Nine Years On

We've just passed the nine year anniversary of Ruby going to the Rainbow Bridge. How have the years flown by so fast?

The first year without Ruby was a dark and sad time. She filled my heart and life, and without her beautiful, exuberant red being coloring my every day, the world became a flat, monochrome affair. Although her spirit presence was tangible in the house and my healing studio, and I sometimes met her in the dream space, I was sorely missing a physical dog in my life. 

Around six months after Ruby's sudden departure, in the depths of winter, I found myself one morning looking at a dog on the Golden Bone Rescue Facebook page that was apparently in need of a foster home. Without thinking too much about it, I applied. New Year's Day found me waiting the arrival of Chester Good Dog, a scrawny, scruffy, bandaged and stapled, mange-ridden dog who had recently been retrieved from a dump site where he'd been living near the Navajo Reservation. He was about 5 months old, had been attacked by other dogs while living rough, and had somehow been shot across the back of the neck (the vet couldn't determine if it was an arrow or a bullet that caused the open wound). And then there was the fear aggression, which meant he couldn't hear or see a dog (even himself in a mirror), without losing it.

Well, he was only a foster, I thought. I would keep him safe and love him all I could until it was time for him to go to the family who had already agreed to adopt him.

Fast forward eight and half years.

Yes, he's still with me! Now using the name Rajah (chosen by himself), the fear aggression (mostly) faded into distant memory and many adventures under our belts. In the early days with Rajah, I had wanted to continue this blog and give voice to my new boy. But he is a very different dog to Ruby - stoic, more serious , very wise and not much given to frivolity or getting into scrapes. Like Ruby, he has been a "healing assistant" in my bodywork practice, and also like Ruby, he is adored and fawned over by adults and children wherever we go. But unlike Ruby, he could take it or leave it (unless there's a treat involved), and he has a stubborn streak that makes Ruby's strong-willed indiscretions seem quite endearing.

Although Rajah and I have been on our journey these years without keeping a record in blog form, I have recently started writing about our conversations as I learn animal communication. You can find our chats here.

Is It Ever Just A Dog?

By Rubydad

Grief is a bleak, colorless world. The only thing that feels alive in it is our heartbreak, stirred awake each time we forget that Ruby is gone and pick up the leash, add fresh meat to the shopping list, set aside a crumb on the plate, expect to find her waiting inside the front door, or wonder why we don’t hear her bark when Christie starts up across the street. It is hard to believe she is not just around the corner, somewhere out of sight, snoozing or stretching herself before coming to greet us.

Yet we are immeasurably grateful to have found deep comfort in the posts, emails, cards, flowers and visits from so many of you. Our Ruby had legions of admirers, in whom she seemed to bring out the best. She could look a stranger in the eye, wiggle her butt, do puppy paws and make that person feel like they were the most loved being on the planet. She transformed me from a lifelong cat lover into a doting, eyes-for-her-only daddy who now never even looks at a cat. Except to try to find one for her, something she always wanted.

And here’s the thing. As special as she was, the reason she appealed to hundreds of clients, friends, fellow dog persons, Facebook and blog followers and thousands of people she met only briefly on a trail, at the creek, outside a supermarket or elsewhere, is that she spoke a common language we all understand.

All dogs speak it. To say that Ruby was not unique in no way diminishes my appreciation of her. The beauty of sunrise will always come second for me to the light in her eyes.

Every dog has a different job to do with its own people. Some excel at affection, some at guarding, some at intuiting the needs of others, some at clowning or problem-solving or a host of other skills. Every one allows us to love it as best we are able, and considers that sufficient. Each in his or her own way shares the same precious gifts that Ruby gave us.

We know all of you have experienced the amazing and profound wonder that we have: a dog has loved you unconditionally. A dog has seen you for who you really are, not in the least distracted by your personality, your mood, or however imperfectly you may sometimes behave.

