Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: CET
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 06:24 PM

I haven't quite made my mind up about the virtual Internet type of hug, but you can be sure that there is a real one waiting for you the next time we meet. As for how to tell your nephew, I agree with gnu. There is only one way to tell bad news - do it honestly and directly. Your nephew may appreciate the fact that you thought enough of him to tell him.

Edmund

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Becca72
Date: 10 Feb 07 - 12:15 PM

I hear you have a yellow visitor this weekend. Please make sure he doesn't further tarnish the family name in the dog park down the street!

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: gnu
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 04:24 PM

Just be completely honest and factual and focus on the good side. Your heart will guide you in this.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: ranger1
Date: 09 Feb 07 - 03:56 PM

OK, I'm over the worst now. Jason's still a basketcase, but we all heal on our own schedule. The next issue is how to tell my 10 year old nephew. He lives in Kentucky and I only get to see him in the summer. I don't want him to come north and find out then, and I'm not sure how best to break it to him. Any help is appreciated.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Col K
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 05:57 PM

I remember walking on the beach with you and Clancy last time I was over and he was a gentleman in every sense of the word. He was a wonderful friend to you and to Jason and he will be missed by all those who had met him.
Love and hugs to you both
Colin

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: KT
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 12:00 AM

I REALLY like the last 8 words of Spaw's post.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

KT

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Becca72
Date: 07 Feb 07 - 03:48 PM

Thank you SO much Spaw for posting that story. It was sent to me last year when my cat, Mara Jade, passed away and I have been looking for another copy.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: catspaw49
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 03:19 PM

Wow.....That's good to know. I pulled it from a Weim site and it had no attribution. I am glad it was in fact a real story. It rea as though it might be ala "All Things" but I didn't know. Thanks....and again, my best thoughts to you.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 03:17 PM

Oh, boy. I'm so sorry to hear the sad news. We've been through it, too, and I must confess the only time I've come close to punching somebody's lights out since I left the armed forces was when my dear cat Cecil died and a colleague made a stupid joke about the vet bill.

There's no such thing as an ordinary house dog (or house cat), any more than there's such a thing as an ordinary child or spouse or parent.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: ranger1
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 02:04 PM

Would that be doghair on a lollipop?

BTW, the post that Spaw contributed was originally published in Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul as "Rites of Passage" and is by Robin Downing, a vet from Windsor, Colorado.

I've been reading a couple of good books that are helping with the grieving process. I bought a bunch when our terrier, Donald, died. He and Clancy were best buds in life and now they're together again, wherever it is that good dogs go when they leave us. Anyway, the book I like the best is Old Dogs Remembered edited by Bud Johns. The Chicken Soup books are pretty good, too.

Last night, while I was sawing wood, Jason was going through the photo albums picking out pix of our boy. We'll scan them and put a link at some point this week.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: kendall
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 01:48 PM

When my Clancy died it wasn't long before I went and got another dog. Although Seamus will never be able to replace Clancy, he has made his own place in my life. And, he has taken to Jacqui like hair on a lollipop.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Amos
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 09:59 AM

Tami,

What a beautiful picture!! Thanks for a smile, and here's a toast to Clancy, wherever he is.


A

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Alba
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 09:59 AM

Tami I love the image of people calling Clancy's name down the path in chain fashion and then Clancy running past the clapping Hikers back up the Mount Washington trail. That is a great image in my mind:)
Thanks for sharing it.
Jude

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: ranger1
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 09:45 AM

Thanks, Spaw, That was a good one. It's getting a litle better for me, I've actually had thoughts of going to the shelter and filling out the paperwork. I'm by no means ready to get another one just yet, but it would be nice to have all the paperwork filled out. Jason's still having a very hard time.

One of the hardest things is the routine is missing. For 15 years, the first thing I did when I got up in the morning was take the dog out. I'd wake up and he'd be looking at me with those big brown eyes of his, the expression in them usually some variation of "well it's about time you woke up!"

