This post is in memory of a wonderful dog who lives in the Philippines. His mom (or keeper as Sweepy calls her) and our mom met online a few years ago. Since we call our Sweetpea, Sweepy as a nickname we followed both Sweepy's blog and his mom's. We are so grateful that we got to know Sweepy and his family.
Sweepy has gone to the Rainbow Bridge at age 12. (he would have been 13 on March 18). His mom Lui, is heart borken over this loss. Sweepy is the last of the orginal group of dogs - Hounds in Heaven - that she rescued and cared for. An era has ended even tho Lui has younger dogs and cats still with her.
Please do visit her blog and leave her words of comfort. I know that whenever I have lost one of my fur family, others who care have helped me so much in my grief. Lui has posted about her beloved Sweepy here -
Lui is in Heaven.
We would like to end this post with a this wonderful article. I have sent it to other friends when they have lost their dog. Thank you all for caring for your fur babies so much!
Fly free Sweepy - until we meet again!
Ernest Montague (of dogheirs.com) wrote this and says, "I
wrote this several years ago in memory of Bolo, a black and white Pit
Bull who would always go for a walk, right up to the day he died. He
might only get 15 feet before he stopped and looked at me and gave me
the look: 'I can't go any further. But don't you think for one minute
I'm done walking.'"
The experience of losing a dog is a universal one for every pet
parent. I hope Ernest's wise words help you, or someone you know, even
if just a little.
"Some of you, particularly those who
think they have recently lost a dog to 'death', don’t really understand
this. I’ve had no desire to explain, but won’t be around forever and
must.
Dogs never die. They don’t know how to. They get tired, and
very old, and their bones hurt. Of course they don’t die. If they did
they would not want to always go for a walk, even long after their old
bones say: 'No, no, not a good idea. Let's not go for a walk.' Nope,
dogs always want to go for a walk. They might get one step before their
aging tendons collapse them into a heap on the floor, but that's what
dogs are. They walk.
It’s not that they dislike your company. On
the contrary, a walk with you is all there is. Their boss, and the
cacaphonic symphony of odor that the world is. Cat poop, another dog’s
mark, a rotting chicken bone (exultation), and you. That’s what makes
their world perfect, and in a perfect world death has no place.
However,
dogs get very very sleepy. That’s the thing, you see. They don't teach
you that at the fancy university where they explain about quarks,
gluons, and Keynesian economics. They know so much they forget that dogs
never die. It’s a shame, really. Dogs have so much to offer and people
just talk a lot.
When you think your dog has died, it has just
fallen asleep in your heart. And by the way, it is wagging its tail
madly, you see, and that’s why your chest hurts so much and you cry all
the time. Who would not cry with a happy dog wagging its tail in their
chest. Ouch! Wap wap wap wap wap, that hurts. But they only wag when
they wake up. That’s when they say: 'Thanks Boss! Thanks for a warm
place to sleep and always next to your heart, the best place.'
When
they first fall asleep, they wake up all the time, and that’s why, of
course, you cry all the time. Wap, wap, wap. After a while they sleep
more. (remember, a dog while is not a human while. You take your dog for
walk, it’s a day full of adventure in an hour. Then you come home and
it's a week, well one of your days, but a week, really, before the dog
gets another walk. No WONDER they love walks.)
Anyway, like I was
saying, they fall asleep in your heart, and when they wake up, they wag
their tail. After a few dog years, they sleep for longer naps, and you
would too. They were a GOOD DOG all their life, and you both know it. It
gets tiring being a good dog all the time, particularly when you get
old and your bones hurt and you fall on your face and don’t want to go
outside to pee when it is raining but do anyway, because you are a good
dog. So understand, after they have been sleeping in your heart, they
will sleep longer and longer.
But don’t get fooled. They are not
'dead.' There’s no such thing, really. They are sleeping in your heart,
and they will wake up, usually when you’re not expecting it. It’s just
who they are.
I feel sorry for people who don’t have dogs sleeping in their heart. You’ve missed so much. Excuse me, I have to go cry now."