The thousand daily sweetnesses we held so dear – look at the way she cocks her ear; see how she’s lying with one paw underneath her; look how cute she stands when she’s eating; ohhhh, she’s rolling on her ba-ack; her soft head on our laps, her deep contentment in the tent; the feel of her downy cheeks; the soothing, all-is-right-with-the-world sigh as she stretched out peacefully for a delicious nap – these and hundreds more we know you understand too. Even that irresistibly perfect spot to kiss her on her third eye…

Friends have said so many kind, insightful things to ease our journey. They “got” Ruby because she got them, and because their own dog or dogs get them too. As one friend said the other day, the bond we share with our dogs is every bit a beautiful love affair. We never forget, we never completely get over it, and always, we remember those precious moments.

Letter to Ruby

We have had close to 200 messages, emails, cards and comments this past week from people sharing their sadness over Ruby's passing. Many have shared their own Ruby stories and I have been touched by each and every one of them. For now I am posting just one, from my dear friend Serena. She was Ruby's sitter when I went away for work last year, and joined us in many massage sessions. I think Ruby recognized in Serena a kindred spirit.



Dear Ruby,

Thank you for sharing your love and beautiful energy with all of us who were fortunate enough to know you. You are profoundly missed and deeply adored in our hearts!

I keep thinking of some of my favorite memories of you. I met you in 2003 (two houses ago for you). I felt a bond with you from that moment! A kindred spirit connection and a mutual protection or guidance. We shared many massage experiences. I loved how you said hello to me! I loved how you looked at your mom and dad so adoringly and respectful and with much admiration and strong spiritual love. I love how you treated each client with open paws and hospitality. I remember your breath during massages and the energy you gave. And you smell sooooo good!

Some of my other favorite memories with you were, one night when we were hanging out (September 2010) at your house and a praying mantis landed on your forehead near your third eye. It was so funny and cool and sweet!!! I laugh out loud thinking of it! Your dad saw too. Your mom was in California doing a workshop. I'm so grateful too for our last day together at Chavez when I looked up during meditation in the sun and you were so still in meditation too. It was a beautiful, very still moment that I will always cherish.

I loved walks with you in the morning. You had such a relaxed yet alert strut that I just loved to watch. I love how you embraced and received love. You taught me a lot, I hope you know! You were a very strong, gorgeous, kind, brilliant, funny and loving being. I'm so grateful and honored to have been in your life! I know you had such a blessed, amazing life with your mom and dad and all your friends. Congratulations on living a full, adventurous and fun, beautiful life!

You are so loved and missed.

Bless you Ruby baby, with love from my heart to yours. You are such a lady.

Peace be with you.

-Serena

Off To A New Adventure

Ruby's Mum here. Our sweet red rock adventure girl left us yesterday for adventures in pastures new. It came out of the blue and was very quick, leaving us shocked, but grateful there was no long, drawn out suffering, and that we were both there with her. We think it was a heart attack.

Ruby left the way she lived, with no dilly dallying. The day before she had an acupuncture session, visited the staff of OfficeMax, then spent an hour fishing at the creek. She was the liveliest we've seen her in the water for a while.

She slept outside with me that night, and slept in for a little in the morning, both of us enjoying the cool morning breeze, until Dad came to take her for a walk at Long Canyon. In her usual way, she made friends with some Japanese girls walking the same path, and when she was ready, told Dad it was time to come home for breakfast. A couple of hours later, we heard her scream. She struggled for two breaths, and was gone.

Ruby touched more lives than any dog I've had. Just a couple of days ago I was walking with her in our neighborhood, when someone in a car that Ruby seemed to recognize, stopped to say hello. They of course greeted Ruby, not me, but as if she were a person. "Hello Ruby, how are you? I haven't seen you in a long time. You're looking good."

I had no idea who this person was or where they might have met Ruby. This happened on other occasions too, to the point that we thought maybe Ruby was leading a parallel life and meeting these people without us. The strangest one happened when we were on holiday in California a few years ago. Some people stopped us in the street and greeted Ruby by name. To this day, we have no recollection of meeting them anywhere before.

