Dear Grizzly,
For 8 years, 10 months, and 10 days, you were there for me. Your smiling face greeting me every morning, your luxurious tail wagging, your spirits high. You were the reason I got up every morning, the reason I came home at night. Our walks, trips to the beach and dog park, days lounging in the yard, evenings spent just in each other's company, brightened every day and strengthened my body and soul. And now that you're gone, everywhere I look, I see the lack of you. I long for the joy of your smile, the softness of your fur, the happy energy of your essence that filled every part of my life. If I could lie down beside you and shatter the barrier between this world and the next with my arms wrapped around you, my face buried in your coat, continuing our journey through the cosmos together forever, know that I would; know that I love you that much. But I can't. Not just yet. And only the thought that our souls are entwined keeps me strong. Although you have gone on before me, we are still on the same path. I see you up ahead of me as I did just days ago, running toward the woods at Prairie Wolf, knowing I was there behind you, never letting you far out of my sight; both of us knowing that I would catch up. I love you and miss you with every breath I take and I will see you in the everafter my sweet, precious girl.
Grizzly passed from this world on Friday, May 25, 2018. My deepest gratitude to Dr Liz and the entire staff at Lap of Love for helping Grizzly pass peacefully and to her vets, Dr Van Pelt of Family Pet Animal Hospital and Dr Ridley of Integrative Pet Care, for keeping her healthy and happy for so many years and helping make her last few weeks comfortable. Thank you to all her friends and fans who have written such kind words in her memory. You have helped console me more than you could ever know.
I've been so busy this month! I've been going to agility, nosework, the park, the beach - if it's fun, I've been doing it!
I went to Prairie Wolf Dog Park with a dog named Crunchie. He was cute and stayed out of my way, so we had a good time. Here's a picture of us going into the pond.
And here's a picture of us in the pond.
My human says he gave me a wide berth. Whatever. It was good. Here's another picture of me in the pond.
Eventually some other dogs showed up. They gave me a wide berth too, but it was time to move on...and look what I found!
A giant mud bath!! I hear people pay lots of money to soak in one of these. It's the best! See how happy I am?
And look at how deep it is!
Felt. So. Good! I was so muddy I had to be hosed off - twice!
I've been going to the beach a lot too. Here's a picture of me at the beach.
I'm having such a good time! Here's another picture of me at the beach.
And another.
And a couple more....
There are gardens by the beach and guess what they have?....Rabbits!! I get to look through the gardens for rabbits in between dips in the lake. Here's a picture of me on the grassy knoll looking for rabbits.
And here's one of me in the formal gardens.
Heeeeere bunny, bunny, bunny! Here's a picture of me on the dunes.
You've heard of dune bunnies, right? I've also spent a lot of time just hanging out in the yard. Here I am waiting for my tater tots to come out of the oven.
Sigh. Are they done yet?? Here's a picture of me sunbathing.
Ahhhhhhhh. Spring is great!
Last week I went to Lakewood Dog Park. It was really muddy and I got to look through the woods for rabbits. I didn't find any.
Here's a picture of me at Lakewood Dog Park.
I might have better luck with the rabbits if I didn't have to wear an orange vest. Here are two more pictures of me at LDP.
My human says those pictures are a perfect example of why I have to wear an orange vest. Hmph.
Here's a picture of me on one of the big paths.
It was a long climb.
Here's another picture of me in the woods.
Still no bunnies.
Here's a picture of me by a big log. This looks like a good place for rabbits to hide!
Nope. Not there either.
Or there.
Here, bunny, bunny, bunny!
Here's a picture of me by a picnic table.
Um, hey, why didn't we bring a picnic? My humans didn't have a good answer for that. The bunny hunt was a bust. At least there was lots of good stuff to smell. Here's a picture of me smelling something good.
Mmmmmm. We walked all around the park. Here's a picture of me in a really dark, muddy part.
There are really big fields of grass there too. Here's a picture of me out standing in a field of grass.
My human says I'm outstanding period. I don't get it. I didn't get any rabbits either. Or a picnic. Why did we come here again? Oh yeah, to smell stuff in the woods. Yeah, good times.
