Tails From Rainbow Bridge: Catching Up With Baron

Five years is a long time.  Many things change over that time.  Countless marriages have collapsed, young lovers have drifted apart, children have become estranged from their parents, but one thing doesn’t change: The love that parents have for their pups that have gone to the Bridge.

Five years ago we lost a giant:  Baron, also known as Bear, the dog so great he had to be named twice.  He was the model of a German Shepherd Dog:  Strong, loyal, handsome and brave.  He lived most of his life pre dog social media but when Baron joined a lost site known as Doggyspace and pups began to dominate the online world we knew we were in the presence of royalty.

Baron was an inspiration the first time we met him.  We knew if we could instill in our parents the love Baron inspired in his Mom we would have accomplished our mission on Earth.  As Baron aged his legs began to bother him and he was the first dog I met who was brave enough to go to acupuncture to keep himself healthy.

By the end Baron no longer had use of his back legs but he still had the spirit to keep moving forward.  But his lungs filled with fluid, his breathing became labored, and, under a great cloud of shared grief Baron passed to the Bridge where he immediately began running like he had when he was a puppy and was assigned a beautiful set of wings.

Meanwhile on the mortal side of the Bridge Baron’s Mom Monica keeps his spirit alive by having Baronfest gatherings at her house where the mortal dogs come together to romp, play, and remember their spiritual leader and friend.  His mortal siblings:  Kaiser and Cheyenne are doing their best to carry on his legacy as the model German Shephard Dog.

At the Bridge Baron has his own Baronfest.  He opens his magnificent home to all dogs.  The walls are lined with television screens where pups can watch over their parents.  If a parent needs help, and the angel pup doesn’t know how to help them, Baron is there with a kind paw and a word of advice.

No one devotes more time to the needs of mortal dogs than Baron.  He spends hours a day running prayer messages up the mountain to the Big Guy for his friends and Mom.  He is now the model of the perfect Angel dog and gives us all something to aspire to, just like his Mom raised him to be.

Holding: River Song - First Down

With the Super Bowl being played this weekend I have been asked many times if I was a football player what position I would play.  (OK:  I have never been asked that.  But sometimes you have to use literary license to get a story off the ground like “It was the best of times it was the worst of times” - actually it sucked all time time but that is not a memorable beginning to a story.)

To answer this never asked before question I will respond with cornerback, the fast, athletic player whose job it is to deny the receiver the ball.  I have chosen this not because I am fast or athletic but because I was mastered a technique used by lesser talented cornerbacks.  I have mastered the hold.

Cornerbacks use the hold when they are beaten on a play and are desperate to stop the catch like Aquib Talib did to Rob Gronkowski even though their was no flag thrown and it cost the Patriots the game (at least that is what my Dad says.  He is a whiney Patriots fan.  No wonder the rest of the world find them annoying.)

I don’t hold onto receivers  to prevent touchdowns.   I hold on to Mommy.  I stand on my back legs`and I reach with my front legs and wrap them around her leg.  For a small dog I have a mighty grip.  She tries to shake me off but I am a very determined little dog.  Even reaching down and trying to pry me off meets with resistance.

This behavior is entirely Mommy’s fault.  She insists on leaving me and I don’t want her to go, and even the suggestion that she is leaving is enough to set me off.  If she prepares our crates, or goes to answer the door, or even moves to answer the phone I am on her clinging to her for dear life.

Mommy shakes her leg, grabs at me, and finally gets free.  She gets no assistance in this endeavour from Daddy because Daddy thinks it’s funny when I do it.  I would be mad at him for not helping Mommy if he wasn’t helping me.  Finally I am pried loose and crated, or the door is opened, or, well, she never has made it to the phone on time but Mommy hates talking on the phone anyway so I am doing her a favor.

I have perfected the art of holding and getting away with it, so, if either the Cardinals or the Broncos want lessons let me know.  It could be the difference between winning and losing.