Emails and Facebook notes have been flooding in, and we are so very touched by the depth of feeling people have for our girl. She has been my constant companion and workmate for almost 11 years. Today was my first day giving a massage without her. I sorely missed her trotting out to the gate and giving the client their first greeting. This was clearly her job and she never liked to miss a session. Once the greeting part was done, and she had led the person to the studio, she would take her place on the kitchen floor and stay there until a few minutes before the end. She didn't like me running over time, and would let me know when she thought I should be done by getting up and stretching, and shaking her collar so the tags jingled.

Many a time I would reenter the room when the session was over and find the client down on the floor with Ruby, having a heart to heart. People connected with her on a very deep level. One of my friends, who never met Ruby in person, sums it up perfectly.

"All people and all creatures have their intrinsic worth, but some people, and especially some dogs have a special luminosity. I think Ruby Red girl was one of these special beings. And she seemed to have chosen you to communicate her love to the world and other human beings. I will miss your wonderful stories about her."

There are a few stories yet untold, and when the rawness of it all has subdued, I'll share them here, along with some more pictures.

With boyfriends, Robert and Gabe, in California. The boys were training to be service dogs. Only Robert made the grade and lost his battle with cancer just a few months ago. Gabe still lives with his trainer parents. Ruby learned a lot in that week.

Wordless Wednesday - Gone To The Other Shore

Wordless Wednesday - Thunder Shirt

Punching Moop. (Get it?!)

Remember this face? Yeah, I know, it's a bit smudged up, but that's my best friend, Monty. He's just been for a visit and got into some trouble, as usual.

Monty spends a LOT of time looking for things to eat. Usually it's just fallers off the kitchen floor, juniper berries from down by the library or the odd pizza crust from the take out on the corner.

But a couple of days ago he ate something SO BAD, Mum yelled at him in her really cross voice. The one that makes me think I must have done something wrong.

Can you guess what it was that he ate? Poop! And it wasn't just any regular poop lying at the side of the road. This was seriously smelly, wet, crawling with maggots poop that he found near the creek. Yuck!

The more Mum yelled, the faster he tried to scarf it all down. Everyone thought he would have a very upset tummy, but that boy's got a digestive system like no one else. Apart from one enormously loud and ripe belch, he just carried on with his day as usual.

He'll be back next month for an even longer stay. Wonder what he'll get up to next time?

A Walk Down Memory Lane

As many of you know, I'm an Arizona-gal, born and bred (Mum says she's not so sure about the bred part). For most of my life, I've lived with my mum in Sedona, but the first few months of my life were spent in various places, one of which was this fine establishment.

It's changed a bit since I was an inmate resident, in fact, I hardly recognized the place when Mum took me there last month to drop off a donation. I thought we were arriving at a 5-star resort, not the unappealing concrete cell block where I was incarcerated briefly vacationed.

There's lawn out front, where the dogs get to play, and they even have their very own private dog park, where each dog gets to go and run off leash. Still, as nice as it is, I'm very happy where I landed, and, as much as I would really like my own lawn, I can live without it.

I wouldn't want to give up my trips to the creek and car ride adventures. And being an only dog definitely has its advantages when it comes to handing out the treats. Yup, life is pretty darn good!

Happiness is Sunday at the Creek

I had the most wonderful day with my Mum and Dad today. After breakfast at my favorite restaurant, where everyone knows my name, we took a trip to my favorite creek.

Everywhere is very green.

And the crayfish are back, bigger than ever.

They hide out under the rocks and along the edges.

But they're no match for me. I can catch them by the hundreds!

Shaking the water out of my ears.

It's just deep enough for me here. I can swim if I want.

Or I can keep my feet on the bottom.

The grass is so long now, it was easy to slope off without Mum and Dad seeing me. At least, I thought they couldn't see me. Sometimes I think Mum has eyes in the back of her head!

Sometimes it's nice to just sit on the bank and watch the fishes with Dad.

The staples are gone!

