In loving memory of pets now gone.

[Birdgun Quail, SASS #63663]

We all have precious memories of beloved pets that are now waiting for us at Rainbow Bridge.

 

Both our loving Lizzie and good-time Jake are now gone.  But, oh, the joys they brought to our life.

 

Let's share some fond photos of those animals that still hold a place in our hearts.

 

Here's a picture of my wife giving little Jake the "Rules of the House" while poor Lizzie's look says, "The boy is too stupid to understand."

 

Jake and me.  "Enough of this!  There's a bird over there!!!"

 

Lizzie on one of our pheasant hunts to South Dakota.  I made Lizzie sit for this photo and she set, but she refused to look at that silly stuffed toy pheasant. 

My buddies were laughing.  Poor Lizzie.  Just too humiliating!!

 

Thankful for the memories.

 

 

.

 

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Got a bunch wait'n for me at Rainbow Bridge.

Screen is real blurry now..............

OLG

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

Rose. 

 

[Calico Mary]

I just spent the last 20 minutes looking for pictures of JR (Russian Blue) and Duff (Scottish Fold)...but I can't find any.....      I know I used to have some, but where they went to I dunno.....

[Calamity Kris]

Here are a few of ours.

 

 

Bonnie

 

 

 

Booker

 

 

 

Bonnie and Buckley

 

 

 

Tigger and Pongo

 

 

Now my screen is blurry too.

 

[Alpo]

2 year old Tippy explaining to new puppy Red who's boss.

Red got bigger, but Tippy was still boss.

Big Brown Dog utilizing her natural camouflage.

 

[Michigan Slim]

Our Maggie. She was a test animal in a vet school. Ended her life with a big fenced yard and a family.

 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

2 hours ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

Got a bunch wait'n for me at Rainbow Bridge.

Screen is real blurry now..............

OLG

Yeah.  Me too.

[Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L]

Toby:

 

Rufus:

 

They were great companions, loved hiking and camping. They were my daughter's protectors when she was growing up. They stayed with me after my divorce and gave me a purpose. Both passed away in the early 90's. Some day I will get another Boston. 

[Eyesa Horg]

The blurrs will delay my looking for pix. Maybe later.

[Sixgun Sheridan]

I've got a whole pet store full of critters waiting for me. Three hamsters, one cockatiel and five Siamese cats. Loved 'em all.

[Tascosa, SASS# 24838]

That first pic is Kelsey and Charlie (barn cat) and the second pic is red, both gone over the rainbow bridge. I have had two other collies pas one at 16 years (lady) and one at 14 years ( melody)

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

Dolly the Pug became unable to walk, see or hear earlier this year and we had to release her from her pain.  The chocolate poodle is Bullet.  He's 15 now, and is nearly blind, seems deaf, and is slowly getting weaker.  I don't expect him to make it through the end of the year.  They yellow tabby in the background went outside one day a couple of years ago and never returned.  We are convinced either a snake or a coyote got him (coyote is my bet).  

 

I miss them both, and all my other gone on ahead pets.  I grieve daily about Bullet getting weaker, knowing what's coming.  

 

But they all had good lives with us, and they gave us much joy and love.  I'd do it again.

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

There were so many. However, my only dog, Teeder, and my diabetic fighter (as in fought the good fight to live), Obie, will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

My little buddy, my companion of 16 years, Bullet the wonder Poodle had a cerebral episode last night that the vet described as the doggie equivalent of a stroke.  So, just after midnight, I gave authorization and asked that he be given freedom from his torment.   The picture below is from when he was about 4 months old.  

 

First time since 1986 I've been without a dog in my care.  I'm hurting quite a bit right now, and could use a prayer or two.  

[Calico Mary]

So sorry Lawman....I know how bad that hurts....but Bullet (cutie-pie) and all the others are just over the Rainbow Bridge, you'll see them again someday....

[Pat Riot]

I just can’t bring myself to pick out photos. 

[Blackwater 53393]

This is Harley at about three months old.  He already had an "attitude" that stayed with him until the day he crossed over!!  He was imprinted on Schoolmarm and was her "protector" for fourteen and a half years, taking on ALL comers!  I traveled a lot back then and he was trained in home protection so that when I was gone, the house and family were absolutely no man's land.

