14 April 2010 by admin.

Day 2 of our vacation was a much more solemn day.  Mom doesn’t talk about it much, but she had another reason for this special trip to Colorado.  She had promised my two legged dad that she would take him and his heart dog, Sassy, to a special place in Colorado for their final stop on earth.  Now I didn’t get to know my two legged dad very well because when I came home he was really pretty sick already.  Mom said he had cancer.  She tells me that it was because of my two legged dad that I came to live with her and the girls.  He had been in remission when he and mom decided they needed another bird dog and that was perfect timing because my two legged grandma was ready to have another litter (that was me and my brothers and sisters).  Mom had already put the deposit down on me and it was just weeks before I was born when my two legged dad found out that he had a very limited amount of time left.  Mom was ready to give me up when he told her in no uncertain terms that she was to go ahead and get me because she would need me.  I am sure glad he felt that way because I love my mom and sisters.  I can’t imagine not having them around.  Anyway, mom picked me up the end of July and I did everything I could to make her smile during the dark time.  Dad insisted I learn to swim, so we spent the last few weekends we had together with mom teaching me to swim and dad supervising from his chair on the beach area at Lake Travis’ Pace Bend Park.  I even wrote an earlier blog on my swimming lessons.  At the time, I was really too little to understand much, but I just knew I had to make mom laugh whenever I could.  She still calls me her happy boy to this day, and I am sure that is because of my early efforts. 

My two legged dad crossed the Rainbow Bridge in September 2008 when I was just a few months old, but it took almost a year before mom could make the final trip to scatter his ashes in a place he loved just about more than anywhere else on earth.  So, we rented a jeep and made the trek over Cinnamon and Engineer Passes.  I know why my mom calls it God’s country.  Here are some pictures so you can judge for yourself.

 And some pictures of the view from my dad’s resting place on Earth.  Pretty awesome isn’t it.

Cinnamon Pass:

 Engineer Pass (It was snowing when we got to Engineer Pass, but still magnificent):

 And for those folks wondering about my reference to the Rainbow Bridge, that is a place where all dogs go and someday get to meet up with their people.  My dad and Sassy met at the Rainbow Bridge on 10 September 2008. No one knows who wrote this poem, but my mom is partial to it and so was my dad.

The Rainbow Bridge

Author Unknown

 

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….

Love you dad and Sassy.

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13 April 2010 by admin.

Boy, it has been almost a year since I last posted.  I have been one busy boy, and my mom and sisters have been busy too.  After I got home from Bird Boot Camp we took it easy for a few months.  At least that is what mom called it.  We were actually trying to get Halo finished.  That means her Championship in the conformation ring.  We had a long dry summer of shows and mom said Halo was Reserve Queen again.  Finally, she did it in Canton, TX.  She finished.  That meant we really got to stay home for a while.  Here is a picture of Halo finished…I mean CH Madrone Heavenly Halo CD CGC.  Geesh, she gets mad if I forget any of the letters before or after her name.  I am proud of my sister, Halo, but don’t tell her I said that.  That’s my mom with Halo, and the judge is holding the ribbons.

I am also proud of my sister, Belle.  She is a certified therapy dog with Therapy Pet Pals of Texas.  She has been a therapy dog now for almost a year and goes every other week to the Austin State School to visit with the kids.  They love her there and call her Miss Belle.  Her favorite thing to do there is to entertain the kids by doing her tricks.  Their favorite is saying Howdy do to Miss Belle.  She then shakes there hand.  I don’t have any pictures of Belle and the kids because they have privacy rules and no one is allowed to take pictures with the kids. 

As for me, well where do I start?  I guess I should tell you first about my first vacation to Colorado hiking.  It was a real good time.  Belle and Halo got to go and mom invited our nephew, Louis, too.  We took the Shorthair Express (aka mom’s fifth wheel) for the trip and headed out to Lake City, CO.  It took us two days to get there, but once we were there…WOW.  We did three big hikes and a jeep trip over two passes. 

The first day there we took it easy.  We did a pretty flat 2 mile hike up William’s Creek to the beaver pond.  Mom said we needed to get acclimated since we had come from pretty much sea level to about 9000 feet.  Lake City is 8,666 feet and William’s Creek was a little above that.  It was a nice hike.  I was expecting to be tired, but as usual I had energy to spare.  Even Belle, the oldest, wasn’t tired. Here’s a picture of me and Belle waiting on Mom, Louis and Halo.  I was the one in front, and notice that I am not on a leash.  Mom said as long as I was reliable I could hike like a big boy.  I was about 1 and ½ years old when we went on vacation.

And this is a picture of Halo and our nephew, Louis.

And, of course, the Beaver Pond.

And a few of us playing in the pond.  Notice we found the mud too.  We even got to retrieve a stick for mom. The water was cold, but we didn’t care because we knew we would have a chance to run off the cold.

Notice who has the stick in this next picture. Yep, that’s me.  Belle and Halo were not happy with me because I kept beating them.

So we compromised and all brought the stick to mom.

And me on the way back down.  I was pretty tired when mom took this picture, but I was still in front of the girls.

Louis also took mom’s favorite picture on this hike.  She had been wanting a new one with me and the girls, so we agreed reluctantly to take a few minutes and take pictures.  This was the result.  It made mom happy, so it was worth it.

That was our first day on vacation, hiking in Colorado and I was pretty sure I was going to like the rest of the trip too. 

That’s if for now.  Tomorrow I will tell you about Cinnamon and Engineer pass and the jeep trip over the passes.  That was spectacular and it snowed on us too.

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