Posthumous Wordless Wednesday

 

Wordless Wednesday - Fur Angels

 

Duffy

Gryffon

Ceilidh

Tucker

Beckett

Keltic

Christmas Memories

I thought I would drive out to Cabela's in the west end of town; it's about a 30-minute drive when the traffic is good. It's dog-friendly and has a nice fireplace that makes it a good place to take Christmas pictures with the dogs. I hadn't been there since I took Beckett and Keltic in Dec 2019.

The picture above was taken on 17 Dec 2019. How was I to know that just six days later I would let Beckett go.

Unfortunately, this year, the fireplace was blocked off by the tree and a table so I couldn't recreate the photoshoot.  We did get some decent shots in front of the tree and in Santa's workshop. Santa wasn't there though, probably a good thing.  I had thought to get both Teddy and Liam in the chair at the same time, but I don't think it was quite big enough and it was a rocker.

Liam did quite a bit of sniffing and barking at the reindeer. I'm quite sure he thought at first it was real. 

We did manage to get a few photos with the Christmas tree with the fireplace in behind. 

I don't know what it is about going into stores, but Teddy and Liam are avid shoppers. They really seem to like wandering around and sniffing everything. I did buy them some more Christmas gifts while we were there.

I think Cabela's must hire the most dog-friendly staff; one staff member even took their picture that he said he was going to post to Facebook.  I got lots of compliments about how well behaved the dogs were, while all the time I was telling them, don't pee.

So, while I couldn't recreate the 2019 photo, we did make some new Christmas memories. 

Wordless Wednesday

 

Silent Sunday

 Remembering those dogs I have loved and lost. I could have missed the pain but I'd of had to miss the dance.

Keltic

Beckett

Ceilidh

Tucker

Duffy

Gryffon

Candle Lighting 2021 Video

Already

Today, it is already a year since I had to let Beckett go, how time flies even when you're not having fun. I chose the song A Thousand Lovers by Lynn Miles when I did one of his videos and the lyrics "But there's nothing in this world tonight that's going to take away my pain" still are true some nights.  The song that really tears at my heart now though is Joni Mitchell's River; it's one of those songs I'd heard before but never really heard the words. The lyrics "I went and lost the best baby I ever had" and "I made my baby say goodbye" really get to me. I know it was for the best to let him go but it's still so hard that I had to make the decision.

Beckett was my first heart dog, who knows maybe he's the last. I needed him and I believe he needed me. I always felt Beckett looked through me to see my heart and soul. It's not that I don't love the others and that it didn't hurt to lose each one of them but I so miss the connection I had with Beckett. It's not the same right now with the others, Keltic I sometimes don't even like even though he is a character, Teddy still feels a little like someone else's dog and Liam hasn't been with me long enough. 

Agility Trial Champion of Canada

Tucker and Beckett

Ceilidh, Tucker and Beckett

I gots your chin, mums. 

Fall photo shoot with Keltic and Beckett

Last photo together - 17 Dec 2019

We had a wonderful life together with so many memories. He was an awesome agility dog despite my limitations as a handler.  Agility Trial Champion of Canada, Silver Versatility, Silver Award of Merit, Finalist at the Canada Cup, Beckett took me farther in agility than I thought possible. He loved to play with me; wish he was playing with me still. 

Memories

I guess you really don't need things to help you remember but I can't help but put together a few things in remembrance of the dogs I have loved and lost.  In addition to having a memory stone, I also have a memory box for each of mine. It started because when Duffy and Gryffon passed their ashes were returned to me in a plastic bag wrapped in tissue in a gift box. At the time, photo boxes were easy to find so Duffy's, Gryffon's and Ceilidh's boxes were store bought. I glued on one of their metal dog tags to Gryffon's and Duffy's, Ceilidh's came with the flowers. Gryffon's tag says Born to Be Wild and Duffy's says Most Loved Dog.

Well, that was in the days of film and printed pictures; so when Tucker passed I wasn't able to find a photo box as photographs were mostly digital. My dear friend and neighbour, Julie made me a box for Tucker. For Tucker's box, I bought a metal dog tag that has a heart with wings and his name is engraved on the heart. It's the second box from the left in the picture above.

