Rainbow Bridge
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... Author Unknown.
The hounds and I have an agreement - I promise to keep routines as normal as possible, to love and cherish the babies, and they promise to not leave me at the Holidays - a very difficult time for me for many reasons. Bodie tried to leave just before the Holidays - we were faster. Bodie is doing great. And I thought we would actually make it thru the Holiday - and be on the other side. Not to be. Amos. Well I remember the night he arrived from Golden Gate - a warm breeze blowing, late at night when Kevin & Danielle pulled up with the cantakerous Amos and his cookies and food. Amos told everyone off, and then he let me pick him up. He let me pet him, and he walked onto the ranch and started humping every young male dog he could find. Amos. Stealer of Pizza and surveyor of Hamburgers. Originally he chose the bathroom, however after some time he decided the bathroom was not as much fun as a crate and he and Morey grumbled at each ot her - two old guys arguing about crate space. Both would grumble until one fell over and rested and thus the winner would claim the preferred crate. Morey went to the bridge earlier this year - and Amos remained. No longer enjoying a crate without argument - typical Amos. And so he chose the runs. A different run every day, a different bed mate every evening. Today - although a bit chilly with wind, we had blue skies and the hounds enjoyed Christmas - last night Jim & Sherrie and Denise all participated in the annual toy giving - and special cookies baked by Bob Hohman (Delivered by Dodson along with the incredible volunteer spread) and Sherrie Strachan. Amos had more than his share of yummy home baked cookies and snuggled up with a stuffed monkey. Today - he enjoyed the ranch. Throughout the day he was in various sun bathing spots and grumbled at me if I made an attempt to pet him during bleach down. He chose his run tonight - and ate his dinner. Just as it was close down, he left to give the rainbow bridge a try out. I suppose there may be grumbling tonight as Amos finds his old buddy Morey and they once again grumble for bed space. So typical of Amos to choose Christmas Night for his passing. I cried and cuddled his earthly remains - the only time outside of bath day that he allowed a cuddle. Bath Days he tolerated it but you always knew if given a choice he'd rather tell me off. I guess he had the ultimate tell off. He left us on Christmas. I am breaking tradition with Amos. I shall bury him forever to live at Daphneyland - at the tree line, where his gaze never faltered. We shall miss you Chunky Monkey. Many tears Dawn of the West Basset Rescue Network (Barni) at Daphneyland
Columbo unfortunately passed away on December 7, 2009 after a rapid deterioration in his symptoms. An inoperable brain tumor is suspected to be the cause. RIP Columbo (and many thanks to the Bart-Johnsons who gave him such loving care in his last months). Columbo was an owner-surrender who we took on knowing that he had something neurological going on. Sandi Bart-Johnson and her family stepped up to be his foster home, and it soon became obvious that he was going to stay a forever foster as his seizures had never been treated medically before. Columbo was loved with all their heart, and came to the Novato Waddle in July, where he was much admired by all. He seemed very happy that day, and we are so glad that he got to share a waddle with us. We know that Columbo had the best of care over the last year and knew soft, warm beds and good food, and a family who cared for him through all the trauma of seizures that were getting worse and worse. He had recently lost the use of his legs and it was obvious that he was not going to get better. Even then, it was a very hard decision to have to let him journey on to the Rainbow Bridge, where I am sure he is now leading the pack in a joyous romp to the buffet! RIP sweet Columbo.