 

Hatfield was at his grandparents' and Schoolmarm and I had taken a two day trip on the motorcycle.  Upon our return, we discovered a window screen torn out on the front of the house.  It was mid-afternoon and not a thing in the neighborhood was moving, ANYWHERE!  Apparently, someone had ventured too deeply into the yard and Harley had gone out the window after them. At the time, his mate, Domino, and one of their offspring that we kept, Traveller, were his "pack" and they had the entire neighborhood "treed"!

 

Our next-door neighbor told us that the dogs had roamed the neighborhood for a couple of hours and anyone who ventured out would go straight to their car and leave quickly or look out and then go right back in.  Everybody knew Harley and if he was out of his yard, they knew he was just another dog, but none of 'em were sure enough to challenge him. We all laughed about that for many years! The day the dog treed the neighborhood!

 

EDIT:

 

I just remembered another "Attitude" moment from ol' Harley. Well, actually a whole evening of attitude.  Harley rode with us over to Sonic for ice cream.  It was one of those things that he demanded to be included in. He was suffering from heart failure and was on Lasix for it, but his indomitable spirit demanded that he be loaded into Ol' Green and get to go!!  The carhops ALL would come out to see Harley eat his ice cream. We'd get him a small cup of plain vanilla.  When we returned to the house, he tottered up the stairs and took his place on the end of the couch while I went out and grilled a couple of steaks.  He, of course, accepted his tithe of steak portions from both of our plates as well as taters and other veggies I'd grilled.

 

Schoolmarm decided to take one of her late afternoon/early evening baths and in preparation, poured herself a large and generous mug of coffee with an even more generous addition of Bailey's, which she set on an end table next to the bed while she prepared her bath.  Harley climbed on the bed, eased over to the end table and proceeded to consume most of the beverage just as Schoolmarm returned to retrieve it!!  THIS EXPLAINS WHY MOST OF OUR FURRY FRIENDS HAVE NAMES ENDING IN DAMMIT!!!  He just looked at her like, "You expected anything less?!?"

 

My buddy had a mild heart attack that night. Not his first. He passed peacefully later that evening, sleeping in his accustomed place between Schoolmarm 'n' me.

[Dutch Wheeler]

After 13+ years of unconditional love, we lost our Buddy & Buster in 2018.

 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I don't think I'll have to wait until I cross that bridge.

 

Peanut and  Tippy will hear me coming and bolt across to meet me.  The other dogs were all more patient.

 

Mine averaged 16 1/2 years with one being taken by cancer at 12 and one being poisoned at 13.

[Cactus Jack Calder]

 

This is Bruce with my Dad. Bruce was about a year old when I was born. He raised me as his pup once I could crawl.  We were inseparable until I was 12. Bruce had a stroke and crossed over the bridge. I look forward to seeing him and my Dad again some day.

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

Jack,

 

My only ever dog was a Smooth Collie. Collies are the best, sweetest dogs ever.

 

Allie

[Blackwater 53393]

I was thinking about this thread last night and another wonderful canine pet came to mind!!  Since that moment, he has wandered in and out of my thoughts all day!

 

I introduced y'all to Harley earlier. He was our first Dalmatian.  He was a VERY bright, intelligent dog and he lived with us for over fourteen years. His mate was Domino, a beautifully spotted female that we rescued.  Harley was pedigreed and had champion blood lines, but since Dommy was a rescue, we couldn't claim pedigrees on their offspring.  They had one litter of a dozen gorgeous pups that all found forever homes,................except for one!!

 

We named him Traveller, (two Ls like Robert E. Lee's favorite steed) because before his eyes opened, he would crawl out of the dog bed and off down the hall.  He was the last pup to go to a new home, but he had separation issues and although the folks loved him, he damaged their house, (a rental) and they asked to return him.  Schoolmarm couldn't and wouldn't say no.

 

Traveller was a handsome dog. Great conformation, plenty of spots, brown eyes, and he had perfect hearing. But along with the separation issues that he finally got over, he was, (I use this term only because in his case there isn't another that will suffice) Traveller was a bit retarded. The levels of his disability would likely fit under the umbrella of autism in some way, but other quirks and the inability to learn certain things or function on certain levels wouldn't fit in that pigeon hole either. He wouldn't have survived in the wild and likely would not have ever found a home in normal circumstances.  It took him two years and lots of practice with me and with Schoolmarm just to learn "sit"!