Julie was one of the people I messaged when I was waiting at the vet's office with Beckett on that sad day.  She offered to make me a box for her "little buddy".  It took me a while to get everything together. Today I went and had some photos printed at Walmart to finish off the memory box.  In Beckett's box are his CKC registration, his Agility Trial Champion of Canada medallion, his baby collar, two other special collars, his garden flag and a little brown paper treat bag from his 9th birthday shopping trip.

CKC Registration, ATChC Medallion

Garden Flag

First collar, Gentleman in Red and Black Sheep collars

Treat bag

Beckett's box is done with a beautiful inlay around the lid.  I almost didn't want to put anything on it but in the end I did; Beckett's box has his Momma's Boy dog tag on the corner.

The picture on the lid of Beckett's box is from his second try at herding.  He passed the first time round but there were no photos, at least no good ones taken that first time.  The second time he went, a photographer, Erika had a photo shoot at the same time as the herding test.  Beckett always looked either so serious or very focused in most of his pictures, this one shows his joy. It's one of my favourite pictures of him. It's how I'll always remember him.

Beckett Remembered

Yesterday was Beckett's first birthday at the Bridge. He would have been 11 but I guess he never ages now.  He'll always be my baby boy.

I took a drive out to pick-up a picture that a friend had drawn of Beckett.  She also drew one of Teddy and Keltic. I had a few tears when I picked it up.  I've posted the original photos.  My friend said Keltic just didn't turn out in the first drawing with Beckett so that is why I got two drawings. 

Drawings

Beckett and Keltic

Teddy and Keltic

10th Birthday

I was so sure when Beckett reached 10 that we would have a few more years together. I knew though that the worst thing about ten is that you have less time left than what you've already had with them. We didn't even get another year; we barely had another six months. 

Beckett Memories

Happy Birthday, Beckett Boy!

I miss you!

Just Jump

So in this crazy time, I have lots of time at home so I decided to paint my outdoor agility jumps.  I bought most of them off eBay many years ago and have always taped them which had to be done every other year.  I'm hoping the paint will last longer.

I did an online order at Home Depot for paint and coloured electrical tape. I had to wait nearly three days for the order so luckily this wasn't urgent work.  I ordered this spray paint in red and black as it said it adhered to plastic so we'll see.

It was hard to get the the old tape off. In some cases I just gave up and painted over the remnants of the tape. The jumps look fine from a distance but up close they're a bit messy.  I also retaped my tire too but didn't have enough tape to do a really good job of it. I also learned that it is hard to mask off the jump bars to get nice lines, the paint bleeds under the tape.  On the last jump bars I did, I masked them first with electrical tape then paper and painters tape which worked a little better. 

I worked out of the garage, making a little spray booth with a garbage bag and my saw horses. It worked pretty well, there's spray paint on the garage floor but does it really matter.  Once I had spray painted the first of the uprights, I realized I couldn't lay them down on the floor so I have to come up with a drying rack. I used beer bottles for that.

First Jump

First two jumps

All three jumps

I had a little blood shed doing these jumps when I pinched my finger trying to get the jump cup off of the upright.  The PVC is sharp where the joint has been cut. It's not as bad as it looks, at first, I didn't even think that it had broken the skin but then it started to bleed.

Ouch

Jump Cups

We set up the back yard with the newly painted jumps. As I was painting the jumps, I realized that red, black and white had been Beckett's colours so I re-dedicated the backyard as Beckett's Field.

No one has yet to run in Beckett's Field, the Agility Association of Canada (AAC) has started a virtual Jumpers League. Keltic and I ran two events last weekend before I had painted the jumps.  The link below is to our run on the second event we did. The AAC hasn't put out anything yet on the next event.  Last week was free, the next time you have to pay to see the courses and, if you want to have your run judged.  Pretty neat what we can do with today's technology.

AAC Level III Jumpers 2

I ordered a new rubber skin for my teeter just before the lock down happened. I haven't received it yet but they said delivery was six to eight weeks, hopefully by then my brother-in-law will be able to help me re-board the teeter.