Before I forget, I'm supposed to tell you that the results of my biopsy were good - just a fibrous cyst. All okay there, but it seems my body needs a lump in that place because I grew another one almost immediately. We couldn't tell if it was just the staples bunching up my head, but when I had them out last week, there it was, a brand new lump to replace the old one. Oh well. I seem to be a bit of a lumpy girl.

Mum says we're not going to worry about it, unless it starts bothering me, or gets bigger. To help my head heal, I've been getting some energy medicine treatments from Mum. See the special staircase I've got to help me up onto the treatment table? Actually, Dad was supposed to be getting a treatment here. I was just keeping the table warm for him.


Mum had a friend visiting this week, so we had to take her to one of our favorite places at the creek. She takes a lot of photos, so for once, there are some with me and Mum in them together.

Can you spot what is in this photo above?

These are my paw prints when I got out of the water.

Before I was allowed in the water, Mum called me over and gave me "the talk".

It's hard to listen when you just want to get to the water, but I did my best.

I had to promise I wasn't going to go near any stinky critters, and that I would come back as soon as Mum called me.

I managed to keep one of the promises. We didn't have to call Dad to come and take me home in his car.

Hip Hop Pup

I've been doing some research for my new career as a dog rapper. I haven't been able to master some of the beat box techniques yet, but I've got some kick ass lyrics. (Oops, Mum says I shouldn't say words like that, but I think you've got to sound tough if you're going to be a rapper dog). It looks like there isn't a whole lot of competition.

Thanks for the suggestions for my rapper name. Here's what we have so far:

• Lil RuAZ, suggested by Khyra 
• Tenacious Barks-a-lot, suggested by JackDaddy
• SpareChange, suggested by KT and Lady 

Anyone else want to suggest one? When I'm rich and famous, I'll give you a mention in my credits.

Mini-break in the country

 

Mum's going away this weekend, to the place where Jack and the Tall Guy live. She's going to be learning some super special techniques to make peoples' bad backs and hurting necks go away.

So I'm a bit blue today. But later on, Aunty Julie is coming over to take me for a walk and give me my dinner, and then I'm going on my own mini vacation to Cornville! Okay, so I don't think Cornville is as fancy as the place my mum's going, but I'll get to stay with my friends Babushka and Toma, and their mum and dad. And they have grass! 

Dad is going to be working, but he promised to come and get me on Sunday. I hope he doesn't forget.

Want To See My New Piercing?

Do you like my new eyebrow piercing?

There are just a couple of staples in there at the moment, but Mum says I can have a stud.* I'm also going to have a new rapper name. Got any suggestions?

*Note from Mum: I said nothing of the sort. Ruby had a tiny lump removed that is currently being biopsied. The staples aren't the most endearing look, but will have to stay for 14 days.

Oops, I Did It Again!

I had a special day out with Mum and Dad this week. They took me to one of the creeks we hadn't been to yet this year. It's a bit of a drive, and a bit of a hike, too, to get to the good place. We took a picnic and found the perfect spot under the trees, where the creek is wide and clear and the swimming good.

We had the place to ourselves, and knowing how much Mum and Dad like to be on their own, I thought I'd help out and make sure no one else came down to our spot. What a great idea, I hear you say, What a thoughtful pup! Ruby's Mum and Dad must be so proud of her! You see, I knew you'd all agree with me.

Well, here's what happened. I discovered Mr Stinky was taking a nap in the bushes, so I went down there and roused him out of his slumbers. Quick as a flash, he turned his butt on me and shared some of that amazing perfume - the stuff peoples don't seem to like at all. I rushed back over to Mum and Dad to tell them about it and show them what a thoughtful girl I am. You're with me on this one, right? I know! It was a pure stroke of genius and they would shower me with love and affection.

 Good and stinky. That should do the trick!

Now, brace yourselves for what happened next, because there was suddenly a very strange turn of events. Were they happy? No! Were they grateful? Not one bit! In fact, everything went downhill from here.There was a lot of yelling. Mum and Dad ran as far away from me as they could. They actually RAN AWAY from me! Next, they ordered me into the creek and made me stay there for hours and hours (note from Mum - it was only about 30 minutes). There was no petting, no heaping of praise upon me, and worst of all, absolutely no treats. We didn't even eat the picnic!

