Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

[Rubytuesday]

I always laugh when I think about the travel blogger who asked me to write a story about Chris. She wanted to be sure there was no pressure, that she wanted it to be a "positive" experience. I could write half a book about Chris at the drop of a hat and it's always a pleasant experience even when I miss him so much that it feels like my heart will shred.

Natalie, I always enjoy your writing and wish I had been around to know Chris. I have of course read his story, but was hoping you could share some of his stories of not just diabetes, but of his dogness and your relationship.

I tried to find his thread and went to "threads started by k9diabetes"......

I so enjoy the stories of Ali, Alfie, and Decker (am I missing someone) and would just like to get to know Chris better.

I think you have many demands on your time, but if sometime you felt like it and had the time I would certainly enjoy it.

To others....Marylea, Buddingartist, Nibbles Mommy, Diane Roehm, Brooke, and now I am sure I am leaving others out....please share some of your favorite stories. I see your posts, but never had the honor of meeting your beloved animals. I find I get to know people better in how they speak of their animals.

Tara

[Brooke]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

Tara, I don't have much time but wanted to leave you a quick note saying that I saw this at least since no one else has responded yet. You're too sweet, thank you for thinking of all of us who have lost our babies. And for always being so helpful to everyone here. I know you are greatly appreciated. I absolutely agree, I love hearing everyone's stories, which is the main reason I'm still sticking around. I desperately wish I could have been able to use this forum for its intended use, but my sweet Rivie just couldn't hang on longer I guess I'd love to share more stories anyway when I've got some more time, and LOVE to hear everyone else's as well. Thanks again Tara!

[Abby's Mom]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

Tara,

I'll be the first.... even though I still have my Abby... thought I would share a funny story of her when she was younger.

So, one grey morning I decided to paint the front door a Burgandy color, and I placed my paint in a roller pan, and went to town. Abby is outside, just sniffing around, enjoying all the smells and sounds of spring.

All of a sudden, a clap of Thunder.... and you guessed it... she ran right through the front, placing every single paw in my paint. Of course, I did what everyone one do, and that is chase her, to catch her and I am yelling to stop. Of course she is in a panic at this time. I start to see this red ring starting to occur around the dining room table, as this is where I am chasing her...... next onto the Living room.... around the coffee table. Another red ring starts to appear.

Finally caught her, put her in the basement (which was unfinished), so I could attend to her, and the carpet before things dried. All was good, but never will I paint with the threat of a storm, and never have paint on the floor.

Barb

[Patty]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

LOL, I can just picture it...with the paw prints everywhere and white dog with burgandy feet

[Rubytuesday]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

Oh thanks Barb for that story. What a hoot. EGADS that must have been a mess.

I get the clear sense that Abby keeps you hopping.

Brooke, I can't wait to hear Rivie story's. I looked through your album once. He and the way you speak of him tugged at me.

Tara

[jenny]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

Ah Barb, thats so funny, I can just imagine the mess too!

[Judi]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

Barb you are so calm, too bad there is no video!

[Abby's Mom]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

Barb you are so calm, too bad there is no video!

Oh Judi... I was too busy chasing her for a video. What a fiasco it was.

[diggydog]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

I have a couple of stories that I wanted to share - with 4 dogs in the house I have more than enough stories to go around.

By far the best story I have according to my friends is the "stick incident"

My schnauzer girl Skye loves to carry sticks when out on a walk. None of the other dogs tend to bother her when she has a stick so I was surprised one day when Alfie and Roxy (my friends Boxer) were really having a go at Skye to try and get her stick off her.
To avoid things getting totally out of hand I decided just to take the stick off Skye so they wouldn't fight over it. Skye is generally good and will give things up on command and she gave me her stick but was a little reluctant about it.
As soon as I had the stick in my hand I knew something was wrong. The stick felt really strange. That's when I really looked at it to discover that it was no ordinary stick - it was a whole Dear's leg complete with fur, hoof. bone and blood. To make matters worse I couldn't throw the leg away as the dogs would just go after if. I had to carry the leg right round our walk for an hour until I could convince a VERY sweet old man to help me dispose of the leg and avoid the dogs just picking it up again!