Wordless Wednesday

Beat This Caption

Hey, I think I found a quarter!

R is our Pup of the Week

(Picture used with permission of the Romping and Rolling in the Rockies blog)

There are so many friends I am praying for.  There is Paco our Italian friend who is 15 and showing more signs of his age every day, there is Charlie, a friend I just met, who crossed over the River of Life this morning leaving a heartbroken family behind.   They are both worthy of Pup of the Week honors but on this day Pup of the Week is brought to you by the letter R.

R is the name of a male chocolate lab who lives ‘8200 feet up on the Front Range of Colorado with his sister, Shyla, another chocolate lab, and his parents.  Their Mom is a photographer and dog blogger struggling everyday with crippling arthritis.  Their blog is filled with stories of their adventures and some of the most magnificent photos you will ever see.  You can find it here:  http://romp-roll-rockies.blogspot.com/

Much like our good friend Enzo R, Shyla and their family are surrounded by snow most of the year but there life is a lot like ours, except for the neighboring bears and mountain lions and the overprotective moose who has been lurking nearby making sure Shyla and her Mom don’t hurt her baby.

The blog is called Rolling and Romping in the Rockies because that is what R and Shyla do.  They roll and romp through the snow, up hills, over rocks, down trails, and through rivers.  This is more remarkable for R since her was born with a birth defect - elbow dysplasia.

Six years ago, when he was one year old, R had surgery that cleaned out the bad cartilage and bone chips.  That gave him an excellent five years.  But then the limping returned.  R had another surgery.  The surgeon had to clean out all the cartilage from the weight bearing surfaces in his leg.  But it did give R two more years of romping and rolling without pain.

R’s Mom was able to understand what he was going through.  Her spine degeneration started in her teen years.  She now suffers from the pain of bone on none vertebrae.  Little by little R’s elbow worsened.  He would, as all dogs do, try to hide his pain and limp from his Mom, but soon it became too much.  His parents discussed the possibility of surgery.

The operation is known as a CUE surgery.  Metal pieces are placed inside the knee to act as the cartilage to stop the bone on bone grinding.  There are very few doctors who perform this surgery and R does live 8200 feet above sea level in a remote area.

Their vet wants to do the surgery with the vet who originated the surgery and believes their schedules would permit them to perform the surgery on April 1 which doesn’t seem too far away but when you are a playful dog on the side of a snowy mountain it might as well be years.

In the meantime R continues to get a moderate amount of exercise.  He is on the highest amount of pain medication he can take.  R was born to run and his parents want to make sure that he is running for a long time.

So if you have a spare prayers say one for R that he has a quick and successful surgery and gets back to rolling and romping soon.

Tails from Rainbow Bridge: Local Heroes

My parents seldom meet famous people.  That is because they rarely leave the house and it is even rarer for famous people to pass through their living room.  But two weeks ago they met a famous couple in a local pet store.  They weren’t famous for acting, singing, or ball playing, but for rescuing.  They were the Burke family from East Bridgewater MA and they were buying food and other supplies for a dog they were rescuing.

The dog they were rescuing is named Moose.  He is a pit bull mix who had been in a shelter in the Virgin Islands for 1,628 days.  Dogs were surrendered to the shelter and found new homes but day after day Moose remained unrescued.  The workers in the shelter tried to keep him socialized by walking him and showing him love but he needed his own home.

They began a Facebook page for him (Help Moose Find a Family: 1,628 days in the shelter is too long)  and Moose went viral.  Soon the page had 1,800 likes.  People from across the nation followed his story.  There was hope when he went to a foster home but because of housing issues he could not stay there.  At that point the shelter teamed with Last Hope K9 Rescue in Boston to try and find him a home in the Boston area.  The Burke family of Bridgewater Ma had lost a 14 year old pitbull mix earlier in the year.   They had been following Moose’s story but weren’t sure they were ready for another dog.  But when they heard it was possible Moose would be coming to Boston they decided it was a sign from the Angels that Moose was the dog for them.