He was a great trail dog, we hiked a lot of mountains in Maine and New Hampshire together. The time we hiked Mt. Washington, we'd gotten above tree line and Clancy stepped off the trail for a sniff. We'd gone past him when he got back on the trail and he got confused and went down the trail instead of up. There were a few minutes of panic on my part, then my uncle yelled down the trail "hey! Anyone seen a yellow dog with a red backpack? Answers to Clancy." People passed the message down the trail until someone saw him (he'd backtracked almost a mile), and then there was a chain of people calling "Clancy!" all the way back to us. As he'd run by people, they'd all clap. He stuck pretty close for the rest of that hike.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: jacqui.c
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 08:05 AM

{{{{{{{{Spaw}}}}}}}}}

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: kendall
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 08:00 AM

Spaw, that was beautiful.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 04:53 AM

Spaw I bet that post was lovely and I also suspect it would have laid me low. So sorry my friend, but I haven't dared to read it.
G ¦¬]

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Wordsmith
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 02:56 AM

Many hugs and sympathy from me and a sympathetic *meow* from Nikki, my remaining cat, to you and Jason. Lovely pictures of Clancy. Nice stories of Clancy and Ted and the Clancy Bros.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Alba
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 10:18 PM

Right there with ya KT.
That's why Tami got another hug.

Spaw...fight me off if you like but here's one for you too..{{{{Big Hug}}}}}

Jude

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: KT
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 10:11 PM

Thanaks Spaw, There go the waterworks all over my keyboard again.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Alba
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 09:24 PM

Tami have another...
{{{{{{{{{Big Hug}}}}}}}}
Thinking of you
Jude

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: catspaw49
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 09:23 PM

I pulled this off one of the Doggie boards about a year or so back.......

Why Dogs Don't Live As Long As People

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-
old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his
wife Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very much
attached to Belker and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the
family there were no miracles left for Belker, and offered to
perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.
As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it
would be good the four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure.
They felt as though Shane might learn something from the
experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's
family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old
dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was
going on.

Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The
little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any
difficulty or confusion.

We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering
aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than
human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next
stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life
like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?"

The four-year-old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do
that, so they don't have to stay as long."

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.


~Author Unknown~

Spaw

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: ranger1
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 07:54 PM

Mary--the Clancy Brothers, of course! And Kendall, thanks for the visual. I needed that laugh.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: kendall
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 07:45 PM

My Clancy ran over Julia Child's Dacshund in a fit of energy release. She was not amused.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: SINSULL
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 07:42 PM

Ted Kennedy and the Clancy Bothers, Wonder who Clancy liked best...
RIP old man. We miss you.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: ranger1
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 07:08 PM

Jason and I were talking about some of our favorite Clancy moments this afternoon and I was reminded of some of the people that he met over the years.

The second summer I had him, we lived above the museum at Colonial Pemaquid. I used to take him for long walks first thing in the morning before I started work and one morning there were a couple of guys and a kid that had come in by boat and were wandering around trying to figure out when the restaurant opened. I thought the older guy looked kind of familiar, but didn't think a whole lot about it. Clancy ran up and introduced himself, sat on the guy's feet and looked up at him adoringly. As he's petting my dog, I realize that it's Ted Kennedy. He's having this long conversation with my dog, and then says exactly two words to me: "Nice dog."

The first year I moved to Portland, about nine years ago now, the Clancy Brothers played at a place called Raoul's. As a joke, I'd taken a photo of Clancy Dog with me and I got Bobby and Paddy Clancy to sign it. They thought it was a riot. After the show, Paddy Clancy asked if he could come out to meet Clancy Dog. He spent a few minutes petting him and agreed that he was fine dog.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Joybell
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 06:05 PM

Tami and Jason, Hugs hugs and more hugs from Aus. Sweet thoughts and happy memories.
Joy, Hildebrand and Elle (our new old-lady dog)

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Becca72
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 04:37 PM

Tami,
I'm sorry I'm just getting to this post today (had my own issues this week) but you can count on big hugs from further down in southern Maine. I owe you a real one next time I see you.
I still get weepy when I think of Kendall's yellow dog, Clancy. They are magnificent creatures. How lucky we are to know them, even if it is for too short a time. Cherish the memories.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Cool Beans
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 02:09 PM

Hugs to you, Jacqui. WE've had to put down a cat or two in our family and it's always hard and it's alwys sad. After a while, though, the good memories remain and the twinges of sadness are fewer.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Hawker
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 01:54 PM

