How I earned my wings...

So this is how I earned my wings...well, first I had a great mommy who showed me so much love. Ever since I was a puppy she adored me and loved me and spoiled me. She trained me and gave me structure and discipline, we growing boys and girls need that. All the love she gave me showed me how to love in return. I was drawn to her and she was drawn to me. I always knew she would give me an ear rub or head rub if I placed my head in her lap and did that often. Or heck, if I felt a little insecure she would do that for me if I came up to her. When I wanted a neck or back rub I just put my head in her lap and then once her hand petted my head I quickly turned around and backed into her and she knew what I wanted. Oh yeah, I had her trained!!!!

But all the love she showed me in turn made me a very loving lab, she took me to visit our friend Patsy and I quickly realized I make people happy!!!! When we walked down the hallway people came up to me and smiled and I realized my presence brought happiness and I LOVED seeing their smiles and would wag my tail for them and sit and let them pet me and rub my head and heck OK I was spoiled, but it was a win win situation for me, I made them happy and that made me happy and I also got a few rubs and pets here and there, and let me just say I was really in a good mood because as you know from reading previous posts, I am a crotch sniffing dog and I was doing my best to get all the scents down ( mommy kept pulling me away from people in wheelchairs that could not get away from my attempts) so yeah, it was a win win for me all the way around!!!

Mommy is happy knowing I am in heaven because she knows she will see me again. I will explain how she knows in more detail in another post, but she is happy knowing I am with our Lord and free of pain and suffering and very happy, she looks forward to seeing me again and when I look down I see her joy, yes, she misses me greatly and cries a tear or two in remembrance but she smiles through it as she knows we are only separated for a season. She may get another puppy in her future but she and I both know there will NEVER EVER be another OUTLAW!!!! God truly broke the mold after he made me, and he did MAKE me just for mommy and we both know this. I am also keeping an eye on my sister Mandy from up here and she is being very good with mommy and she only swatted at her three times, she misses me and is mourning and has since stopped swatting her when she tries to pet her. I have another post about my sister knowing how the ashes are mine, bless her heart, she truly did love me, and I truly did love her too.

Well, I have more swimming to do and I wont post as often as I used to because there is so much love and joy and swimming in heaven for me I forget but I will continue from time to time. P.S Mommy, I really love you and thank you for being a great mommy to me, and keep on going on the walks!!!!

I am in heaven....8/28/98--5/3/2011

Wow, it is so beautiful up here!!!! I decided to take a short break from my beautiful surroundings and update my blog for my mother. I was so sick since the last entry I was not able to keep up to date on the entries. I had a rare form of tongue cancer. My tongue got pretty big and hard, and it was hard to eat, and I was in pain. I almost made it to the good ole age of 13 and was shy by three months.

I had 12.5 great years with my mommy!!! She loved and spoiled me greatly! Even when I was sick, she hand fed me, sometimes I know she scraped her hands on my teeth when she had to put the food far back so I could swallow. I also made the biggest mess on the kitchen floor when I ate. Sometimes it would take her an hour to feed me, clean up my mess, give me the pills, give me water. I made her work hard at taking care of me but she enjoyed it. She truly cherished every moment that she did it. And she never complained when I had the poop accident while she was at work, or when I would wake her up a few times in the middle of the night because I needed my pain pill or wanted to eat or go outside.

She cried a lot and I hated seeing her cry, she loved me like I was her little boy and hell yes!!! I was her little boy! She always said she wished she could have birthed me as she loved me so much! And I believe her!! We did everything together. We went to a nursing home every Sat to visit a friend and made some new ones. We went on lots of walks, mommy never stopped taking me places and doing things with me when she found out I had cancer, as a matter of fact we did more things. She made sure I had my rest, but she also made sure I got to go out and have fun. Car rides, walks, swims, ice cream stops, visits with friends, and I was taken to the dog trainer/sitter when she was at work.

I got to hang out with Kevin and Ubo, and had fun while mommy was at work. All I did was sleep most of the day but I still had fun there. Mommy prayed a lot for God to show her a sign a rainbow, to let her know I would be in heaven and she saw it!!! I always knew I would be in heaven and now she knows for sure I am in heaven and she has stopped crying. She knows we will see each other again!! Mommy created this blog back in 09 when she first thought I had cancer, and she wanted to remember all the fun we had so when my time really did come, she would find comfort in the memories, so I began writing in it and God said I could write some from heaven until my sister feels like taking over for me.

I just want to share some fun things mommy and I did during my last month and a half with her. I think she could use this. She misses me greatly and I see her sadness, just because she knows one day we will meet again, she is still sad and lonely now. I think this will help her. I love God, he is an awesome God, he created me just for mommy!!! It is so beautiful and peaceful here and lots of water to play in. There is this beautiful water fall, and there is a rainbow that arches over it, the water is a brilliant blue with multiple hues, and I run and jump in and swim all day long!!!!!! Actually, it is time for another dip in the water!! So, for now I am going to end this and pick back up with some funny stories to share. Oh and there is a special place for cats in heaven too....wait until I update that part of the blog, sure my sister will enjoy it!!!!