 

Uh, no one wants to come and play with me?

Instead of staying at our wonderful picnic spot, we all marched back to the car, where Mum proceeded to wrap me in the picnic blanket and told me I wasn't to move for the whole ride home. The rest of the day is a blur of being hosed down and washed with various concoctions until Dad finally declared that I was okay to come back in the house.

I don't know. You try to be a good pup with your peoples' best interests at heart and look what happens. Think I'm gonna move to Texas!

Spot the Difference

I know a few of you out there don't like to see these sorts of pictures, but I need some help. Can someone please tell me, what is the difference between this...

And this?

Yes, this bright, stripey one is pretty scary isn't it?

That first one is a snake that was in our courtyard a few weeks ago, and Mum was very clear that I shouldn't go anywhere near it. So when I spotted this stripey one in the massage room, no less, just as Mum was about to start working on a client, I thought I'd better tell her about it. She obviously hadn't seen it, even though it was sitting RIGHT NEAR HER FEET!

I tiptoed over, but jumped back when it looked like it was going to strike. (Just a couple of days ago we saw a rattlesnake on one of our walks. I nearly jumped out of my fur when it rattled at me, and Mum said it was ready to strike, so I had to go on my leash and stay well clear of it.) This stripey one wasn't making a sound, but it sure did look shifty lying there all coiled up. And I'm pretty sure I saw it move. You'd have been scared too, right?

Well, it turns out that this sort of snake isn't one to be scared of at all. It's called a skipping snake and is the kind you can swing around and jump over. That's the only sort of snake you can do that with, so Mum says you shouldn't try this at home with just any snake.

So, how do you tell the difference? I've no idea, so be safe, peoples and puppies. I say, if it looks like a snake, stay away!

And a good time was had by all

Boy, does that vacation seem a long time ago! Like it wasn't even this summer. I don't know why we couldn't stay there all the time in those nice, cool mountains. Now I'm confined to the house most of the day as it's HOT and STICKY here. I don't like it one bit.

You're probably wondering if we chased off that coyote yet. Well, it's still around, but hasn't been too bothersome recently, which is good, because the Fish and Game people have been a bit busy with another visitor.

This guy doesn't live around here anymore.

But let's get back to my vacation.

Of course, I got to ride in the front seat most of the way. It's my favorite place to ride, even though my travel bed is in the back, I just go there if I'm really tired. That's usually on the way home. Actually, I think Mum should ride in the back because she takes up more than her fair share of the front seat when she insists on riding in it with me.

Some of the time I do have to be in the navigator's seat, helping Dad by keeping my eye keenly on the road, and my paws pointing the way. You never know when I'm going to have to leap to action and take over the driving.

This is where we camped, near the lake. I had my very own special camping table. Yes, it's true. The keen-eyed among you may have noticed this is in fact my ramp for getting in the back of the car. Apparently, it weighs quite a lot, and took up some of the luggage space Mum and Dad had reserved for (in my opinion), frivolous and unnecessary items. A second cooler for wine and beer, for example - see what I mean? Who needs that? Anyway, it meant it had to serve double duty.

I could have run for miles on the mountain. This is the place with the biggest meadow in the world where we went last year. You can't even see how big it is in this picture. I think it would take me a whole day to run from one end to the other, but I didn't get a chance to find out. Mum insisted on keeping me close by, because we saw a bear on one of our trips up the mountain road. I've never seen a bear, but I smell them a lot when we're up there.

Although there are lots of lakes where we go camping, no one is allowed to swim in them. They're for fishing only. I love to fish, so it seems a bit unfair. To make up for not getting any water time, on the way home, we spent a whole day at the creek with the blue/green water. I swam and swam, and fished and fished, and finally got so tired, I had to find a shady spot on the beach to recover.

Now, that's what I call a vacation!

