Reese and Kole are our November 9, 2014 Pups of the Week

When humans have problems they tend to bottle them up and keep them from with their friends.  Something silly about not wanting to be a “burden.”  But us dogs never worry about being “burdens.”  It is kind of our thing.  Feed us, walk us, clean up after us, stop us from jumping on others, making sure we don’t trip you, we are wonderful burdens so when  we have problems we can’t wait to dump them on our friends.

But what happens when you have to dump and you have nowhere to take a dump.  That is what happened to our friends Reese and Kole two weeks ago.

They live in the Ozarks but their parents come from Michigan.  I don’t know how that happened.  I think their car couldn’t make it through the mountains so they just decided to live there.

A few weeks ago Reese’s and Kole’s Uncle Mark got sick.  Their Uncle Rob, who lives with their Dad Jeffrey, had to go back to Michigan to be with his ill relative.  The problem was that air travel is expensive when you aren’t an angel.  They had a stack of bills to pay and something had to be sacrificed because we live in a recovering economy where, whenever you pay a bill you have to go into recovery.  What had to be sacrificed was the Internet:  Resse’s and Kole’s outlet to their support network was gone.  It not only came at a bad time for family reasons, but poor Kole, who had been found abandoned in a parking lot by Uncle Rob earlier this year would be without his beloved best friend when he returned to Michigan.

When Uncle Rob went to Michigan to visit Uncle Mark the former collapsed and tests showed he had a weak heart.  There was talk he might need a pacemaker.  Now there were two sick Uncles and no support network except for a few friends Reese’s and Kole’s Dad could text.  

It was a long week without hearing from our friends, and an eventful one for them. Uncle Rob was released from the hospital and came home.  The doctors are not sure what is wrong with him, they have lots of different opinions, but he is home where he belongs and Kole is very happy about that.  

Once Rob returned the family got their Internet turned back on and Reese and Kole were all over the web telling their friends that they were safe, although their Uncles needed prayers.

Uncle Mark is waiting in the hospital in Michigan for a liver transplant.  Getting a liver transplant is very hard unless you are famous.  Hopefully, because Reese and Kole are famous in the dog world that will help their Uncles get the medical treatment they need.

But I do need all of you to send me prayers for Reese’s and Kole’s Dad so I can fly them up to the Big Guy because he freaking loves me.  And also pray that their financial problems ease so they can stay on the Internet and Reese and Kole never feel abandoned again.

Ask Aunt Foley: Strolling Along with Molly

Dear Aunt Foley:  I recently hurt my knee playing soccer and have trouble walking.  My Mom bought a stroller so I can still enjoy the outdoors but I am not sure how I feel about using it.  What are your thoughts?  Molly the Highland Girl

Dear Molly:   First, let me assure you that I am going to get some angels together to heal your injury so you can go back on your beloved walks.  I know you love soccer but even David Beckham had to retire.  And if you still have a passion for the game you can get involved in coaching other dogs so we can win the World Cup in four years.

As for the stroller I always thought myself on the cutting edge of dog/human relations.  I asked for a stroller when I was young and proudly rode in one most of my life.

Mommy and Daddy like to go on day trips with us dogs. but if we walked next to them, with us pups being so tiny,  people would often trip over us and our parents were worried we would be injured.  They bought one of those contraptions that we sit in close to their bodies but I was a hot little number who gave off a lot of heat so, after just a few minutes, we were both sweating and panting like characters in Castle fan fiction.

I saw the stroller your Mom got for you and it looks very nice.  The first stroller my Mom got for my sister Copper and me wasn’t so nice.  It fell apart midway between the Mystic harbor drawbridge and Mystic Pizza.  Luckily there are boutique dog shops on every street corner in quaint New England towns.  Mommy and Daddy grossly overpaid for what started out as an ordinary stroller and soon became the Foley mobile.

Your stroller will soon become known throughout your town as the Mollie mobile. Adults may coo over a baby in a stroller but they turn into complete maniacs when seeing a dog in a stroller. Your stroller is very much like the Pope mobile and humans react with the same excitement when they see you as they are when they see the Pope.

So count yourself among the lucky ones Molly.  You are small enough to fit in a stroller, regal enough to look like a Queen being wheeled past her loving subjects, and you have a Mom who cares enough about you to buy one for you so you can enjoy the woods.

Your are now Molly Princess of the Highlands.  Enjoy your luxury carriage.

Wordless Wednesday

A Butterfly Bush for your Angels by Foley Monster

As the warm days come to an end in the Northeastern United States my days of floating down to Earth as a butterfly and visiting Mommy are also coming to a close.  Once winter slams into Mommy’s neighborhood the only way I can visit her is to become a bird and fly into a window.  That gives you quite a headache.

If you have a loved pup at the Bridge I want you to be able to get as many visits from them as possible.  Us angel pups can disguise ourselves as butterflies fairly easily but it is sometime hard to find our parents because butterflies don’t have good sniffers like dogs.

My advice to all you parents is to plant a butterfly bush.  Mommy planted one and when I dropped down from the Bridge and became a butterfly, an uncontrollable urge drove me towards her house and I realized it was the scent of her bush.

I knew the best time to drop down was on Monday because that was Mommy’s gardening day.  I would come flying in (and flying as a butterfly is one of the coolest things ever) and first I would land on the petals because the smell is wonderful, and then I would flitter to the top of the plant, and move my pretty wings until I got my Mommy’s attention.