The Rescue quickly approved of the Burkes and then put Moose in training classes to help him lose those bad tendencies dog acquire in a shelter.  But another problem arose.  How to get Moose from the Virgin Islands to Massachusetts.  A dog Moose’s size would have to fly as checked luggage (the indignation!) and the trainers working with him felt all their work could be undone because of the stress of the plane ride.  Moose needed a private jet.  But who has a private jet?

The Riggi family of Albany New York that’s who.  They were on vacation on the Virgin Islands when they heard Moose needed a lift home.  They were very happy to accommodate him, and, as an added bonus, they paid for a limousine to take him from Albany to Massachusetts.  Now this is a story that make you believe in angels on Earth.  

Moose left the wonderful shelter where he had been so greatly cared for on Saturday.  He got to sit on the floor of the plane and he greatly enjoyed the entire ride.  When he landed he got in the limousine for his ride to Massachusetts.  Moose had a  stop to make before he moved into his new home.  All dogs new to the United States need to be quarantined for 48 hours.  The limo was driving Moose to the shelter where he would be quarantined when they got caught in the blizzard.  The limo got stuck in the snow but another good samaritan stopped and helped the limo get to the shelter where the Murray family awaited her him with hugs and kisses.  

On Tuesday Moose finally arrives in his new home where he fit right in.  He is the only dog, it has to be that way, and he is loving it.

We angels would like to thank all the human angels who cared for Moose, promoted him, helped him find a new home, transported him, fought through a blizzard to get him to his quarantine, cared for him there, and finally the Burkes who are getting a wonderful dog.  Us angels will be watching over him.

We so rarely get a happy ending this is one story we will never get tired of watching.

The Safest Place in the World by Pocket Dog

Do you have a favorite spot?  Mine is the big bed.  Especially when it is cold.  There is nothing like snuggling with a human when it is cold.  Humans!  They are all purpose mammals.  Providing food, cleaning pooh, taking us on walks, giving us attention, they do so much for us.  And now I find they are wonderful sources of warmth on cold nights.  Indians are known for using the entire buffalo.  We dogs need to perfect using the entire human.  And that includes their body heat.

Not that this is a one way street.  Our parents like to sleep in a cold room under a nice comforter.  But some nights it get too cold.  They wake up and they don’t feel either my little body, or River’s little body, against them so they reach down and snatch us to use our body heat.  On especially cold night we get yanked several times.  Nothing disrupts a good night’s sleep like a yanking.

But I am not complaining.  It is a compliment to have two people fight over you in bed.  Even if the bed is the sight of a cuddle four way.

I start my sleep at the end of the bed on a special blanket.  River Song goes to sleep leaning up against Mommy’s shoulders.  But the more we sleep the colder we become.  River slips under the covers and I move up the covers to sleep next to Mommy.  River then moves over to sleep next to Daddy.  Mommy gives off heat but Daddy gives off fire.  

When River moves over to Daddy I move up to Mommy’s waist which is a wonderful snuggle spot.  Then Daddy gets too hot for River and she want to get back in Mommy’s wonderful snuggle spot and I won’t move so she sits at the top of the bed staring at me and mewing softly until everyone is awake.  Mommy and Daddy push River under the covers and she snuggles up by Mommy’s shoulders and I stay in the good snuggle spot.  Serves you right for moving.

Even better than bed is second bed.  This is when Daddy gets up and takes us out to do our business.  Then we come back in the house and go back to bed for an hour or two.  Second bed is heaven!  First we get cold outside so we are able to get warm and snuggled all over again.  Second we don’t have the “pressure” in our nether regions so we don’t have to worry about any accidental spillage or leaking.

When I am under the covers snuggled with my family I never feel safer.  Nothing bad can happen to me there.  I am protected by love and caring.  It is a peaceful, easy feeling.

I am going to stop now.  I hear the bed calling.