 

Traveller was a wonderful dog!  He was more imprinted on Schoolmarm than even his father was!  He was clean and sweet and once the separation anxiety issues were dealt with he became a great pet.  He learned most of the home defense duties that Harley had been taught just by watching his dad. I say most because he never learned any of the boundaries involved.  He treed my next door neighbor in his own yard a time or two and scared the HELL out of several of my biker buddies who had failed to call ahead before riding up!!

 

He had a couple of nicknames. Butthead was the one most often used!!  There were times when that was all you could say about him.  His social shortcomings were mostly comical, if annoying at times.  He LIKED women and didn't have ANY grasp of being discreet or gentlemanly about it. Fortunately he wasn't pushy or blatantly demonstrative about it!  He knew deep down in his soul that the world revolved directly around him!  There were a lot of times when he was just a BUTTHEAD!!

 

He was "The Burrito Bandit"!!  The first time he pilfered a bite of someones meal uninvited was at the age of eight months or so.  Schoolmarm had made a big batch of burrito and had doled them out and then sat down to enjoy one for herself.  She got one bite!!  We were talking and carrying on and she sat on the couch beside Butthead. She casually held her burrito in her right hand and after taking a bite, turned to say something to one of us, holding the food at about shoulder level. Traveler nonchalantly turned his head and took the entire portion from her and wolfed it down in one big bite!! He looked like a cormorant swallowing a fish!! She was so stunned that she just stared at him for a long moment. The rest of us wound up in the floor in raucous, convulsive laughter and he became forever The Burrito Bandit!

 

We had a good pantry and I'd often buy bulk quantities of items on discount. One afternoon, we were cooking some big meal that needed both of us to complete in a timely manner. The door to the pantry was left open.  Traveller nosed his way into the closet and ate parts of four or five large raw potatoes!!  He would eat potatoes any way that he found them.  If you didn't cover them, he would climb onto any table, counter, or shelf to "get them 'taters!"  He once stood at the stove and ate a whole bowl of hand mashed, buttered potatoes!!  He became "Tater Gator"!

 

Traveller would howl!!  He had a wonderful, somewhat chilling, wolflike howl!!  It would start out in the bass register and climb octave after octave to a beautiful alto!  ANY siren would set him off, outside or on TV.  If you were in another part of the house, it would make the hair on the back of your neck and on your arms stand straight up, sending that wild chill down your spine.  I would sometimes hit a string on one of my guitars, just to hear him sing!  INCREDIBLE!!  Sometimes, he'd howl and you could see the joy in him. The "Yeah! My ancestors were wolves!!" look as he sounded off.

 

You always new when it was time to wake up!!  Traveller had this thing.  He'd hop up into the bed and get right up in your face when it was time to rise!  He was really smooth about it!! He'd stand over you until his patience reached it's very limited limit. Then he'd gently stick his cold, wet nose in your eye and give you a big ol' slurp!!  Talk about getting you out of bed and on your feet!!  That nose usually was around 25 degrees!!  "BUTTHEAD DAMMIT!!!"

 

We were listening to and kind of watching a Grateful Dead concert one evening while lounging around in the bed.  Those of you who went to Dead concerts and shows should remember the announcer for many of those shows who went buy the Nome de' Plum of WAVY GRAVY!!  Just as the TV announcer introduced ol' Wavy, Traveller jumped into the bed with us!!  After that, Schoolmarm would call him Wavy Gravy when she was talking to and fawning over him the way we all do when we're really enjoying the company of our furry friends or trying to get them to do something playful with us.

 

 He made Schoolmarm happy for many years, (about fourteen of 'em) and that's what I remember the most.  He's the only one of those pups that she cried about giving away and he ended up with her for the rest of his life!!  He passed one evening, peacefully, lying on the couch next to her.

 

This bit of description must stand in place of any pictures.  Back then we seldom took photographs and any of Traveller are not where I can pull them up.  Perhaps one day soon I'll find an old album or pic of this guy.  Maybe this is a better picture than any we might have!