Old Dogs…. a Tribute……

Trevor Forever with Tigger……

“If you open your heart to let dogs in, you will eventually be blessed with a once in a lifetime chum. It isn’t that you love your others dogs any less, but rather you love this one special animal more. The bond between the two of you is stronger, the connection deeper, the understanding clearer.”
-Kristina Marshall from FOREVER FRIENDS

I have been blessed with three of them whom I have lost.. I have my fourth one now…..Trevor Forever is perhaps the most unusual and unlikely collie to be one of these dogs…. in a kennel in a barn till 5, he then ran free in a outside kennel with lots of friends till 7… then he came to me and adopted me….  I can;t imagine what he would’ve been if he could’ve been with us from the time of being a pup…… this picture speaks volumes of about an old dog that was the toughest guy in the kennel and yet loved everyone…….

Today, as I listened to the radio at work, the man on the radio talked about his old dog Victor who is going through what Trevor went through and how tough it is to watch and live through…… I stood there and wept for I know how he feels.   his love for Victor came through and I know how he feels…. he then read this…… I post it here for I loved it and well….. yeah I wept again…

Donna Swajeski wrote this….

TAKE JOY IN…..OLD DOGS

Their joys are simple. A soft bed. A scrap fallen from the table that the younger dogs missed. The memory of a treed squirrel. A stormless night.

White whiskered faces and legs crooked as question marks.

Old Dogs…their sweet Buddha bellies hang over crossed legs as they fall asleep in a coveted patch of sun. Dreaming of out-racing their shadows down long, shady lanes.

Once they danced by your side. The very definition of joy unleashed. A perfect poem caught in shining eyes and wagging tails. They have followed you faithfully for years. And would plunge into fires, untamed wildernesses, raging waters if you asked.

Now, they struggle to catch up. Their pace slow but their hearts still valiant.
Their cloudy eyes are starting to dim and go distant, tuning in to some invisible world. Just beyond your reach.

Don’t go you say, as you scratch the tender part between their ears. Stay longer. I can’t imagine a world without your fur pressed close to my cheek. There are still so many roads we haven’t explored.

And they look up at you with a wisdom that just slays you.

Their backs are bent, not from the weight of years, but from the invisible wings they are growing
That will soon take them to a place where once more they are warriors of speed
Drunk with the sights and scents of a thousand meadows.
Able to leap high enough to touch the wing of the tiniest butterfly.

A place where they will now wait for you to catch up.