Dog Angels

When life has gotten me down I always have an angel somewhere to pick me up. Those angels have worn fur coats and not asked anything from me but that I love them.

My dog Jolly, a cocker spaniel, came into my life when I delivered him. We had his mother, a gift from a friend when we came home from overseas. Buttons, a Black cocker and she never had much personality, but we also soon found out she was expecting, much to our chagrin. In any case you can't throw out a pregnant dog and so we kept her. She gave birth to 12 puppies, two of them were honey colored and the rest were all black. Jolly was the runt of the litter and she didn't want to take care of him.

So it fell to me to clean him up and put him in my pocket to keep him warm and feed him with a doll bottle. Another friend wanted the mother dog so we gave her to them and quickly found homes for the other puppies. But as we decided to keep the poor little puppy that needed extra care. In spite of all this disadvantages, he grew and prospered. We soon called him Jolly brown giant .He stayed with us for 20 years. I thought I would never get over him, he was so much a part of our lives. I knew I could not stand to have another dog.

About a year later, my daughter called and said she was coming to visit and wanted to know if she could bring a friend. I said, "Of Course your friends are always welcome!"

Well, she showed up with a nine year old part cocker- German Shepard mixed dog named Bert. He never left us until he died some 10 year later at age 19. He was all together different then Jolly and weighed in at 65 pounds, but we soon bonded and I loved him as much, but in a different way then I loved our Jolly. When he had to be put down, because he couldn't walk anymore. It broke my heart again.

This time I didn't have but six month to wait when a friend called and said, I wondered if you would like a dog. I was hesitant until I heard that her owner had succumbed to a stroke. She would have to go to the pound if we didn't take her. So Roxie, a Jack Russell terrier came into our lives. Roxie has been with us now for 12 years. At night she sleeps next to my back, being only 12 pounds has its advantages. Grin.

We love her dearly and hope to keep her for a long time, in spite of the fact she is now 18 years old, blind, deaf and senile. She was a ball of fire and you would never know she wasn't a puppy, even as old as she is until she got hit by a car. She could not see of hear it coming. The cable man left the gate open and she was lucky she didn't get killed.

The one things she was different from the other two special cockers we had is she used to bark a lot and chase airplanes. Yes I said airplanes!
We live near a military base and she hated the noise of the planes, so would dash out the door and barks them every time they took off or landed. Now she can not do that and it is so sad.

But I just wanted to share our special angels with all you other dog lovers and let you know, no matter how much you love your dog, not to close your heart to another dog. Jolly and Bert are now angels in Heaven and soon Roxie will join them. But we should never forget they are all so special and a blessing.

Dogs ask little of us and give us so much more than we give. Treasure your animals, they are little angels sent to us to comfort us.