so anybody here have a pet they miss ?

[frenchy]

there was a lady who had a small daughter who was sad cause the family dog died .. so when she asked her mom where their dog went the mom told her this tale about the rainbow bridge .. she said when dogs get old they go over the rainbow bridge where they wait for you to be rejoined with them .. and while they're there they are young and healthy again just playing and happy till your arrival .. and whenever a person comes over the rainbow bridge all the dogs heads lookup to see who it is so they can greet their master when they arrive .. yeah i know it sounds corny .. but its a comforting thought .. so anyone have any pics of former pets they'd like to remember ?? i'll go first .. this is my ralphie dog at about 8 weeks old .. you never think that at some point they'll get old enough to die from old age when they look that young and healthy ..   

[frenchy]

ralphie grew to be one of the most handsome specimens of the breed that you ever saw .. 85 pounds of raw muscle and energy .. and then just as suddenly as he was here .. his time had come and he had to go .. he was the first dog i ever had and got to see him grow from a puppy of this tiny ball of fur to this behemoth that looked like a cloud that decended upon the land .. he was as white as snow .. 

[frenchy]

and ralphie had a buddy .. a siberian husky named bandit .. a good watchdog.. but a terrible guardog .. whats the difference you ask ?? well a guardog will guard your house from intruders and any kind of threat .. protect your family .. a watchdog on the otherhand will watch an intruder steal your guitar or tv set or stereo .. and just watch .. oh is that tv heavy ?? gee maybe you should get some help or somethin .. i'm just gonna lie here and watch you .. don't mind me ..go on about your business .. here's ralphie and bandit taken one day on my back deck when i lived in cape coral .. somethin about the light when the sun is just startin to go down in florida that turns everything a nice yellow to orange hue and i caught that in this pic ..

 

[frenchy]

and of course bandit was just too cool for school .. shades of james dean .. 

[ProblemAgain]

i have tons of pictures of the family...have to dig thru the hard drives for the folders...here's a few but there are folders and folders...(oh oh do we sound like comparing pictures of the kids?)

i did  dog rescue stuff for a lot of years....and did a lot of keeshonds...these are two of the ones who stayed...arliss and libby...

[Dell]

No animals in a long time. Between the 8 year old and the amount we travel, I can't see being able to give any pet the time and care they need. Maybe when Amber is older or we slow down...It could happen.

[Mickchick]

I had a Ralphie, too, Frenchy.  Here he is (on the left) with Honey, when they were campaigning for one of my former boss' re-election.  My late husband Tommy used to say that campaign had gone to the dogs ... 

Ralphie loved dressing up, but Honey always looked like the poster dog for the anti-cruelty to dogs campaign.  It was beneath her dignity, I guess!  Both were rescues, but Honey was probably pure chow, while Ralphie was a chow-samoyed mix.  He had that great Sammy smile!  Miss them both.  Ralphie wandered into the yard when he was about 1.5 years old and lived to be 14.  Found Honey on the side of the road dying of parvo virus when she was about 6 months old.  She lived to be 15.  Ralphie came to live with us a year after Honey did. 

Before Ralphie and Honey, my ex-husband and I had two Samoyeds, Puff and Bear.  Puff was a rescue, and we got him when he was about 1, Bear came to us as an 8 week old puppy and he was MY boy.  I had to have him put down when he was 10 - really, really bad hip dysplasia.  He was in incredible pain and the drugs didn't help, so I did what I had to do for my best buddy.  Still remember them well, too. 

Then there were a couple of cats - Kitty Kat was a companion to Puff and Bear and they tried to comfort her when she was dying even though Bear accidentally "broke" one of her kittens playing with it by shaking it just a little too hard once ...

[Marianne Kiendl]

This is Biscuit the Boxer, one of the sweetest dogs ever who replaced the Yorkshire Terrier who was a beast and only liked my husband and we had the teeth marks to prove it.  Biscuit was the biggest coward ever and also a 'watchdog', especially any food that was around.  We had to send him over the Rainbow Bridge at 13 years of age last October.  We dug his ashes into our family cemetary plot. Now we have downsized and adopted a puppymill rescue little Maltese.

[Karin M Fichtner]

I have lost more than my share of pals; there will be a pack waiting to greet me over that bridge. One was poisoned by a neighbor while on a lead in the back yard. My St. Bernard died at only 5 years of age, due to cancer of the lymph glands. My rescue dog was paralyzed by a huge rock that was heaved over my fence by my crazy neighbor. We had to put her down. ( Karma took care of that neighbor....in spades!) I had a 6month old puppy murdered by a pit bull who had broken loose and came into my yard, dragging 8 ft of chain with him. My poor puppy tried to defend me, and was slaughtered before my eyes. Now, my Rocky is 12 years old, and arthritis has caused him some difficulties. I give him a low dose aspirin every day. My vet tried Cosequin for him, but it didn't do anything for him. I know my time with him is limited....and therefore very precious. I had to leave him with my son when I came up here to Illinois, and I miss him terribly. I have already told my family that I may not be home for the Holidays next year, because I may need to stay with him. He's been through Hell and high water with me......I can't let him walk that last mile without me. And it would devastate me if he were to die while I was away. I got him from the pound when he was only 6 weeks old, and they call him a rescue dog. But, in truth, it is Rocky who rescued me. He has given me the only unconditional love I've ever known.

[Lifesighs]

I miss Bentley our 165 lb Newfoundland who died of Addison's disease at 7 years old, I miss Lulu and Jasmine they were smaller Newfoundlands and died at 11 and 13.

I miss Margaux who I could write many stories about, she was a "perfect" dog. We found out she was a mix of Standard Poodle and Doberman from an Elvis Impersonator who recognized her and told us her previous life story. We thought she was a Wolfhound.

I miss Saturday Ann a terrier who was a survivor and my companion for a long time.

Pictures later, I'll have to send them over from another computer.

[blithe spirit]

The last pets I had were two golden retrievers...sisters. I miss them a lot. I feel good that I was able to keep them together when I found a home for them. I got sick and wasn't able to take care of them.

I've been thinking about getting another dog...maybe even two so they would have company for each other. I work so much...it worries me they might feel neglected.

[Karin M Fichtner]

That's actually a good idea, Blithe. My dog is so very bored and lonely when I am gone all day....which I am a lot lately, with the clubs I joined.

[ProblemAgain]

lola and her trophy dinosaur....