“A dog doesn’t care if your rich or poor, smart or dumb.
Give him your heart.. and he’ll give you his.”
― Milo Gathema
Miss CookiesNCream and The Bandit, taken March 2008.
They had my heart from the moment they came into my life
and gave me theirs up to the day they took their journey across the
Rainbow Bridge.
Woofs for Wordless Wednesday.
We’re paw-ticipating in the Blog Paws Blog Hop:
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
“Your dog will look at you when you are worth looking at.”
~ Sam Malatesta
The Bandit loved looking at me.
Woofs for Wordless Wednesday!
We’re paw-ticipating in the Blog Paws Blog hop:
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
“If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence,
try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.”
– cowboy wisdom
Miss Cookies N Cream would have agreed with this.
Woofs and Spottyed Snuggles for Wordless Wednesday.
This is a Blog Paws blog hop:
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
“Which of us has not been stunned by the
beauty of an animal’s skin or its flexibility in motion?”
~ Marianne Moore
It tickled my heart to watch La Petite Grande Dame Cherie in motion!
I knew she had the Dalmatian running trait in her.
Woofs for Wordless Wednesday.
We’re participating in the Blog Paws Blog Hop:
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
“It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or
what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy.
It is what you think about it.”
La Petite Grande Dame Cherie didn’t have to think about being happy.
Woofs for Wordless Wednesday!
“Why, that dog is practically a Phi Beta Kappa.
She can sit up and beg, and she can give her paw
— I don’t say she will but she can.”
Miss CookiesNCream certainly did things her own way.
She learned her manners well but as a typical Dalmatian,
she figured out what suited her the best.
All I know is that she always gave her heart up to the very end.
Today marks her Sixth Rainbow Bridge Anniversary.
December 25, 1995 to September 3, 2008.
Woofs for Wordless Wednesday!
We’re paw-ticipating in the Blog Paws Blog Hop:
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
“A dog reflects the family life.
Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family, or a sad dog in a happy one?
Snarling PEOPLE
have snarling dogs, dangerous people have dangerous ones.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes
This month’s theme of the Blog Paws Blog Hop is Aging Pets Appreciation Month.
I’d like to share my experience concerning this topic:
As you can see by all of these pictures above of La Petite Grande Dame Cherie, she was quite happy. She was estimated to be about 6 years old, which for Dalmatians, may be considered seniors. She came here with a long list of special needs, ranging from: being smaller for the breed, bad hips and knees, front teeth worn down, cracked canines, along with a severe tartar and plaque buildup in her back teeth, skin inflammation due to a flea allergy, very loose skin, skin cancer (benign) and was not spayed until she was turned in to the local area shelter early 2008.
These are of the first few days being home with me.
Why did I adopt a senior instead of a puppy/young adult? I just wasn’t ready.
In 2008, I sent both The Bandit and Miss CookiesNCream over the Rainbow Bridge. The decision to do so is in itself devastating. Having to perform this final act of love twice in three months just about broke my heart. They provided me with the emotional support I needed after my other half/life partner/common-law husband of 11 years passed away. They would not allowed me to fall into a deep depression by their zest for life and enjoyment of ‘living in the present’. They both developed medical conditions the previous year that finally took its toll.
After a week of noticing that home was very quiet without the pitter patter of spottyed paws, I made a road trip to the Save A Spot Rescue, which was one of the few Dalmatian rescues in the northern and Central California area. I had searched the many listed on their Petfinders site for possible candidates. Bridget, as she was called, was on my list but not at the top. The story about her was that she was turned in with her sister, and the rescue hoped that they would be adopted together as they were about the same size. Bridget was diagnosed with skin cancer ( benign) while in the rescue’s care so they considered the best interest if they did not continue to insist the sisters get adopted together.
The rescue brought out every ‘candidate’ that I had on my list, and while each of them were all great, I felt I wasn’t ready for all the energy needed for having a young Dal. I admit I really wished I had the room to have taken them all tho as it was difficult to chose just one. Can you say Dalmatian Plantation?! LOL I decided on Bridget/Cherie because she was low key in her energy levels and she just looked like she needed to spend the rest of her life being loved.
When she came home, it took a couple of days for her to get acclimated. She also had her own ideas about routines and habits and insisted that I’d adhere to that. It was a matter of trade offs- I taught her how to play with toys and she preferred her meals at a certain time, or close to the time she’d been accustomed to. We worked on firming and toning her muscles and she’d give me a kiss and a tail wag because she loved everything we did together.
These are pictures of her really enjoying herself:
I truly enjoyed having Cherie in my life. It seems she was perfect for what I needed- or perhaps Bandit and Cookies sent me to help her? She displayed a few behavioral quirks that only Bandit or Cookies did, which I found very comforting, as if they were letting me know through her that I need to remember to live for the moment as if they were still there to help me do that.
When Cherie was ready to cross over to the Rainbow Bridge, she was sad that she had to leave me, yet she was appreciative for all the time we had together, even if it was only three calendar years. To her, it may have been a total dream come true- to be loved for who she is, and nothing more.
For that I am truly honored and humbled for having her in my life.
This is a Blog Paws Blog Hop:
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
“They [dogs] never talk about themselves but listen to you while you talk about yourself, and keep up an appearance of being interested in the conversation. ”
― Jerome K. Jerome
Miss CookiesNCream and The Bandit
loved their conversations with me.
Woofs for Wordless Wednesday!
A Spottyed View 