Bernie is looking forward to it – see for yourself.

Actually, as I look at the photo, that’s truer than I realized at first.  Based on the Newport Harbor shoreline in the background and the direction Bernie is looking, he was staring upcoast in the direction of Mill Valley at the moment this picture was taken.

As for Linda, she just wants to go to Mill Valley so all your dogs will distract Bernie for a while.  That way he’ll leave her alone and she can play with her ball, which is all she ever wants to do in the first place.

And fair warning, Mary – Bernie is going to go completely mental when he meets Cemil.  We have no idea why, but he’s absolutely obsessed with big dogs like mastiffs or great danes.  No matter what he’s doing at the time, as soon as he sees Cemil Bernie will drop everything and tear straight over to him, desperate to make friends.  Fortunately, Cemil is a good-natured dog who hopefully won’t mind a hyper puppy squirming around his legs and jumping up to lick his face. 

This is all assuming, of course, that Bernie lives long enough to come visit in the first place.  Last month the danger was from him eating things he shouldn’t; this month the danger is me trying to restrain myself from committing puppycide.  A couple of weeks ago, I got rid of my old Chevy Trailblazer and bought a new 2011 Honda Pilot.  Great SUV – plenty of internal space and headroom for someone my height, and a very spacious rear cargo area for the mutts.  The dealer even threw in the tough rubber cargo mat for when the dogs are wet, shedding, or filthy (and our dogs are usually one or more of those things).  There’s even a third row of seats folded under the cargo area, on the off chance we’d ever have enough people in the truck to need it.

So I drove the truck off the lot just after noon on Saturday about two weeks ago.  My wife and I decided to load the dogs up and show the truck to my parents at their house in Newport Beach, which is about a fifteen minute drive from where we live.  On the way there, we even commented on how good Bernie was being as we drove.  He was nice and quiet, and we figured he was just sitting there quietly and behaving himself for once.

That was a really stupid assumption.

Here’s a photo of Bernie bin Laden after he managed to devalue my new truck only three hours after I drove it off the lot.

The real pisser here is that it’s not easy to mangle a seatbelt like that.  I’ve been a cop for a long time, and I’ve had to cut through seatbelts in order to get people out of wrecked cars. Seatbelts are purposely made tough – you have to buy a knife serrated in a certain way in order to cut through them at all.  In retrospect, I should have saved money on the knife and just carried around a pocketful of puppy teeth instead.

Only a vague hope that the little demon-seed might someday be socially acceptable keeps me from murdering him.  No jury would convict me…  

Hi everyone,

I have lurked off and on since losing Raven.  Seeing Harley lost his battle, I just lost it all over again (love the rotties).  It's so hard.  Life goes on and thankfully I have my old lady bulldog Betty.  Possibly a hemangiosarcoma survivor (never biopsied), she had her spleen removed a few weeks before Raven's amputation.

I flirt with coming to your parties, but honestly I know I'd just sob when I see the wonderful dogs.  As time heals, I consider it more and more.  I think of all of you that have lost yours and how you are the ones that truly understand.  It's one thing to lose a pet, but these tripawds and all we go through with them, they are so inspirational.

I wish I could go to a pet loss group, but there are none here.  Someone here told me to start one and suggested calling it Remembering Raven, I think I may consider it.  But, maybe meeting up with you guys would be similar.  Just having fellowship with those that understand...  I know it would be fun, but it would also be emotional for me.  *sigh*

It's tough for me to get down there with my schedule.  But I have a one week vacation July 19-23 and am considering bringing my little vintage RV to camp at Big Sur...  maybe I can drop in on some of you?

Dawn

OK! Someone has made a mistake and scheduled this pawrty when we are actually in town (for the first time since February). Big mistake - we might actually show up. I figured that after the Elk Grove walk you would have learned!!

Seriously, we have every intention of being there and help to "encourage" Bernie to let go and not be so inhibited.

I sure hope that you read this Dawn: I can totally relate to your feelings. Today is the six month anniversary of Miss Cherry crossing over and things are very marginally better. However, as with so very much, the members of this community really do make you feel better and relax with all the great memories that you created with our companions. We may not have any Three Legged Red for a toast, but we will have great companionship and lots of treats. For those unaware of the reference read Miss Cherry's TriPawd toast with Three Legged Red.

Looking forward to another great time with friends.

Spirit Cherry's Dad - Bob

Dawn:

     I agree with Comet.  No dog could ever replace Raven in your heart, but that doesn't mean there's no room for another dog in there.  You'll always miss Raven, just as all of us who've lost our own dogs do.  But all dogs want their people to be happy – that's why we love them.  Raven was no exception.  So open your mind to the possibility that some other Rottie out there wants to become a part of your family.  It won't make the pain of Raven's loss go away, nor should it.  But you'll find it takes the edge off, and helps you get to a point where your memories of him are happy again, and you can once again think of him without sadness.

     And yes, it might be hard to show up at Mill Valley, but other people will be there who have suffered the same loss as you did.  It will be a bittersweet visit for Diane and I, because we met everyone there for the first time when we took Max and Linda to the January Tripawd party.  We had a wonderful time, and Max played and played like he wasn't even sick.  It was like seeing him be young all over again.

     And a week later, he died.  It devastated us, especially because it was so sudden and unexpected (we had thought he'd last until March or April).  And now it will be almost six months since then, and we find ourselves returning with Linda and our new pup.  We took the dogs to Carmel three times in Max's last year because we love that town so much, so going back now without him will seem kind of strange.  But life goes on, and we won't stop doing things we love just because that's what we once did with Max.  He wouldn't have wanted that.  It's going to be different, but in a good way.  I think things like that will work that way for you as well when the time is right.  You've got to get back into the game sooner or later, so why not make it sooner?

     Diane likes to use a self-publishing website (http://www.blurb.com) to make books with pictures of our travels.  We just got the one she made of our last visit to Carmel and Mill Valley.  It's a real beauty, and a big chunk of it is devoted to the day we spent at Mill Valley, with lots of pictures of all the dogs running around and playing together.  I was looking at it the other day, and it was the first time I was able to see those photos without choking up.  I still felt a touch of sadness for Max's loss, but I'm getting to the point where pictures of him make me smile again.  There's no reason that can't happen for you as well, so even if you can't make it to this party, consider attending the next one.  Maybe even with a new dog…

     And for everyone else, we can't wait to see you there (and we're glad you can make it, Bob).  Aside from the slight sense of guilt I feel at the prospect of inflicting Bernie on all the innocent dogs and people who don't deserve such treatment, we're really looking forward to it.