I've been having a pretty good year so far. My human was off work for awhile and we hung out a lot. Then she started working really long hours, but my other human started coming over every day to feed and walk me. He brings lots of treats like steak and cheese, so it's been lots of fun! Now my human is back home and in between fun stuff she's been dragging me to the vet - not fun at all. She says I'm sick. But I don't feel sick! I feel fine. I feel like having some steak. And cheese. She says feeling fine is what life's all about and now I'm going to get even more spoiled than before. I say it's about time.
Here's a picture of me with a package from The Live Like Roo Foundation. Knuckle's moms sent it to me.
See all that great stuff??!!! It's mine, so I can eat it all now, right? I wasn't allowed to eat it all. It came with a card of bucket list suggestions. Um, I can make my own bucket list, thank you. I'll have a bucket of ribs, a bucket of fried chicken - extra crispy, a bucket of biscuits and gravy - extra gravy, a bucket of cheeseburgers, a bucket of fries, a bucket of baby rabbits - and make it all a double!! Yeah, I think I'm gonna like this being more spoiled thing!
So, it's been awhile....You try getting a human to do your writing for you. I haven't even been to RibFest in forever. But I did go to Michigan to visit Roethke. Here's the first picture of us together in Michigan.
And here's a picture of us inside.
We were over the pictures already. But still, they took more...
I'm lying between two of the rugs my human brought with from home. I don't do wood floors. Unless there's food involved. I'll do wood floors for food. Sometimes.
We got to go lots of fun places. Here's a picture of us at the beach.
We were of different minds. Here's another picture of us at the beach.
We were of the same mind. Mmmmmm. Smells good!
I even did some swimming. It's still swimming if your paws are on the sand, right? Here's a picture of me swimming.
Later we went to an outdoor cafe (I didn't get any food) and walked around some shops. But THIS is where I saw some DEER!!!!!!
See those woods? Yep, you guessed it! Filled with deer!! I tried to run after them, but my human got the leash on me before I got a chance. We could have had venison for dinner! Stupid human!
We went to another beach the next day and I did some more swimming. Here's a picture of me swimming again.
Roethke swam too. Here's a picture of us swimming together.
I let him get the ball. I'm polite like that.
Later we drove through the woods to a couple of scenic lookouts. I was looking out for dinner, um, I mean deer! Here's a picture of me looking out of the car for deer.
Mmmmmm! Country smells!!
Here's a picture of me and Roethke at one of the lookout points.
See how happy I am? And it was like 100 degrees! I don't care! Where are we going next? We went to another lookout point.
It was at the top of a dune. I wanted to go down the side, but my human said it was too hot.
She may have been right about that. I was so tired when we got back to the house! I even let the cat sniff me. No, really. Here's a picture.
This was the best vacation ever! But I think next time we visit I should get to chase a deer. Just sayin'.
So, I haven't written on my blog in awhile. It's not my fault! My human is lazy. I've been doing lots of fun things. Like eating baby rabbits!! So far the score is Grizzly=4, Baby Rabbits=0. Wait, does rabbit poop count? My number would be a lot higher if it does!
I've been spending lots of time in my backyard. here's a picture of me enjoying my backyard.
Mine! Mine! Mine!
Here's another picture of me in my backyard.
I'm excellent at camouflage!
My human built me a rabbit blind. Here's a picture of me in my rabbit blind.
Yeah, the rabbits would definitely have to be blind NOT to see me. I'll stick to my own hiding skills, thank you!
For Grizzly Day my human got me a Puppucino from Starbuck's. Here's a picture of me eating my Puppuccino.
More please! I didn't get any more.
Did I mention my backyard has raspberries? Here's a picture of me eating a raspberry.
There's a cherry tree too! My human says when I eat the fallen cherries my poop is the pits. Huh? I don't get it. Whatever.
I got to go to the beach a lot this summer too. Here's a picture of me at the beach.
So much fun!! We should go there every day. After I hunt for rabbits in the gardens.
Wait, did I not go to Ribfest this year? Why didn't I go to Ribfest????!!! Hmph!! At least I get to go Trick or Treating soon because it's almost Halloween. i know it's almost Halloween because my human made me do this.
What do you mean dogs don't Trick or Treat? Going door to door and begging for treats? That's definitely something a dog would do! Dress up? Costume? Uh, nevermind. I'll just send my human out for steaks. Or Popeye's! Yeah, steaks and Popeye's! And make it a double!!
