Oh, little friend, do you recall,
When you made this house your home?
You were just a ball of fluff,
Not even halfway grown.

You stumbled when you learned to walk,
It was hard to steer four legs;
You learned to sit, and stay, and come,
And, of course, you learned to beg.

You loved those walks we used to take,
You never left my side;
And if I got my car keys out,
You were ready for a ride.

You sensed when I was happy,
Or was feeling kind of low;
You'd rub up against my knee,
You always seemed to know.

You'd fetch a ball or get a toy,
Without even being told;
But, was your face crestfallen,
If I felt the need to scold.

You found the outside world exciting,
Do you remember your first snow?
You'd not come back inside the house,
Because you loved it so.

Going to the vets for shots,
I guess was your greatest fear;
You seemed to know each scheduled date,
Though you went but once a year.

You were afraid of lightening, too,
And of booming thunderstorms;
You'd run and jump upon my bed,
Where it was safe and warm.

I never once felt lonely,
As long as you were here;
You were at my feet or on my lap,
You constantly were near.

Oh, I am going to miss you,
No question about that;
But, little one, for your pain to go,
I had to send you back.

You're going back to heaven now,
From whence long ago you came;
You'll be welcomed back by God, Himself,
Who knows your doggy-name.

I think there's Frisbees up in heaven,
And rubber, squeaky toys;
And angels who will play with you,
And little girls and boys.

But, there won't be any thunderstorms,
And no vets with shots up there;
You won't even need a leash,
You'll run freely in God's air.

And when my time on earth is done,
And at heaven's gate I'm near,
I don't want any harps or horns,
Just ... happy barks to hear.

So, see you later, little friend,
I'm glad you're now pain-free;
And I'm glad you're sitting next to Jesus,
Now ... you wait right there for me.

~ Virginia Ellis ~ 

I stood by your bed last night, I came to have a peep.
I could see that you were crying, You found it hard to sleep.

I whined to you softly as you brushed away a tear,
"It's me, I haven't left you, I'm well, I'm fine, I'm here."

I was close to you at breakfast, I watched you pour the tea,
You were thinking of the many times, your hands reached down to me.

I was with you at the shops today, Your arms were getting sore.
I longed to take your parcels, I wish I could do more.

I was with you at my grave today, You tend it with such care.
I want to re-assure you, that I'm not lying there.

I walked with you towards the house, as you fumbled for your key.
I gently put my paw on you, I smiled and said " it's me."

You looked so very tired, and sank into a chair.
I tried so hard to let you know, that I was standing there.

It's possible for me, to be so near you everyday.
To say to you with certainty, "I never went away."

You sat there very quietly, then smiled, I think you knew....
in the stillness of that evening, I was very close to you.

The day is over... I smile and watch you yawning
and say "good-night, God bless, I'll see you in the morning."

And when the time is right for you to cross the brief divide,
I'll rush across to greet you and we'll stand, side by side.

I have so many things to show you, there is so much for you to see.
Be patient, live your journey out... then come home to be with me.

~ Author Unknown ~

As much as I loved the life we had and all the times we played,
I was so very tired and knew my time on earth would fade.
I saw a wonderous image then of a place that's trouble-free
Where all of us can meet again to spend eternity.
I saw the most beautiful Rainbow, and on the other side
Were meadows rich and beautiful--lush and green and wide!
And running through the meadows as far as the eye could see
Were animals of every sort as healthy as could be!
My own tired, failing body was fresh and healed and new
And I wanted to go run with them, but I had something left to do.
I needed to reach out to you, to tell you I'm alright.
That this place is truly wonderful, then a bright glow pierced the night.
'Twas the glow of many Candles shining bright and strong and bold
And I knew then that it held your love in its brilliant shades of gold.
For although we may not be together in the way we used to be,
We are still connected by a cord no human eye can see.
So whenever you need to find me, we're never far apart
If you look beyond the Rainbow and listen with your heart.

~ Author Unknown ~
 

When God calls little puppies to dwell with Him above,
We humans always question the wisdom of His love.
For no heartache can compare with the loss of one small 'child',
Who does so much to make this world seem wonderful and mild.

Perhaps God tires - always calling the aged to His fold,
And so He picks a rosebud before it can grow old.
God knows how much we need them and so He picks but few;
To make the land of heaven more beautiful to view.

Believing this is difficult, yet somehow we must try,
For the saddest word that mankind knows will always be "good-bye".
And so when little pups depart;  We, who are left behind,
must realize how much God loves puppies....
                             For angels are hard to find.

                                 ~ Author Unknown ~

The little dog arrived at the Rainbow Bridge, and a pack of dogs
rushed up to greet him.  He braced himself, expecting a fight, but this was the
first pack that wagged their tails and kissed him instead of attacking him.

It was beautiful here, and everyone was nice to him.  None of them had
been born in a puppy mill, like he had, and used for dog-bait fighting and
left to die in a shelter because he was a mix-breed battle-scarred cur and wasn't cute.
They explained why they were waiting for their humans who loved them.

"What is love?" he asked, and God let him go back to earth and find
out. Warm, and dark, he squeezed in with the others and waited for the day
to be born. Scared, he held back as long as he could, but finally got
dragged out, by his hind feet.  Hands without fur held him gently and rubbed
him dry and opened his mouth and guided him to a warm nipple with milk.  He didn't
get a good hold on it, because one of his big fat brothers pushed him aside.  The
human hand moved the other puppy to another nipple and held his body, so he
could drink.

"Ahhh, that's better, " he thought, and drank until his jaws got tired
and he curled up to sleep next to his warm hairy mother.  "I remember
this," he mused... "Too bad I'll have to grow up to be hit, left out in the cold
and rain, and used for dog-bait fighting, and die as an unclaimed rescue
dog. I remember what it's like, being a dog." he thought sadly.

That night, he crawled up to his mother and tried to nurse, but he
kept getting pushed off to the side.  When they were full, the big brothers
and sisters got their bottoms cleaned and he finally latched on to a nipple, but
the human hands weren't there to hold him up, and there wasn't any milk in any
of the nipples, anyway.  He was weak and so tiny.  It was even hard to stay
upright, and he fell over on his back and couldn't right himself.

So he began to cry, and suddenly the human hands were there, holding
him up and putting a rubber thing in his mouth. It didn't taste or feel like
mother but it was warm and made the ache in his tummy go away. He was having
trouble breathing as his lungs weren't fully developed, because he had
waited too long to join the others in the womb, as he took one last
romp at the Rainbow Bridge.  He could feel the heartbeat of the human, who had
laid him on her chest and covered him with a soft cloth, keeping him warm,
and soothing his bony body with gentle circling touches.

He kept thinking of his new friends who had been so nice to him at the
bridge and asked God if he could go back. God said, "Yes, but not just yet.
You wanted to experience Love."

So for several hours (seemed like days but it was dark and he couldn't
tell what time it was), the human supplemented his feeding and let him
experience the warmth of his mother's body and tongue, and the pile of warm soft littermates.
He got weaker, and the human held him more often, leaving the
littermates to sleep in a pile while he got caressed, kissed, and got to listen to
the heartbeat which was strong and loving.

Finally God came back and asked, "are you ready to come back to the
Rainbow Bridge?" "Yes, he responded," with a little sorrow, because the human
didn't want to let him go, and was crying. He pushed the air out of his lungs and
floated back to the Rainbow Bridge and looked back at the human,
who was still crying and holding the
limp body that he had borrowed for his trip.

"Thank you, God," he said.  "Love is beautiful, and I will wait near
the Bridge and let the human know, when she arrives, that I loved her, too."

Joy LaCaille
lakai@iag.net