Lucy (???-April 16, 2014)

Lucy’s birthday is a mystery. Like Cabrio, she was picked up as a stray. While the rescue estimated her to be around 3 years old, several vets estimated her age to be much older.

Lucy adapted well to life as an inside dog. Her sweet disposition endeared her to us from the beginning.

Sadly, she was with us for only five months. Without warning, she collapsed. Despite every effort to save her, the emergency animal clinic attributed her death to pancreatitis.

We will miss her sweet personality, the way she would jump around like a puppy, and the way she was content to lay at our feet and simply be near. Most of all, we will miss the way she would wait patiently at the side of our bed for one of us to stir. She would stand on her hind legs and place her head on the bed between her front paws to receive her first petting of the day.

Lucy joins Lassie, Bonnie, and Skipper at Rainbow Bridge. As she talks to them about the last five months, we hope she will say it was her very best five months.

Lucy on the day we adopted her

Bonnie (July 8, 2000-February 22, 2014)

Our attachment to Shelties began when we bought an 8-week old puppy for our 1st anniversary. We named her "Lassie," and she lived to age 13. The very day after her trip to Rainbow Bridge, a family in Georgia surrendered their 2 1/2 year old Shetland Sheepdog to the Georgia Sheltie Rescue. That dog was Bonnie, and within a week, she was ours.

The day we met Bonnie

Bonnie loved learning her tricks and showing them off at every opportunity. She loved her obedience classes and earned her Canine Good Citizen certification. As Skipper, Cabrio, and Lucy joined the household, Bonnie was in charge of teaching them the household routines. Most of all, she taught them she was the boss.

In late 2007, Bonnie was diagnosed with discospondylitis, beginning a slow decline in her ability to use her back legs. At one point, she could longer jump up on the bed. Later, she couldn't jump through her hoop. Going up and down the three steps from the deck to the backyard became difficult, and then impossible. For the last several months, walking from the carpet onto the hardwood resulted in a fall more often than not, as her weakened back legs would slip from under her.

No matter how many times Bonnie would fall, she would never complain. She would use her front legs to drag herself to the carpet, pull herself up, and swing her hind legs underneath her to regain her stance and try again. If we assisted, she was grateful. If she had to do it on her own, she was OK with that as well. Bonnie found her own way to make it all work.

Bonnie & Skipper at Christmas

A month ago, Bonnie was diagnosed with fibrosarcoma, a form of cancer, in her jaw. Eating, always her favorite activity, became more difficult. There comes a time when we have to say goodbye. Bonnie made her journey to Rainbow Bridge, where she joins Skipper and Lassie.


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. 

...when you fall, you don't complain, and you get right back up again. 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.

Bonnie and Skipper at the Georgia Sheltie Reunion

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.... 
Author unknown

Bonnie learned her tricks well, but she taught us a few as well. Along with the unconditional love for which dogs are noted, she taught, by example, that when you fall, you don't complain, and you get right back up again.

Cabrio, Bonnie, & Lucy taken on Feb. 22, 2014

Take Time to Save Time

If you want to "get organized," plan on spending a little extra time now. The time you save comes later. Maybe that's why so many people avoid getting organized. It's easier to leave things in disarray...right now anyway. But, we pay the price later. So many people are so hard pressed to simply get through the day, working a little harder now to make things easier later is not a concept they want to hear.

At this time of year, one small example comes to mind. Our Christmas decorations include the "Sheltie Tree," a metal tree on which we hang a collection of decorative Shetland Sheepdog ornaments. Each ornament fits into its own particular cutout in a Styrofoam container. Putting the ornaments on tree...now that was always a breeze. Taking them down and putting each ornament in the correct place in the Styrofoam holders, now that was a different story! I would spend for what seemed like an eternity turning and trying to fit an ornament into this hole or that until finally I got it right. I always dreaded that part of the process.

One year, I got smart. As I was taking the ornament out of their containers, I took the time to write the description of the ornament beside the spot where it would be returned. When Christmas was over and it was time to pack it all away, the job I had dreaded was a snap. The Sheltie holding Santa's list went here. The Sheltie tangled in the Christmas lights went there. The annual ornament for 2007 goes here and 2009 goes here.

When all was said and done, the Sheltie ornaments were back in their protective boxes in a fraction of the time I normally spent. The time I had spend on labeling had been more than recouped.

Every year when I take those Sheltie ornaments and look at the hand-written description of the ornaments, I smile, knowing that the time I spent on the front end several years ago now saves me time each and every year.

Welcome, Cabrio!

Almost one month ago, I posted a tribute to Skipper, our beloved Sheltie who died four months shy of his 14th birthday. A day later, one of my dearest friends from my college days sent me this:

One last word of farewell, Dear Master and Mistress. Whenever you visit my grave, say to yourselves with regret but also with happiness in your hearts at the remembrance of my long happy life with you: "Here lies one who loved us and whom we loved." No matter how deep my sleep I shall hear you, and not all the power of death can keep my spirit from wagging a grateful tail.
                                                                                        -Eugene O'Neill

I found that this message was part of a longer work. When the family dog, Blemie, was near death from old age, Eugene O'Neill wrote The Last Will and Testament of An Extremely Distinguished Dog to console his wife, Carlotta. The words are written as if they are coming from Blemie. You can read that beautiful piece of prose here.