Mommy smiled when she saw me.  And then she began talking to me, telling me what she was doing, and about her day.  I just sat there, like I would have done in my mortal form.  She couldn’t see my dark eyes which always looked so intently into hers but to convey my love I fluttered my wings.
When she moved I would fly around her head, and then swoop over to Daddy.  I tell you, flying is tiring, and the attraction of the butterfly bush was overwhelming.  I would find myself back on it, just watching Mom and Dad, and River and Pocket in their stroller.

And sometimes, after she was done working, because working and flying, is tiring, we would both nap, and I would see her in her dreams, where I would turn into a giant butterfly  and zip around the Bridge with her.  Those were some of our best times.

Now that winter is coming I am not going to be able to land on my Mom’s shoulder, tickle her hair, or smell her sweet scent.  It is going to be a long, lonely, scent free time.  .  But next spring, when her bush blooms, I will be back visiting her on the mortal side of the river and bringing a big smile to her face.

If your Moms want more visits from your angels, trust me, a buttterfly bush is the way to go.  If not your angels may be winging their way across your neighbors property looking for you.

Princess Bailey is our November 2, 2014 Pup of the Week

I don’t know every dog who crosses the River of Life and requires being sworn in at Rainbow Bridge.  I try to get to know them once they are here but some get caught up with their packs and I hardly see them.  This week something happened that had never occurred before.  I met an old friend I had lost contact with.  

One of the last dogs I swore in was a Yorkie.  I don’t like to judge by breeds but I take special interest in Yorkies.  I asked this new lollipop her name and she said it was Bailey and then she smiled at me.  “You’re Judge Foley Monster aren’t you?” she asked.  I answered in the affirmative and the lollipop said “It’s me Bailey, from Doggyspace, don’t you remember, we were friends before you got thrown off.”

“I left voluntarily,” I answered, a knee jerk response I had practiced for years, then studied her face.  “Bailey!”  I said, slapping my forehead with my paw.  “I do remember you.  We were friends years ago when I first joined DS.  I remember you because you are a Yorkie like me who has the same name as my cousin.”  We then hugged.  “So how have you been?”  I asked.

“Not good, I developed a tummy ache, lost my appetite, started losing weight, and I had no energy.  My Mom knew something was wrong with me and she took me to the vet where they found I had massive tumor in my stomach.  Mommy had to assist me to come here.  A few minutes ago I was lying in my Mommy’s arms and now I’m here,” she said sadly

I had to remember to stop asking that question to new arrivals.  The answer is never “pretty good.”  I told her I was sorry and that we could go to Tommy’s mansion where she could check up on her Mom and her pack on his Window to the Mortal SideTV set.  While walking I took out my tiny paw pad that connects to the Internet.  Connecting to the web was spotty here and I hoped I wasn’t in a dead zone.  

“Hey after I came back to DS somehow we weren’t friends again,” I said.  She looked over at the tablet.  “Maybe I didn’t realize you came back after you were thrown off,” she said.  I let the thrown off comment go.

I checked my Mom’s Facebook page.  “My Mom isn’t Facebook friends with your Mom either,” I said.  “It’s strange though, she knew of your passing.”  Then I saw they belonged to the same Facebook group.  “That must be how she found out,” I said.

Tommy’s house came into view.  “That’s the thing about friendship:  It always finds it’s way back to our hearts,” Bailey said.

I knew that’s why we were friends.  She is a very smart dog.  “The thing about humans is they always think they have more time for friendships, and then their time runs out.”

“Except they come here and there is nothing but time for friendship,” Bailey said.  We reached Tommy’s house, and Bailey got on the couch and watched her grieving Mom and the hair under Bailey’s eyes became wet with tears.  

And I hoped she was right.  I hoped there would be plenty of time for friendship.

Ask Aunt Foley

Dear Aunt Foley:   My Mom’s suitcases are out again.   That means she is leaving us.  Why do our parents have to leave?  -Lonely

Dear Lonely:  There is nothing worse than when our parents leave.  There are usually two reasons for this:  Business or pleasure.  But the real reason is that no human has stood up and said:  “Hey, let’s agree with all love our dogs, want them with us all the time, and allow them to go everywhere humans go.”

Oh sure, the lucky blind people get to take their dogs everywhere but perhaps it is because the blind people are the only ones who can truly see that dogs belong everywhere.  As I wrote about a few weeks ago dogs make the work place better and the truth is dogs make everywhere better.

I do think the onus is on us a bit.  We have to become disciplined and not just in our “business” movements.  You got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them and if your Mom is in the middle of a business meeting that’s no place to fold them.  And we can’t bark at every single person we see, and every noise.  It is going to be hard but we have to meet the humans half way.

As for travel well, that’s is up to the individual dogs.  Lots of us don’t travel too well.  Car sickness is common.  A train is no place for a dog.  And unless you are a small dog like me you have to ride in the cargo part of the airplane which, I have heard, is the scariest thing in the world.

So humans are going to have to invent something for else to travel on.  Something that is not loud, does not go too fast, let’s us stick out heads out the window without falling out, doesn’t make us sick, let’s us out to pee, let’s us sniff, and has plenty of food stops.  

Perhaps it would be better just to sleep for the week and wait for our parents to come home.

Wordless Wednesday