"In the whole history of the world there is not one thing that money can not buy...to wit - the wag of a dogs tail." Josh Billings.
In dedication to Goldy and all the other good dogs.
A combination of things has made me write this blog 1. The release of Lady and The Tramp on diamond edition - my favourite Disney film. 2. The death of my friends dog and 3. I read this quote on Tumblr - “I’ve heard once you die every dog you once knew or ever loved runs toward you to say hi. That makes me incredibly happy.”
All my life I have been a dog lover despite never actually having owned my own dog. Most little girls had dolly's in their pram - I had stuffed toy dogs. I had a variety of stuffed dogs from really big ones, robot ones and to ones that came with leads so that I could walk them. One of the dogs was a white fluffy one which pretty much returned black after walking it but I still loved it - muck and all.
I had the PC game Dogz4 - I would spend my Friday nights at my Dad's playing with my virtual pals. Obviously when the Nintendo DS came out I went out and bought Nintendogs. My favourite Disney films were always the ones with dogs too Lady and The Tramp, 101 Dalmatians and Oliver and Company. I adored all the other ones too like Bambi, Aladdin and The Lion King but the dog orientated ones always facilitate my hope that one of my parents would get me a dog. They never did.
My Mum promised my a dog from the rescue poodle place (but then moved me to live in a tower) and my Dad's girlfriend is too house proud for any pets or my Dad would definitely have a dog - like me he is a big dog lover. He never really speaks of the boxer dog that he had or of Rex but from what I know they both came to him. It was either the boxer or Rex who would sleep in his car garage but I'm sure they both came to him in obscure ways. My Gran once also ended up with next doors cat Fluffy after it refused to leave. It is safe to say that my family have had their fair share of pets over the years.
I don't really remember Rex much but I remember his death. I remember how visibly upset my Dad was and how upset Sandy was. Sandy is the family dog that I remember. She was more than a dog to me she was my friend. Rex and Sandy were the real life Lady and The Tramp. They loved each other and they had pups. I wasn't born when Sandy had her pups but I've heard all about them and the little one that died. I'm sure both Rex and the pup are buried in my Gran's garden.
I am an only child but there was also no other children in my family until Cara was born when I was age nine so Sandy became my friend. I spent a lot of time whilst growing up with Sandy. I would just sit and talk to her. She was a special dog.
One of my favourite stories is the time we took Sandy to the park and she climbed up the play frame as if to go down the slide and got stuck on the bridge. I don't quite know what she was thinking when she done that and it wasn't funny at the time but looking back on it it's hilarious.
I realised just how much I missed her the other night. The night Sandy died is still pretty painful for us all. It was a Friday night and my Gran and Aunt had both been working at the bar. Sandy lived with my Aunt but she lived at my Gran's house when my Aunt lived there and she still stayed over occasionally. To make the situation even worse my Gran had been drinking that night and when my Aunt phoned to say Sandy was dying my Gran didn't think and just jumped in her car. This obviously resulted in her losing her license for a year but I don't think she regrets it. She got to be with Sandy before she died - that's the important thing.
I've knew a lot of dogs in my time and the ones that are no longer with us I miss. The quote I used from tumblr makes me smile - the idea of seeing all these doggies again and them greeting me in the afterlife makes me happy. Not many things can compare to a dog greeting you with its wee happy face after a shitty day or a random dog smiling at you. You know when a dog smiles at that it is genuine.
I had this conversation with my Mum a couple of weeks ago:
Me: I saw a wee papillon on the bus today.
Mum: Were you speaking to it?
Me: No, I just smiled at it.
Today is a sad day because one my best friend's dog had to be put to sleep because she was old and it was the kindest thing to do. It's heartbreaking to know that Goldy is gone though. She was like a sister to my friend rather than a dog and I think her death deserves the same respect that the death of any family member would receive because for some a dog is a family member it isn't just a pet.
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