This is where I walk the dogs

http://www.falkirkcommunitytrust.org...allendar-park/

The woodland behind the house is huge and thats where I love to walk the dogs.
Alfie used to be off lead all the time before he was diagnosed with diabetes. Being a terrier he would chase anything and occasionally he would get a little lost but he knew where my car was parked and if he did get lost he would make his way to the car.
He was off on a dear hunt one day and got himself lost so I headed back to the car to pick him up. I got a phone call when I was on my way to the car from a lady that works in Callendar House to say that they had Alfie in the house as they found him sitting by my car and I could pick him up at the house. Me and Skye wandered down to the house to find Alfie sitting on the front steps tucking into a bowl of milk and a slice of cake that the girls who work in the house had given him. You can just imagine how happy the wee dude was
Everyday for the next week we would be half way round the woodland walk when Alfie would do a runner and get "lost"
The girls that work in the house told me they would see him skipping down the path and either pawing at the door to get in or waiting until someone opened the door so he could slip in. He would sit and wait on his milk and cake then paw the door to get back out and come and find me.
I had to cut him off tho and asked them not to feed him the next time he shows up.

[jenny]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

Allison, Thanks for those Alfie stories. Callender Park and house look amazing! What a great place to walk your pack. But the deer leg...Yuk Yuk. You were so brave to carry it with you, I am so squeamish about things like that. Give me the heebie Jeebies just thinking about it.

Love that Alfie was dropping in to the big house for an afternoon high tea! What a boy.

[Patty]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

LOL, I do remember the "stick" story Allison.

What a beautiful place Callendar park is to walk the dogs! Alfie really scored on getting "lost." He cracks me up pawing at the door. They have such great memories, don't they?!

[Abby's Mom]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

Allison, what a wonderful place to walk....

I just love Alfie stories... He has such a personality, doesn't he? Their noses certainly tend to pick up the worse things.... You are a brave soul to have kept holding that deer leg.... Jenny.. I agree. Yuk, yuk, yuk.

[momofdecker]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

Barb, your paint paw print story is too funny! Abby looks like such a lady it's hard to imagine her running through the house leaving a trail behind her. I'm glad you were able to get things cleaned and that nobody was any worse for the wear.

Allison, I thought you were going to say the 'stick' was a snake. Not sure which would be worse, a deer leg or a snake - yuck either way! I hope you and Alfie and company are all doing well. Look forward to more of his entertaining stories.

[MaryLea]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

Tara,

We've been trying to come up with the most memorable stories about Ruffles. We had her for almost 14 years, so there are several available! We came up with three: two are hilarious and the third, well it might have only been funny to us (or someone who has a similar memory). Ruffles would eat almost anything! The stories center around that trait since it was so predominant.

1) We had taken in an orphan turquoise parakeet at one time. Charlie was friendly, pretty and nice to have around. His one besetting sin was that he liked to play with the latch on his cage and get out to fly around the room. More than once we had to quickly turn off the ceiling fan to avoid having a headless flier. One day when Leah came home from work, Charlie was not in his cage. As she looked around the room, she saw feathers on the floor and noticed Ruffles was paying alot of attention to the couch which was along one wall of the room. Sure enough, Charlie had taken refuge from Ruffles behind the couch--and had more than a few feathers missing to show for his bravery. He also had diarrhea for two days!

2) We had a college student living with us for several years also. (OK, so we rescue both two- and four-legged people and animals!) Anyway, she talked us into letting her bring her cat. She kept Scherzo's food in her bedroom and the litter box in her bathroom. We had to keep a baby gate in her doorway so Scherzo could come and go but Ruffles could not get the cat food. One weekend, she purchased an automatically refilling feeder (like a slot machine where you hit the jackpot every single time) so that she could load food in the tube and Scherzo could eat during the daytime. One day when Leah came home, she reached down to pick up Ruffles and was greeted with a yelp. Ruffles' tummy was extremely distended! (You saw this coming, right?) The baby gate was not securely fastened and Ruffles got into the bedroom and ate several pounds of catfood. A quick call to the vet assured us that she would probably be OK but her stools would look funny for a couple of days. Just monitor her, we were told, and let us know if anything unusual surfaces. We put her on a forced fast and all was OK, believe or not.

3) One evening Leah prepared speghetti and meat sauce for supper. She put some in a bowl and set it on the coffee table to watch TV while she ate. At one point she needed to go to the back of the house for something and so she pushed the table away from the couch. When she returned, Ruffles was stretched between them--back feet on the couch and front feet on the table--with her head inside the bowl, eating as fast as she could. When Leah got the bowl away from her, she had plenty of evidence on her muzzle. She could not plead innocence--too late for that.

Then there was the time she tried to play with a skunk in the back yard. That was only funny after the fact! Leah had to give her multiple baths in tomato sauce.

Enough!

Mary

[Patty]

Re: Hoping for stories of Chris and others who have gone before

Oh Mary, what stories . Rufflies certainly knew how to find a good meal!