The segment my friend sent to me serves to remind us of the memories of unconditional love our pets give to us. It was, however, another paragraph in this essay which spoke to how we should move into the future...

One last request I earnestly make. I have heard my Mistress say, "When Blemie dies we must never have another dog. I love him so much I could never love another one." Now I would ask her, for love of me, to have another. It would be a poor tribute to my memory never to have a dog again. What I would like to feel is that, having once had me in the family, now she cannot live without a dog!

It is with that spirit that we felt  the best way to honor Skipper was to provide a home for another homeless Sheltie, as we had done for Skipper years ago.

Davonia contacted rescue organizations and looked at pictures of almost 1,500 Shelties from around the country in need of homes. Out of all of them, one particular little dog caught her eye, one called "Cabrio." We don't know a great deal about Cabrio's background. He was picked up as a stray and rescued from animal control by the Bright Hope Animal Rescue located in northeast Tennessee. It was there he acquired his name and where he would spend the next couple of months awaiting someone to choose him and give him a "forever home." He has that home now.

Cabrio is estimated to be about 3 years old. He was shaved when taken in by the rescue due to the condition of his coat, so we are looking forward to watching his full coat come in over the next year.

I heard it said once that the worst things are never the last things. As much as we know in our heads that pets' lives are temporary, it is difficult for our hearts to accept it. Having another furry friend to teach and love, as we had done with Skipper, and with Lassie before him, and as we are doing with our other Sheltie Bonnie Lass, is one more reason to look to the future as a friend.

Don't Forget the Old Ones...For Dog Lovers Everywhere

A very good friend sent me this thought. In a blog devoted to using our time to maximize the results we get, I think this message is particularly appropriate.

The years go so very fast and before you know it that romping pup is old and gray muzzled and they have sat by our sides while we read, watch TV, and work on our computers. Every so often they come and lay their heads in our laps, toss our elbow with their muzzle or gaze into our eyes and wait for us to notice them.

Take a moment now to remember what they mean to you..

I am your dog, and I have a little something I'd like to whisper in your ear. I know that you humans lead busy lives. Some have to work, some have children to raise. It always seems like you are running here and running there, often much too fast, often never noticing the truly grand things in life.

Look down at me now, while you sit there at your computer. See the way my dark brown eyes look at yours? They are slightly cloudy now. That comes with age. The gray hairs are beginning to ring my soft muzzle.

You smile at me; I see love in your eyes. What do you see in mine?

Do you see a spirit? A soul inside, who loves you as no other could in the world? A spirit that would forgive all trespasses of prior wrong doing for just a simple moment of your time? That is all I ask. To slow down, if even for a few minutes, to be with me.

So many times you have been saddened by the words you read on that screen, of others of my kind, passing. Sometimes we die young and oh so quickly, sometimes so suddenly it wrenches your heart out of your throat. Sometimes, we age so slowly before your eyes that you may not even seem to know until the very end, when we look at you with grizzled muzzles and cataract clouded eyes.

Still the love is always there, even when we must take that long sleep, to run free in a distant land. I may not be here tomorrow; I may not be here next week. Someday you will shed the water from your eyes, that humans have when deep grief fills their souls, and you will be angry at yourself that you did not have just "one more day" with me. Because I love you so, your sorrow touches my spirit and grieves me.

We have NOW, together. So come, sit down here next to me on the floor, and look deep into my eyes. What do you see? If you look hard and deep enough we will talk, you and I, heart to heart.

Come to me not as "alpha" or as "trainer" or even "Mom or Dad," come to me as a living soul and stroke my fur and let us look deep into one another's eyes and talk. I may tell you something about the fun of chasing a tennis ball, or I may tell you something profound about myself, or even life in general.

You decided to have me in your life because you wanted a soul to share such things. Here I am. I am a dog, but I am alive. I feel emotion, I feel physical senses, and I can revel in the differences of our spirits and souls.

I do not think of you as a "Dog on two feet" -- I know what you are and who you are.

You are human, in all your quirkiness, and I love you still.

Now, come sit with me, on the floor. Enter my world, and let time slow down if only for 15 minutes. Look deep into my eyes, and whisper into my ears.

Speak with your heart, with your joy, and I will know your true self.

We may not have tomorrow, but we do have today, and life is oh so very short.

So please--come sit with me now and let us share these precious moments we have together.

- Love, on behalf of canines everywhere.

Your Dog




















In memory of Lassie Marie March 21, 1990-January 19, 2003

In celebration of Bonnie Lass (8 years old) and Skipper (12 years old)

Let it Snow!

Just proof that it really does snow down here in Alabama. Even thought it only happens once every 10 years and lasts for about an hour and a half, none-the-less, it's snow! Our two Shelties got their first experience with this new phenomenon this past weekend.