So bored

Well, I am writing about this day last October when mommy decided to begin working on the front yard solo. Needless to say she hurt her back doing this but she saved a couple thousand dollars doing the job herself. There is just no arguing with her. She kept saying to herself and me over and over again, "sure wish you could help me out buddy". I of course just lounged on her jacket and pretended I was swimming.

which is of course where I would rather have been. But in all honesty, I really just want to be where ever mommy is. I was very proud of her as she did do a good job. Today is the first day of spring, so all of her bulbs should be coming up, provided of course she did it right, she is not known for having a green thumb. She tries though, and I do love her for this. I will be updating a lot the next couple of weeks, I took a small break from blogging but need to update and catch up on all that has happened, and so much has happened. Tonight is a short night, so I will end for now. Tomorrow I will add more, and every night after I will add until I am caught up to the actual day. On this blog I will just say that mommy is very sad because she found out last week I have cancer. But I am giving her lots of love and playing with her and keeping her happy. She needs me right now, so I will end and then begin again. I do love mommy very much, but not as much as she loves me.

Now that's more like it!!

Well mommy finally did it, she talked my uncle into allowing me a swim session at his pool!! And it was HEAVEN! I am a water dog at heart and there is nothing I love more than water than mommy of course, but I do love water.  I swam and swam and mommy kind of got a little freaked out as she kept trying to get me out of the water as I would swim to her when she called my name but as soon as I saw her reach for me I turned and swam away.  OK, so she probably thought I was going to drown as I kept swimming around but I love to swim that is all I want to do.  And well, she did have to get in with her jeans on to grab me as she was worried.  And well yeah, so once I figured out she was trying to show me the stairs so I would know where they were when I was ready to get out I was OK with her coming near me while I was swimming.

She loves taking pictures of me so she had fun too.  Although when we first go there I could not figure out how to get into the water and she kept giggling at me as I must have circled that pool ten times before she finally helped me in.  Once in I was in blissful heaven and loving every single minute of it.  Of course I could swim until I drowned so mommy knowing this did cut the session short after 30 minutes, but it was nice and fun.  Although my uncle said there was a lot of dog hair in the pool and that was the last time I could do it, I would gladly allow him to shave me down to skin if he would allow me to swim there all the time.  And knowing him he actually may do this before allowing me to get back in.  Oh it was fun, so much sweet fun!!!

I have the best mommy and uncle in the whole world!!!  Mommy also took me to the dog park yesterday as well.  Well, this was a separate day from the swimming.  But we went to the dog park and it was nice, I ran and played and did my usual thing which was to latch onto another dog and follow them or stalk them as mommy likes to call it and then try and dominate them once they stop in their tracks.  I love summer, and I do miss Jake man and hopefully mommy and I do make the trip up.  Which reminds me we are supposed to go up and meet some other friends for a trip to Amish country soon too!!!!!!  And I get to run and play on the farm! OH YES, I do love summer!!!!!

Sensitivity and getting point across

OK, where do I begin.  Well, this is my best friend Jake or Jake man as I like to call him.  Mommy helped take care of Jake for the neighbors (and friends) back in Maryland when we lived there.  He was a puppy and they both worked all day so mommy volunteered to take Jake out a couple times a day to help them out and she brought him over to play with me.  Well I fell in love and Jake loved me too.  If you read older posts you can see the love we have for one another.  Sadly they moved away and Jake man was no longer my next door neighbor friend.  He is now a long distance friend.

I am saddened by the fact he is no longer available for early evening romps and play sessions.  I lost a tooth because of him, and well mommy too I mean what was she thinking throwing up the ball directly between Jake and I??  Of course we both jumped up in the air at the same time to get the ball and our teeth crashed and I lost one because of that.  Good going mommy!  But you can not tell I am missing one when I smile.  Since they left mommy has taken me to meet other dogs and at the dog park I have tried to meet other dogs but it appears it is not as easy to make new friends like it was back home.

I do not know if it is because I am older and maybe all the young dogs just think I can not keep up with the pack or if they think I am not hip enough, who knows. But I am very friendly and I try my best to make friends.  I use the normal greetings a little sniff here and there and sometimes they sniff back and we seem to get along and we play well and socialize well but then they are so hard to read.  It is as if I get a friendly signal and then WHAM!  Kind of feels like I got smacked in the face with rejection and I always thought of myself as a nice enough dog to where maybe another dog may actually be a little kinder in getting their point across when rejecting me but hey, there is nothing like getting smacked up side the head or barked at to know my place.  Mommy says maybe in a few months we can take a weekend trip up to New York and see Jake man, mommy wants to see Jakes mommy and the new addition to the family.  I really do dream of Jake man...so miss him.