Much Love from Cornwall and a comforting lick from my staffy Hawker. Hang on to all those special memories, I have no doubt you made the right decision and that shows just how much you loved him.
Sleep well Clancy.
Kindest thoughts and hugs to you and yours,
Lucy x

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Linda Goodman Zebooker
Date: 05 Feb 07 - 01:33 PM

So sorry to hear about the loss of your dog. May the memories be sweet. {{{{hugs}}}}

Linda Goodman

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Big Mick
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 03:35 PM

Tami, I'm not around these parts much these days, but I am relieved I checked in today. You know that you have a Big Mick hug coming at you both right now. I am so sorry for your loss.

For what its worth, I have a new pup in my house right now. He is a chocolate brown Labridoodle and his name is Riley. Handsome young man, he is, and too damn smart for his own good. He has woven himself right into the fabric of our family, dispensing liberal doses of puppy love and extra wet kisses to all within sight. And he quickly figured out that if Momma ain't happy, nothing is good. So he spends a lot of time spoilin' Mary Lou. Today I will sing him KT's "It's a Dog's Life", read him the poems Kendall and Deckman posted, tell him about a wonderful old gent named Clancy, and tell him he needs to use him for a role model.

Much love to you and Jason. Grieve hard, then get on with the fond memories.

Love,

Mick

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 02:55 PM

Tough call Tami, I know just how it feels.
Strength and comfort to you and Jason.
Giok

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: beardedbruce
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 02:23 PM

{{{HUG}}}

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Spot
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 01:07 PM

Ranger 1

          Been there , done that .. its awful... time heals a bit

          Remember the good times...

                         Spot

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 08:43 AM

Your Secret Santee wishes you the best too.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: ranger1
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 08:21 AM

Thank you all. I love Mudcat, where else could I get hugs and condolences from people all over the world?

Micca, those pics are lovely. That was a beautiful day, wasn't it?

Clancy was my college graduation present to myself. I was renting a room from some cousins and they said I could get a dog. My cousin Brenda and her little boy Joe drove me to the shelter and we started looking around. I was looking for something shepherdy or terrierish, definitely not a lab or a golden or any sort of mix of either one. My criteria were: male, housebroken, good with kids and neutered. I had a husky/shepherd cross picked out that I liked, but I checked them all out several times. The beagle doing the wall of death around his kennel and barking hysterically was out. So were the two that growled at Joe. It was a lovely spring day (May 13th, 1992, it was a Wednesday) and a lot of the dogs were outside enjoying the weather. There was this one dog, a quiet fellow, who stood there and politely wagged his tail when I stopped and said hello to him. He had a thoughtful crease between his eyes and seemed mildly surprised that I had stopped to talk to him personally. He was this skinny, gawky yellow dog, obviously some sort of retriever mix. I liked him, but I did want that husky/shepherd. I then did one of the smartest things anyone looking for a dog can do: I talked with the shelter manager. I told her what I needed, she told me not to get the husky/shepherd, she didn't think he could be trusted around kids, but she had the perfect dog. She came back out with that skinny, gawky, quiet, polite fellow who'd been outside and said: "I don't know a whole lot about this guy's past, but he's very sweet." I didn't take a whole lot of convincing and named him Clancy right there on the spot. I'd always thought that would be a great name for a dog. He was about 18 months old at the time and had dumped off on the side of the road in Newcastle, Maine. The shelter had had him for over a month and no-one ever came to claim him. Stupid people. I'm glad they didn't realize what they had, because I would have missed out on 15 really great years with a really great dog.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: kendall
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 08:08 AM

Here is the poem my friend wrote on the loss of his dog. It tears me up ever
Yellow Dog

You keep your lofty abstract god,
Myself, I choose a child of Pan,
An ordinary yellow dog
Who does for love what mortals can,
Who stretches out her mortal frame
Determinedly, although she's lame
For one more walk beside her man.

Whose ashes grace the forest way
We roamed together yesterday.
And, to the wilder god I pray:
Give her soul some woods to run,
A stick to fetch, a patch of sun.
And near her, Pan, preserve a place
For me, come from a lesser race.

