She was also diagnosed with blood on brain.  The doctors were able to take care of that problem but she faces months of physical therapy and time away from Shadow before she gets home.  I don’t think she had given any thought to getting back on social media but maybe it we send them good healing thoughts we will hear from our friend Shadow again.

So let’s send some prayers to Shadow and his family so they can recover fully and maybe someday we will hear from them again.

Shadow is our February 6, 2011 of the week

Does any pup keep track of our pups of the week.  I searched Wikipedia but there is no entry for the Tanner Brigade.  How is that possible?  I am curious because I don't remember naming sweet Shadow Pup of the Week.  How is it possible that we haven't named the nicest dog we know Pup of the Week?

This week Shadow got a double shot of devastating news.  But in typical Shadow fashion he began his log thinking of others and not himself.  With Shadow other pups always come first.

There is also a directness to Shadow that we appreciate.  In one sentence Shadow tells us the following:  His beloved Mom has the dreadful C word.  She found it when she noticed a spot on her skin.  They operated on her and the surgery was a success.  But her Mom had a reaction to the bandages and was in terrible pain.  He said this in about ten words. 

Most of us would have spent four blogs on this.  It is a very much what puppies need.  To vent their worry and pain.  But polite, sweet Shadow uses a single sentence.  Such strength for such a little dog.

But there is more.  Not only his Shadow's Mommy sick but his Daddy as well.  If this was happening to me I would be under the bed and you would barely be able to see my tail.  But Shadow reports what happened with the aplomb of Anderson Cooper being attacked in Egypt.  But he wasn't being attacked by angry protesters but by bad news that struck straight to his heart.

His Daddy was having stomach issues and he had one of those med school cats do a scan on him and while they couldn't find out what was wrong with his tummy they found a spot on his lungs and we all know how bad that can be.  So both Shadow and his Mom have to be just trembling with fear.  We need to give them all our thoughts and prayers to help the Shadow family through this tough time.

Our poor Shadow, like Buddy Boy, has even had to spend a few days away from his Mom which is so hard when you know someone you love is sick.  What a difficult time for a sweet baby.

And still, at the end of his blog, he doesn't forget his friends, promising to keep us informed, and giving us puppy kisses. 

We know your not a big dog Shadow, but your heart is about ten sizes larger than the largest dog, we love you, and you're our pup of the week.

Shadow is Pup of the Week for November 22, 2009

First, some business to take care of: There have been some Internet problems on all sites lately, I know those who use Facebook are having a terrible times with gifts and other applications. I know many of you have experienced problems here on Tanner Brigade and we are doing what we can. If your blog posts twice, you can delete one of the posts without deleting the others. I deleted some double posts last night, but left the ones that had been modified, like Hobo’s blog where a photo was added, or duplicate blogs that each had a comment. Foley is going into cyberspace for a mass meeting of social network groups to figure out a solution. If she pops out of your computer please put a stamp on her forehead and send her to us.

Now, for this week’s Pup of the Week: This is one of our sweetest little dogs. He knows how to take care of his Mom. When Mom had a bad back, this pup knows the best medicine: to sit with her and give her sweet loving.

Despite giving his Mom round the clock care, this dog has been able, not only to keep us posted on her health, but to take time to thank those of us who wished her well. Such thoughtfulness at times of personal sorrow is the sign of a special dog for sure.

Finally,this poor pup has been disrespected by Doggyspace, as so many of us have, and, this pup has come to realize that the place where happy pups come to play is here. So, while those on DS may not realize how wonderful he is, here he is our pup of the week.

For taking good care of his Mom, for taking time out for us, and for being one of the most special dogs we know, Shadow is out pup of the week.