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Animals and Heaven


foreverhis

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Hi everyone.  I saw this today and thought it might be a good reminder for us about how important our pets are in the grand scheme of things.  The second one is a graphic that ran in our paper a while back and that others here have as well.  Whenever I get down about missing our most beloved furry family, I try to remember that they will be waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge because that bond of unconditional love can never be broken.:wub:

When it was nearly my husband's time, I told him I love him for the millionth time and then I said, "Love, it's time for you to go find Charlie (Keeshond) and Penny (red tabby Persian)."  They are our most special and precious out of all the animals we've ever had in our lives.  It gives me a tiny bit of comfort thinking about their joyous reunion.  No one can ever convince me that animals don't go to Heaven.  I don't believe it could be Heaven without them.

 

Animals in heaven.jpg

Dog heaven.gif

 

Here are Charlie and Penny.  I miss them to this day, even though we lost them more than 15 years ago.

 

Pet1 (3).jpg

Pet2 (2).jpg

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The second comic is one I shared, the grief counselor/owner of the other site I'm at posted it for me when Arlie died.  IMO animals are the best of us, so of course they go to heaven!

 Along these lines:

Pets go to heaven
We Will See Our Pets in Heaven: The Afterlife of Animals from a Biblical Perspective: Burgess, Brian

These pictures are adorable!  Are these yours, Annie?

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Yes, those are ours.

We got Charlie as a puppy after we moved from an apartment to a leased house. Though we would adopt later in life, we bought him from a reputable local breeder. Keeshonds aren’t “popular” so they are very careful with breeding lines. He was from the top champion line and was gorgeous, perfect actually, but we had to sign papers with the breeder, our vet, and the AKC that we wouldn’t breed him because only registered breeders have all the genetic information. We hadn’t planned to breed him anyway. John had had Keeshonds in the past and knew they are a wonderful family dog, bred to mind the barges and the children in the Netherlands. He adored all his girls and was so loving and loyal. A mama’s boy who took his cues from the alpha man of the family; John was such a good man and great example for him.

We got Penny as a kitten a few months later, also from a reputable breeder. John was highly allergic to short haired cats (we had to find a new home for my sweet short haired Lightning when we married; she lived in love and luxury for the rest of her life and I got to visit her), but Persians lack the third kind of feline hair, which is the one he was allergic to. I was thrilled and promised to take care of all the cat stuff.

The funny thing is that she wasn’t actually the kitten we chose. We picked her identical twin brother, but between turning around to sign the papers and the breeder swooping up the kitten, they switched places. The next day, the breeder called and asked if we had seen the vet yet. We had just gotten home from learning we had a girl. The breeder offered to come and switch them, but it was too late by then. John and Penny were bonded. Clearly, she knew she was meant for him. They were precious together. This big, strong man was just a pile of mush around her.

All the animals in our lives were loved, but those two were beyond special.

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My neighbor had a Keeshond/Husky, she was beautiful!  Smaller than a Husky, shorter, beautiful blue eyes and such a sweet nature!   She was homed for the seventh time with them, they gave her a forever home...but had they not, I would have taken her in a heartbeat!  She loved to dig and I remember Lani (her mom) telling me, "It's okay, we have a lot of property..."  I loved it!  

That is quite a story about Penny!  Clearly it was meant to be.  Just as my Kodie is.  My son made me pick between him and his brother, his brother seemed like he was on steroids compared to him, so I picked the more docile of the two...ha!  He loves to spin in excitement when he meets people!  But he can entertain himself or lay around at home, getting most of his energy out on his daily play dates and walks.  He's been perfect for me.

I can understand totally John's love for Keeshonds, I've never owned one but did enjoy my neighbor's.  Great temperament.