It is with much sadness that we report today, December 7, 2009, the loss of Otis. Only out of the shelter for just over a week, Otis had been surrendered with his best friend, Beatrice the rough collie. A wonderful organization called Muttville, who specialize in seniors of all breeds, took them as a pair as we didn't want to split them up. The shelter reported that they stressed if they were separated. We and Norcal Collie Rescue crosslisted the dogs for Muttville. After a few days with Sherri at Muttville, she reported that they really had settled well and didn't appear to be all that bonded after all. Otis went off to his very own foster home in the loving care of Kate. After a couple of days, she let us know just how wonderful Otis was. This is what she wrote at 9pm last night (December 6): Hi, I am Otis's foster mom for Muttville. Update is that Otis is a charmer! and VERY active...he will EASILY calm down and hang out but he is a mover and a shaker on walks and ate up the city life (even revolving doors) in downtown SF. He is a special dog and I hope you will update his activity level. He outwalks me and I'm a 6 foot runner. He is curious and connected as well. Kate Otis was fine last night. Enjoyed a very energetic and tail-wagging walk (I can just picture him, enjoying the good life!). He went to bed and was fine overnight. He ate this morning, just enough not to sound any alarms, and definitely not too much. His foster mom said goodbye and went off to work. An hour later her room mate reported that Otis was out on the deck, very still and apparently he had passed away. We suspect bloat, but Muttville will have a necropsy performed to see if we can find out what on earth happened. What we do know is that Otis died in a loving environment and had soft, warm blankets, and good food in his belly. We may not have ever met him, but Otis will hold a very dear place in the GGBR heart.
I saw Ralph listed on Petfinder in May, 2007. He was in the Susanville shelter and his ad described him as a senior basset with tumors and open sores. How could I resist? Who else was going to adopt such a dog? Someone had found Ralph on a local hiking trail where his previous owner had probably abandoned him. His sores were infested with maggots. A wonderful volunteer from the Susanville shelter drove Ralph down to Stockton in the cab of her pickup truck. We picked Ralph up in Stockton and drove him home with all the windows rolled down and the air conditioning on, so we could endure the odor. Ralph had two baseball-sized, black, ulcerated tumors on his shoulder and one large tumor on his belly. In addition to the tumors, Ralph also tested high positive for heartworm. Ralph had surgery to neuter him and remove his tumors. When he had recovered from the surgery, he underwent treatment for heartworm. Ralph was a quiet guy. All he wanted was a comfortable place to sleep, so restricting his activity during his heartworm treatment was no problem at all. He was very low energy and he rarely showed emotion or any kind—no expressions of joy and no expressions of displeasure. We thought that restoring Ralph’s health would bring out his personality, but even after two years, Ralph remained devoid of personality and emotion. Only once did we ever see emotion from Ralph. We had been away for a week and had left the dogs in the care of a house sitter. When Ralph saw that we were home, he raced around and around the deck at least 20 times in excitement! We were astonished, (and worried that he was going to give himself a heart attack)! We never before or since saw such an expression of emotion from him. Ralph hated going for walks and got sick on car trips. Sometimes, it would take days for him to recover from the trip between Redwood City and Mt Aukum. He was clueless about housebreaking and dribbled urine, so he wore a belly band in the house to keep his bed from smelling like urine. He was a picky eater and could not be tempted by anything unfamiliar, regardless of how delicious--no cat food, cheese, home cooked meat or gourmet delights for him. If he was going to eat, it was going to be his usual kibble and/or canned food (beef only—he didn’t care for chicken or turkey). It was that, or nothing, as far as he was concerned. Sometimes he would eat the kibble and ignore the canned food. Sometimes he would eat the canned food and ignore the kibble. He was like a little kid who wanted nothing but peanut butter and jelly—only we never knew if he was going to eat just the “peanut butter”, or just the “jelly”. He could detect a pill hidden in any food, and would refuse any morsel if there was a pill in it, no matter how well it was disguised. If a pill was hidden in his food dish, he would reject his entire dinner. He wouldn’t touch the chewable Heartgard, regardless of how it was presented or how small the pieces it was broken into. In Ralph’s last year, he suffered recurring bouts of pneumonia during which he would stop eating. Blood test results were normal. We suspect that perhaps the previous longstanding heartworm infection had done irreparable damage to his heart and lungs. For a while, courses of antibiotics would restore him to eating again, but the improvement was only temporary. He became very thin and after months of watching him get progressively weaker, we finally set the poor fellow free on September 8, 2009. Ralph, the dog with no emotion and no joy: we hope he is finally happy. Fran and Mark Madden Kirby and Gus September 9, 2009