Bill Levenworth cr 1994

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: kendall
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 08:04 AM

I'd be glad to post YELLOW DOG for you.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: jacqui.c
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 07:58 AM

What wonderful pieces Bob and Elmer.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Deckman
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 07:47 AM

Tami, perhaps this poem by Robinson Jeffers will give you some comfort. Bob

THE HOUSE DOG'S GRAVE (Robinson Jeffers)

I'VE CHANGED MY WAYS A LITTLE: I CANNOT NOW
RUN WITH YOU IN THE EVENINGS ALONG THE SHORE,
EXCEPT IN A KIND OF DREM: AND YOU, IF YOU DREAM A MOMENT,
YOU SEE ME THERE.

SO LEAVE AWHILE THE PAW-MARKS ON THE FRONT DOOR,
WHERE I USED TO SCRATCH TO GO OUT OR IN,
AND YOU'D SOON OPEN: LEAVE ON THE KITCHEN FLOOR
THE MARKS OF MY DRINKING PAN.

I CANNOT LIE BY YOUR FIRE AS I USED TO DO
ON THE WARM STONE,
NOR AT THE FOOt OF YOUR BED: ALL THE NIGHT THROUGH
I LIE ALONE.

BUT YOUR KIND THOUGHT HAS LAID ME LESS THAN SIX FEET
OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW WHERE FIRELIGHT SO OFTEN PLAYS,
AND WHERE YOU SIT TO READ - AND I FEAR OFTEN GRIEVING FOR ME-
EVERY NIGHT YOUR LAMPLIGHT LIES ON MY PLACE.

YOU, MAN AND WOMAN, LIVE SO LONG, IT IS HARD
TO THINK OF YOU EVER DYING
A LITTLE DOG WOULD GET TIRED, LIVING SO LONG.
I HOPE THAT WHEN YOU ARE LYING

UNDER THE GROUND LIKE, ME YOUR LIVES WILL APPEAR
AS GOOD AND JOYFULL AS MINE.
NO, DEAR, THAT'S TOO MUCH TO HOPE: YOU ARE NOT SO WELL CARED FOR
AS I HAVE BEEN.

AND NEVER HAVE KNOWN THE PASSIONATE UNDIVIDED
FIDELITIES THAT I KNEW.
YOUR MINDS ARE PERHAPS TOO ACTIVE, TOO MANY SIDED,
BUT TO ME THEY WERE TRUE.

YOU WERE NEVER MASTERS, BUT FRIENDS. I WAS YOUR FRIEND.
I LOVED YOU WELL, AND WAS LOVED. DEEP LOVE UNDURES
TO THE END AND FAR PAST THE END. IF THIS IS THE END,
I AM NOT LONELY. I AM NOT AFRAID. I AM STILL YOURS.

Robinson Jeffers 1941

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: gnu
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 06:05 AM

Thoughts and prayers.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 06:03 AM

Thoughts sent from Yorkshire. It's difficult with animals because you can't explain to them what's happening. I've been there so I know how painful it is.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: freda underhill
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 05:43 AM

a big e-hug for you ranger (and another for you pat!)

freda

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Partridge
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 05:40 AM

Big Hugs to both of you. I'm sat here crying for a yellow dog I never knew, but I do know the heartbreak when a loved dog leaves us.
Its 25 years since my black lab (butch) died. He was my best mate.

Thinking of you and sending warm happy and a little bit sniffly thoughts,

love

Pat x

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Micca
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 05:31 AM

For anyone wondering who we are talking about, for some pix of the Old Warrior Try Here

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: KT
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 02:31 AM

Tami, I bet he did TOO question your sanity....but he loved ya anyway!!

KT

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Alec
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 01:41 AM

A hug from the North Sea including one from 2 cats.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Slag
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 01:39 AM

Big hugs. My heart goes out to you. One of the hardest things I've ever done was having my 14 year old German Shorthair put down.

Subject: RE: Ranger1 needs a Mudcat hug
From: Janie
Date: 04 Feb 07 - 12:14 AM

How heartbreaking, Tami. I'm so very sorry.

{{{{{{{{{{{{HUG}}}}}}}}}}}}

Janie