Goodbye Suzie (A tearjerker)

4000 unborn babies are killed each day, over 40 million people that should be here are not, yet our society continues this irrational anthropomorphic with pets.

Don't get me wrong, I have 2 cats, 2 gerbils and an excellent pointing dog, but they are pets!!! They are incapable of Love, they just do what they do, no rhyme or reason.

geesh.

ping

I lost my two old dogs this year...

I think we are drawn to dogs because they are the uninhibited creatures we might be if we weren't certain we knew better.

They fight for honor at the first challenge, make love without moral restraint and they do not for all their instincts appear to foresee or dwell on their own death. Being such wonderfully uncomplicated beings, they need us to do their worrying.

There will be an occasional clash of intents if not of wills, and you must work this out without loss of intimacy.
~George Bird Evans, Troubles With Bird Dogs

Logan, two years old...

Few days before he died... purdy close to 16 years old.

Rest in Peace Logan, Nov 1988-March 25, 2003

Grieve not for me for it has been ordained, that my journey here be short.

MISSING OUR DOGS

Old Men miss many dogs.
They only live a dozen years,if that,
And by the time you are sixty, there are several
The names of which evoke remembering smiles.
You see them in your mind,heads cocked and seated.
You see them by your bed, or in the rain,
Or sleeping by the fire by nights
And always dying.

They are remembered like departed children
Though they gave vastly more than ever they took,
And finally you're seeing dogs that look like them.
They pass you in the street but never turn
Although it seems they should,their faces so familiar.
Old men miss many dogs.

When the body that lived at your single will,
When its whimper is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone—wherever it goes—for good,
You will discover how much you care,
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
(From Rudyard Kipling's "Power of the Dog")
Goodbye, ZULU, 1986-April 23,2003

Dog and Cat

Adam and Eve said, "Lord, when we were in the garden, you walked with us every day. Now we do not see you any more. We are lonesome here, and it is difficult for us to remember how much you love us."

And God said, "No problem! I will create a companion for you that will be with you forever and who will be a reflection of my love for you, so that you will love me even when you cannot see me. Regardless of how selfish or childish or unlovable you may be, this new companion will accept you as you are and will love you as I do, in spite of yourselves."

And God created a new animal to be a companion for Adam and Eve. And it was a good animal. And God was pleased. And the new animal was pleased to be with Adam and Eve and he wagged his tail. And Adam said, "Lord, I have already named all the animals in the Kingdom and I cannot think of a name for this new animal." And God said, "No problem. Because I have created this new animal to be a reflection of my love for you, his name will be a reflection of my own name, and you will call him DOG."

And dog lived with Adam and Eve and was a companion to them and loved them. And they were comforted. And God was pleased.

And dog was content and wagged his tail.

After a while, it came to pass that an angel came to the Lord and said, "Lord, Adam and Eve have become filled with pride. They strut and preen like peacocks and they believe they are worthy of adoration. Dog has indeed taught them that they are loved, but perhaps too well."

And God said, "No problem! I will create for them a companion who will be with them forever and who will see them as they are. The companion will remind them of their limitations, so they will know that they are not always worthy of adoration."

And God created CAT to be a companion to Adam and Eve.

And cat would not obey them. And when Adam and Eve gazed into cat's eyes, they were reminded that they were not the supreme beings.

And Adam and Eve learned humility.

And they were greatly improved.

And God was pleased.

And Dog was happy.

And Cat didn't give a #$%! one way or the other.

Great post. Thanks.

Tabitha Soren!

:~)

But cats, on the otherhand, go to .... oh, nevermind - this isn't worth the flames.

Had a black Cocker named Buddy. Best dog I ever knew. Had him for 7 years before he developed a blood illness and died within a week. Sat and stared into his eyes as the vet gave him the shot. Gave my face a lick as his eyes glazed over.
I'll never forget that one.

Cannot even read it all right now. . .will try again later. But must say, there simply is no connection with animals, like the spiritual bond that is held between man and his dog. . .

That is so sad. They died less than a month apart? Sounds sort of like an old married couple--one dies and then the other one passes on soon afterward. My heart goes out to you.

Thank you, they very much were like an old married couple, together 16 years. The little cocker mix was ailing long before Logan went suddenly, and she stopped living when he was gone.

Thank you, it was a rough spring. still have my young dog, and wondering who the next will be?

Here Hildy, enjoy.

My blue heeler, "Digger" is asleep at my feet, what a companion she has been, worlds smartest dog, and best human trainer ever.

tet.

A Tribute to the Dog
SENATOR VEST'S SPEECH TO THE JURY,
SEPTEMBER 23,1870
Gentlemen of the Jury: The best friend a man has in this world may turn against him and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to their faith. The money that a man has, he may lose. It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it the most. A man's reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its cloud upon our heads.

The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him and the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous is his dog.

"Gentlemen of the Jury, a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer, he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounters with the roughness of the world.

He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince.

When all other friends desert he remains. When riches take wing and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens.

If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his enemies,

and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchful-ness, faithful and true even to death."

Burden vs Hornsby 1869-70

When Senator George Graham Vest paid his famous tribute to the dog in the old Court House in Warrensburg, Mo., in 1870, he appealed to the hearts of dog lovers everywhere when he said: "The one absolutely unselfish friend that a man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog."

That Eulogy of Senator Vest won the case for Charles Burden whose favorite hound, Drum, was shot by a neighbor, Leonidas Hornsby, who had sworn to kill the first dog that came on his place after he had lost a number of sheep. Though Hornsby had hunted with Drum, and acknowledged him to be one of the best hunting dogs he had ever seen, he stubbornly insisted on carrying out his threat when one dark night a dog was found prowling in his yard. That dog was Old Drum.

Immediately Burden sued Hornsby for damages and the trial became one of the strangest in the history of this. section of the country. Each man was determined to win his case, and several appeals were made then Hornsby finally took it to the Supreme Court of Missouri. Burden, however, was awarded $50 damages for the loss of his favorite hunting dog, Drum. Vest's Eulogy to the dog, which he made in his final appeal to the jury, won the case and became a classic speech.

Through the direction of the Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce, and coordinated efforts of many dog lovers over the country, Old Drum was immortalized in a statue on the Johnson County Courthouse lawn, in Warrensburg, Missouri, September 23, 1958. Dog lovers all over the country responded quickly to the national announcement of the placing of this statue to Old Drum, who has become a kind of symbol of all dogs that people have loved.

When Senator Vest said: "Gentlemen of the jury, a man's dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty, in health and sickness," be touched a common bond of relationship in all dog lovers.

Vest's Memorial Ass'n., St. Louis, has already placed a plaque on the old Court House, scene of Vests famous Eulogy, recognizing it as an historic spot in the state. Since then, restoration of the Old Courthouse where the famous trial took place, has been underway and at present is open for visitations on summer weekends.

-Courtesy of The Warrensburg Chamber of Commerce

I once stopped at the "Coon dog graveyard" in Mississippi to pay my respects, it's locate off the main road in a patch of woods as it should be. There is a marble statue
of two hounds treeing a coon and then rows of markers, some
plain some fancy, some just wooden crosses with dog collars on them and nametags made from trap tags wired on, some were champions and recognized as such, some were just loved
and all were missed. My old hound Trooper didn't make it there but I know he is running with that pack and waiting for me to call him out.

Now when I deer hunt, I read "Where the Red Fern Grows" and my tears fall like rain on the dry leaves, tears for our dogs and for a lost way of life.

Bye, getting "misty" now.