One Last Goodbye

 Guess what?  I came to Rainbow Bridge yesterday.  It was a super dreary day and I wasn't feeling all that great.  In fact I hadn't been feeling all that great for a few weeks now.  Mom and Dad took me to the vet, but they said my liver was bleeding into my body and there wasn't anything more to do.  I was OK with it.  I've been around longer than Mom and Dad in dog years, so it was time to say goodbye.

But guess who is here with me?  The first pup who came racing up to greet me was little Kiela.  Keila and I have always had a special bond.  Whenever we get together, she comes running my way and we just play really gently.  Kiela is an older woman, you see.  She was 13 when I was 12.  But I hadn't seen her in so long now, and I didn't know where she had gone.  But she is here with me now!  It makes me very happy.

And you remember my cousin, Frosty.  We met in Los Angeles when I stayed at my Auntie Joyce's.  He's here with me, too.  

And all my old girlfriends, Molly and Mattie, and Lucy and Coco.  And my brothers I never met before, Brandy, Hercules and Caesar Rodney.  Everybody is here.  Even Mr. Tom who used to let me sleep in his bed with TomCat when I would stay with Mrs. Jan.  He remembered me!  Even after all these years.

There was a Border Collie named Caiden (don't know if I spelled his name right, but that's how it sounded to me) and his friend who was a black kittie called Hallo.  They told me they were my cousins, too.  I never met them before but they're up here waiting for my Auntie Joanie to come.

I know Mom and Dad will be a little sad for a while.  And Dad will be mad because he won't have me to take a nap with and to go bark at Mom when he needs her to find his stuff.  But they knew how much I was hurting, so they let me come here where I feel like a puppy again and get to play with all my old friends while I wait for them to come and get me forever.

So I hope I'll see you all sometime when we all get together up here over Rainbow Bridge.  (And if you don't know the story of Rainbow Bridge, you can watch it here:  The Legend of Rainbow Bridge.  Actually, even if you already know the story of Rainbow Bridge, you should watch the video because it will make you feel better.  

So I'm off to play now and sleep.  Please don't be sad.  It'll be just a little time and we'll all be together again.  

Love, G.

Busted!!!

So this is kind of an embarrassing story, but I'm going to tell it anyway.  See, a week or so ago, Mom and Dad went east to celebrate my great Aunt Angie's Birthday.   She lives in Delaware (and sometimes in Florida), but sometimes she comes to visit me, too.  She's very nice, so Happy Birthday, Aunt Angie!

Oh, where was I.  That was not the embarrassing part.  What happened was this.  Aaron was taking care of me.  He works a lot and one day, he was taking a nap.  We had just gone out for a walk.  Apparently, when he closed the front door, he didn't push it real tight.  So eventually, the door began to open.  I went in to tell Aaron, but he was fast asleep.  So I decided to do what I've always wanted to do.  I went out and ran down the street and around the corner to go see my friends Mr. Grant and Mrs. Geri.  I went right up to their gate and waited.

And I waited. And I waited some more.  After a while I decided, they might not be home.  So I went on to the green spot where sometimes Baxter and his mom come out and play with me.  But no one seemed to be home there either.  

Then I didn't know what to do.   So I just sat and waited.

Not too long later, a gal and her husband came out to the green spot from their house at the end of the street.  I didn't think I knew them, but she said, "Oh, I know that dog.  He lives up the street."  She checked my tags which have my address (but not my name, so I won't get easily kidnapped.)  So I went up to her and tried to tell her that she was right, and maybe it might be time for me to go home.  She walked with me to my house and she saw the open door.  Then she put me in and yelled, but no one answered.  Aaron must have gone to look for me, 'cuz he wasn't there.  He came back later and seemed rather puzzled as to how I got back in.   I pretended not to know.  (Hee, hee)

Anyway, the embarrassing part was when Mom and Dad came home.  We were walking by the green spot and the lady who lives at the end of the street came out and called to Mom and Dad.  She told them the whole story.  So I got busted.  I just smiled and pretended it must have been some other dog.  "Cuz I'm a perfect pooch!

Anyway, that was my fun adventure.  Mom said Hercules (her other dog) had done the exact same thing in St. Louis, except that he went across a busy highway before he found someone to take him home.  She says all her pups are just smart cookies who know how to get people to take good care of them.  I don't know any smart cookies, but I sure could use a tasty cookie just now!

So hope your adventures end up as happy as mine.

Love, G

Escaping the Heat

 So you thought I might have melted, did you?  Well, no.  We all escaped the Arizona heat for a while in California.  Well, Mom and Dad went on a cruise to the Baltics, but they left me in Los Angeles with Mrs. Lynne again.  When they finally came to get me, we all went to Dana Point for 6 cool weeks.  

I really like Dana Point because there is a boardwalk right across the parking lot and 200 feet above the ocean.  This is me in front of our condo with the ocean in the back.

I made Mom and Dad take me out there and we walked 4 or 5 times a day.  I met tons of other fun dogs (and some not so fun).  And a neighbor who had this lovely blue eyed white dog about my size and she really liked me.  Well, what's not to like?

I found a lovely spot in the condo for napping.

And we all sat out on the front porch and watched the sun set.

My Auntie Joyce and Uncle Ron came to visit for a couple of days.  

Dana Point wouldn't let me go on the beach, but Mom and Dad took me up the street to Aliso Beach where I could go after 6 pm.  We caught another fun sunset there, too and I jumped in the salty water before the waves tried to drown me.

But what I really liked, was we went out to dinner so many times and I went every time.  I even went to a fancy French restaurant to celebrate Mom and Dad's anniversary.

I do like going to California to get out of the heat.  We can't move there though, Mom says, because the traffic is terrible.  Which is why we didn't travel very far.  But that's OK, cuz we had everything we needed really close.

So now we're back in Scottsdale and it's still hot, but not 117 degrees hot, just 98 degrees.  It's getting better.  

Love, G

April is a good month!

 I know it's been a long time, but I really didn't have much to talk about until now.  April has been an exciting month.  

First of all, April is my birthday month.  It's also my Dad's birthday month.  So Mom took "her boys" to an old old inn in Paradise Valley.  It's called The Hermosa Inn.  It has lots and lots of flowers I've never smelled before.  

I went on a smelling spree!  

And then Dad and I got to nap in a big old bed.

And when we got back, one of our agaves grew a new tower in just a week.  Here is what it looked like after about 3 days.

And then it climbed right up to the roof and is developing flowers!  I can't believe it.

After that, my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Ron came to visit.  And just in time!  Because they got to see our neighborhood Wonder of the World.  It's a Giant Argentinian Cactus that blooms once a year to say, Spring is Here! and then the flowers wither on the cactus.  Aunt Joyce and Uncle Ron got here just in time to see it.

It was really good to see my Aunt and Uncle.  I hope they come back.  They said they would bring a new puppy the next time they come.  I hope so.  I'm a really good teacher to young puppies.

The last thing that happened, happened yesterday.  Mom and I went for a walk over on the west green spot.  It's pretty big.  And at the far end, we saw two young coyotes playing and jumping.  Then they headed off.  So we kept walking the way we always do.  But when we got to where they had been, they were still in a corner about a half a football field away from us.  Mom said, OK, Guinness, let's quietly leave this area.  But they saw me and I guess they thought I might be one of them.  One of them started to come over to us.  Mom started waving and shouting at him.  (She said she read that in a novel).  He stopped.  We started up again but so did he.  So she shouted louder.  Then I dragged Mom towards home and we didn't see them again.  Whew!  I think they just wanted to play, but maybe not?

So Happy Easter and I hope you are having as good a spring as I am!

Love, G