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Kees really are wonderful family dogs.  So loving and loyal.  They are protective without being aggressive.  And they love, love, love water.  When Charlie was about 6 months old, we took him on a little camping weekend with us.  We had him leashed and were walking along the Santa Barbara wharf.  Suddenly, "sploosh" and I feel the retractable leash start spinning.  We looked over the edge and there was the puppy, happily paddling along.  John reached down, picked him up by the harness/collar like a duffel bag, and hauled him out.  He smiled (Kees are nicknamed "the smiling Dutchman") and bounced around shaking off water like, "Look mom and dad!  I found water!"  That was only one of many times he jumped into water just for the fun of it.  We ended up getting him one of those plastic toddler swimming pools for the hot Bay Area summers.  He loved that silly thing. 

In our leased house, the second bathroom had two doors, one from the hall and one from the laundry room.  If one of the girls went in to shower and forgot to check the laundry room door, Charlie took that as an invitation to join in the fun.  More than once, John and I would hear, "sploosh" followed by a girl's voice saying, "Charlie!" and then "Come get the dog!"  Nope; you forget to close the door, you get to dry off the dog.

It does take a commitment to grooming because of their long double coat, but if you get them used to brushing when they're puppies, then it just becomes part of the routine.  John already knew how to clip nails, so he taught me.  Charlie was the best mama's boy I could have ever wanted.  I sure wish he was here with me now.

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13 hours ago, foreverhis said:

And they love, love, love water. 

Kodie will not go in the pool with Jazzy, nowhere near it!  Jazzy LOVES water, splashes around like a horse, so cute to watch!

Kodie got sick Sun. from eating meat/veg thrown in Iris' compost pile.  He threw up a lot Sun.  He ate normal Mon.  Tues. didn't eat again and threw up more of the same last night, getting worried about him.  Horrid roads today, tomorrow am dental appt in the valley.  Today snow to the valley floor, extreme ice, wrecks.  Wouldn't you know.  I'm worried about my baby.

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5 hours ago, KayC said:

Kodie will not go in the pool with Jazzy, nowhere near it!  Jazzy LOVES water, splashes around like a horse, so cute to watch!

Kodie got sick Sun. from eating meat/veg thrown in Iris' compost pile.  He threw up a lot Sun.  He ate normal Mon.  Tues. didn't eat again and threw up more of the same last night, getting worried about him.  Horrid roads today, tomorrow am dental appt in the valley.  Today snow to the valley floor, extreme ice, wrecks.  Wouldn't you know.  I'm worried about my baby.

Oh no!  Oh, Kay, I will send out a prayer for both of you.  I hope you can get him to the vet.  It sure sounds like he literally got food poisoning or perhaps an infection from the compost.  I'm sure you've already called the vet, so perhaps they can offer advice to get him through the day today and then see him tomorrow.  But if he gets really bad, I know you'll figure out a way to get him there and we will all be praying for your safety and his health.  He's just so darn adorable!  ((HUGS)) and love to you both.

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Oh no @KayC I hope he is okay. Dogs are pretty strong that way. I hope the weather clears in case you need to take him in. Please keep us posted. 

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Couldn't get him in, no openings, roads were the worst day to go out, but this morning he seems better, even ate most of his food during the night, will see how he does.  He didn't seem sick when he played with Jazzy, took him twice yesterday.  Hoping/praying this passes and he is okay, he does seem it.

Having to make the long trek to the dentist this morning, leaving at 8:45, will be home at 2:30 as I have to get groceries too.  I hate driving in the snow, and of course we got more this morning, yesterday, over a week now, day/night.

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8 hours ago, KayC said:

Hoping/praying this passes and he is okay, he does seem it.

Me too, Kay.  He's such a wonderful soul and so are you.:wub:

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On 12/16/2021 at 7:32 AM, AJWCat said:

Crossing my fingers. Goodness we've got to watch these little guys like hawks. 

You're not a kidding!  Last night Jazzy had drug rotten lettuce out of the compost pile and hid it in the bushes...guess who helped her scarf it down!  Sigh...ANYTHING but dogfood!

17 hours ago, foreverhis said:

Me too, Kay.  He's such a wonderful soul and so are you.:wub:

Aww, thanks!

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