But well, I guess in life when you do make good friends you just learn how to truly value them as mommy says not everyone you meet will be as a good or nice a friend as you had before or had hoped the new one would be so always value the friends in your life.  Always try too to make new friends and if they do not turn out to be as nice as you had hoped then move on, sometimes new friends do not want to even be a friend and you need to learn that and if it is a social friendship such as meeting occasionally at the dog park and the occasional polite tail wag and sniff occurs then take it for what it is and maybe in time I will make a new friend who wants to hang with me and play with me and not slap me upside the head with a loud bark when all I am doing is trying to be a friend??  But in the meantime, I am not going to put forth any effort at the dog park and only go there to do the occasional play time with mommy and relish in the memory of the best friend I have ever had Jake Man, and hope mommy takes me to see him soon because I really miss him.  He was the love of my life, and yes dogs of the same sex can love one another, nothing wrong with that!!!

Yeah, yeah, yeah so we sleep together.

OK, so mommy caught us, no big deal!  What else does she think we are going to do while she is at work or out doing errands or having fun.  My sister and I sleep together.  Actually it is rather rare, but I mean at night we all sleep with mommy.  She, meaning my sis, has taken to sleeping with me during the day too.  She used to be a little confused by me when I first arrived.  

I can still feel the sting of her claw across my little puppy nose. I am still slightly hesitant around her, not fully able to relax.  You can see it in this photograph, I am alert still.  Mommy laughs at me as she says Mandy just wants to be friends now. She is 15 and I am 11.5 so it is OK now mommy says she mellowed out.  I find it hard to believe.  Mommy says people and animals change and it is only fair to give them a chance.  No one is perfect, Mandy did not understand at the time what she was doing "right mommy" and she loves me now and wont hurt me.  Sure, hmmf, not sure actually.  Mommy says she sees the change in Mandy as Mandy always comes up and rubs up against me now, in the beginning she came up and hissed or took a paw to me.  So yeah maybe she has changed.

I guess stranger things have happened.  I suppose I could relax around her.  Mommy is big on giving people second chances because as she says everyone has a story.  And we all at one time or another have been judged wrongly or labeled or what ever.  I guess my sister has had a change of heart towards me so I can give her a second chance but she better not hog the bed again tonight as that is my job!  Poor mommy has a very sore throat so I may ease up on hogging the bed as she is under the weather, that is the least I can do for her since I do not have thumbs and can not make her tea.  But I can give her tons of wet dog kisses!! Yeah just what she needs LOL!!!!

My new fence, and oasis

Well mommy finally had a fence put up for me.  The things, many, many things she does for me.  OK, lets not kid ourselves she does these things for herself too but I do reap the benefits.  Although the fence was truly the main reason she had it put up.  And I am glad she did.  The previous owner of the house created this rather peaceful oasis of sorts in the back yard.  She had a green thumb for sure. Ha, mommy sure doesn't.  But the saving grace here is the plants were already well established.  Mommy should not be able to kill these, God help her.  She does not have a green thumb, but her mom sure did.  She actually grew two trees one from a  lemon seed, and the other from an orange seed.  Mommy has yet to try it, huh, I have a great idea of mommy.  She has been trying to think of what she can plant in honor of her mother's memory and how fitting would it be if she actually planted an orange seed and it grew!!!!!  AWESOME IDEA!!! Now to try and figure out to get mommy to do this.  I can not speak so I am going to be left to come up with a rather interesting ploy or tactic to introduce the idea to her.  She has oranges from when she made orange chicken, I am so waiting for her to venture onto a new recipe already (not that it is not good, but she seems to stick with things when they are good and needs to explore a little more and broaden her horizons) maybe I will play with an orange on the floor, chew into it really hard and squirt out a seed and hopefully if I position the attempt just right, the seed will hit her in the face and get her attention.  Just a thought.  It has to hit her so she will notice it, come on already.  I was not going to do it to be mean, unlike when I hog the bed at night when she forgets to walk me, oh yeah I let her know when I am upset but this is just my attempt to get her to come up with the idea on her own.

Her mother loved her orange tree and lemon tree so this would be fitting for her to do.  But back to the fence.  Yes, I do love my fence now.  I can walk around and enjoy the yard and the way the yard was established I can see where it is a haven of sorts for mommy.  She likes to sit by the pond in the evenings and sip a glass of wine while listening to the water fall.  I sit out there with her and roam the fence, see this is where the fence is a blessing for mommy.  She can sit near the pond and sip her wine and not have to hold onto my leash and I can roam about freely.  She does worry though that I may jump into the pond.  OK, so I thought about it a time or two but wont do it.  Today we are just hanging in the house doing minor repairs and putting up curtain rods.  Mommy would hire a handyman but she is really burned out right now with trying to hire anyone because it seems she has hired every crack head in Ohio, at least according to her friend who says he never met anyone who had more bad luck with contractors than her.  And she has had many a bad luck.  But anyway, she will attempt most things herself then go from there if need be.

She enjoys doing things on her own, she gets a sense of accomplishment from it.  So this is really going to be a tough choice with how to get her to come up with the orange tree on her own, which again is why the seed needs to hit her in the face, I will try and miss her eye.  LOL, maybe, depends if she makes me mad this day or not.  I do love her, but I just want her all to myself.  Well, I can hear her down there trying to find the tape measure and screw driver so she can put up the curtain rods, better go help in any way I can.