Rembering Connor

Four years ago today, we sent our beloved beagle Connor to the Bridge. It's the most heartrending decision any animal lover has to make, even when it's obviously the right one.

We got him as a small puppy from a backyard breeder, not knowing any better, and yet he was a wonderful dog despite his long illnesses. He was courageous through all of them, and he never complained. Finally, at the end, he told us he was tired of living in a body that didn't work right, and he didn't have the strength to struggle on anymore.

So we let him go - after 11 years of being the biggest part of our hearts and lives, we let him go. And until Reilly - that part of our heart was just a big empty hole.

I still miss him everyday and there are pictures of him everywhere, memories that people share and his urn, next to my bed where I say goodnight every night.

My friends and I have lost too many of our heart dogs to illness and old age, too many to count - Daisy, Apollo, Roxy, Sweet Keesha, Mandy, Mitsy, Doc, Annie, Angel, Beckett, Journey, Chugach, Alex, Tux,Cory, Darcy, Maggie and Caitlin - just to name a few...

The only comfort that we have is that they are all at the Bridge together, watching over us and each other and keeping each of us company until we get there and can all be reuinited.

Connor November 1992-April 25, 2003

The last night of a nice long visit

We've been dogsitting for some very good friends of ours, that went on an extended vacation to Europe. Or I should say that REILLY and I have been dogsitting, as Doug has been out of town pretty much since Tucker got here.

Tucker's a very sweet beagle girl - most of you who read my blog are familiar with her, and it's just been a joy to have her around. Despite some initialy joggling of beds and space, she and Reilly have gotten along like gangbusters, even sleeping on the same bed at night. ( although I think that was more of Tucker's choice than Reilly's).

So tommorrow she leaves. It's been a peaceful visit - she and Reilly have played- sometimes too rough on his part, but she's never afraid to let him know. She's enjoyed a lot of outside time in our backyard and today she was our official mascot for our garage sale.

I left Reilly at home to play with his neighbor buddies in our backyard and I took Tucker down to the garage sale with me a few houses down. She was a queen and enjoyed getting LOTS and LOTS of pats from the kids that came to the sale with their parents.

Now they are both sacked out - it's been a long active day and they are ready for bed( as am I.)

I think Reilly will miss her very much, in some respects, but in others, he enjoys being my baby boy.

I know he'll be glad to see Doug tomorrow when he finally gets home and Tucker will be excited to see her mom and dad too.

Here's a picture of them out playing.

A new start with a new blog

I started a blog last year when I was kind of in a funk. I've decided to delete that blog and make this a place where I can share some good news and good stories that I have. When I last blogged, I was feeling a bit low. I was missing my beagle Connor who has been gone now for almost 4 years. I'd been in a funk, bc my loving husband hadn't been ready for a new dog.

Enter Reilly. Last June, we picked up this sweet looking dog at the local rescue day at PetSmart. Poor thing looked so sad in his crate - covered in Mange and very dejected. With much persuasion, Doug ( DH) let me take him home for a week's trial. Like he was ever going back to the rescue. Reilly was thin, had mange, and had been living in a cage at the rescue for at least 5 months. We took him home, fattened him up, got him healthy and now he is a loving member of our family. My husband, got over his trepidation at having a new animal in the house and he just adores him.

Tonight, we graduated from Dog School - basic obediance class. I was worried when we started the class, the teacher and I didn't mesh when it came to our training methods. But thanks to some very good friends, we stuck with it and used the class as a buffet. We took what we needed and left what we didn't like.

So now it's on to Intermediate, with a goal to eventually do agility.

Our lives have changed a lot since Reilly came into our lives, and all for the better. Don't get me wrong, I still miss Connor each and every day. But Reilly has filled the void and captured our hearts in his own way, not replacing Connor, but just taking over another piece of our lives and hearts.