Bringing in the Big Guns

If you've been reading about my adventures for a while, you may remember me mentioning a certain coyote I've had a few tangles with from time to time. Well, it's been almost 2 years now and Mum and Dad have decided it's time to bring in the Big Guns.

I think it had something to do with a couple of incidents recently. A few nights ago, the coyote dared to come to the front terrace and take me by surprise while I was having an early evening snooze. It actually tried to come up over the railings, but I was having none of it and a ferocious battle ensued through the bars. Dad came running out to see the coyote on its hind legs, reaching up to the railing. I haven't been allowed out on the terrace at night on my own since then, and that's a sad state of affairs, as you can imagine. I can't defend my territory, and I know that coyote has just been swanning through the bushes and leaving its scent all along the side of the house.

Case in point, two mornings later, Mum and I went on our early morning leash walk. She lets me decide which way to go, so we hurried to the library, because I could smell the coyote had left some fresh scent in that direction. Little did Mum know quite how fresh the scent was. I was just catching up to the latest smells and realizing we were getting nice and close when we heard the familiar "yip, yip, yip" and the coyote popped out from behind a bush. Talk about mad! I was beside myself and took the opportunity to use my nifty slipping out of the collar trick. That always gets Mum yelling at the top of her lungs and chasing after me.

We got a pretty good run through the field of foxtails and under the barbed wire fence to the little park at the bottom of our street. I was just about to nab it when our neighbor came out holding her little dog and the coyote managed to slip away. My Mum has always taught me good manners, and I thought it would be rude to rush on past without stopping to say hello. Besides, the neighbor lady was using that sweet, high-pitched voice to talk to me and I can never resist. Plus, I wanted to get a closer look at the little dog tucked under her arm. So I changed tack and set my butt to wiggling, edging up to them for some pettings, and possibly a yummy treat.

Mum, as usual, was lagging far behind and had to sit down when she reached us. She was saying something about me giving her a heart attack.

Dad had been out in the car looking for us, because he'd also heard the yip, yip, yipping from up at the house. He got on the phone to Animal Control, who decided this was a job for Fish and Game. That sounds like a whole lot of fun to me. Fishing is one of my favorite pastimes, and I'm up for a good game any time. This game is called Operation Intercept and Intimidate. They've assigned me a personal assistant called Lee, and together we're going to show this coyote what's what. He knows all the sneaky coyote tricks, so I think we're in with a good chance for success.

I'll tell you more about it when I write again. We're off on a camping trip for a while as Mum and Dad said we all need a good rest.

By the way, what do you think of my recent pedicure? It's supposed to keep the foxtails out of my toes.

Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you about Dirty Harry. I'm so glad he showed up for this photo, so Mum and Dad can stop blaming me for eating the bird eggs. No time to explain now. I need to oversee the packing and make sure they're taking enough treats for me. See you when we get back.

A Visit from Major Brushing and Colonel Groom

Mum says I look like a scruff bag and need to have a Major Brushing. Dad suggested we have Colonel Groom come along too. Have they been to visit at your house? Mum said we need to have them here because of all the foxtails and filaree seeds that have suddenly appeared. They keep getting stuck between my toes, and even though I try to pick them out, my fur just ends up a gooey mess from all the licking and I have to ask Mum to help. She said I look like a scruff bag and will need to have the fur trimmed back on my paws. I hope it will help. Those foxtails are nasty.

I thought you'd all like to know that Juanita is doing very well and is back to her old self after her scary adventure and losing her dad. Chasing rabbits is a whole lot of fun, so I think she's happy now. She's living with an animal doctor, so must be well taken care of.

I got a couple of awards a while ago, so I think it's time to post them (that's what Mum said, anyway).

Joanne Fox from A Zigzag Road in the UK gave me this Beautiful Blogger Award:

and the Sunshine Award came  from Wrigley:

I know there are all sorts of rules about these awards and what we're supposed to do with them, but we're not much for following rules and instructions in our family. I'm really happy that you gave them to me, though.

Now I'd better go and get ready for my important visitors.