BarkingProse - Part 10

Here We Go

by Journey • October 8, 2016

Journey

I promised Ash that I would do my part to keep BarkingProse running. I’d rather be out messing with the alpacas, but a promise is a promise.

The hardest thing for me is to pick a topic. Maybe it’s my age but I’m kinda all over the place. One day I want to post a bunch of blue dog baby pictures. Next I want to bark about what I did in class and how much I hate riding in elevators.

Ash said I should take a deep breath, stop running around in circles, and look inside my head for a picture of what I want to bark about.

That seemed like a silly way to start the process, but when I did that I got the clearest picture of Tess. That was strange because I never met Tess in this life, though we crossed paths in the spirit world before I was born.

I started going through old family pictures and suddenly I felt like Tess was with me, inside my head and heart. I got the strange feeling that Tess wasn’t gone, we just can’t see her.

Tess

Tess was a beautiful girl. She had gorgeous red fur and a great big smile. Ash loved her with all his heart. They used to lie around in the back yard shooting the breeze and barking at shadows.

Ash taught Tess how to play bump and run, but mostly they just had fun being together. Life is good when you have a best friend, but it hurts something awful to lose that friend.

Tess and Ash

Tess was beautiful on the outside, but inside she wasn’t built so good. She had the worst case of hip dysplasia the vet had ever seen and surgery couldn’t fix it. Then Tess got sick. Tests showed she had a huge tumor in her belly and her life in this world would soon be over.

Ash can’t talk about the last day he had with Tess. His blue eyes fill with tears and his lip quivers, but no words come out.

After Tess died Ash used to run away from home almost every day. Mom could hear him crashing through the brush, but he wouldn’t come back until he was worn out and hungry.

Mom knew how lonely Ash was without Tess. She knew Ash needed a friend, one of his own kind, another blue Aussie dog. That’s why I’m here. Ash won’t ever stop missing Tess, but now he has me and we’re hoping he won’t be so lonely anymore.

Ash and Journey

Asher

Time Moves On

by Asher • October 1, 2016

Ash

Time is a tricky thing. It brings you the future but it also takes away the present. I’m just a mutt, but I know that time doesn’t heal all wounds. Some things can’t be fixed. Some losses are forever.

It’s been five months since Shiloh left us. I miss that little girl every day.

I’m not sure what the universe had in mind when it gave Shiloh so many challenges. I do know she overcame abuse, starvation, a crippled body and cancer to live a happy life at Asherpark.

My life has come full circle since I was born in 2006. I was one of two blue dogs when I joined my beloved Codie. She died in 2009 but I still miss her like it was yesterday.

For six years we took in as many rescue dogs as we could manage. Mom would have brought in more but there wasn’t space in the bedroom for another mutt.

One by one we said goodbye to the rescue dogs we had come to love: Darcy, Nellie, Jack, Mama, Tess and finally Shiloh. Now it’s just two blue dogs again – me and Journey.

Ash and Journey

A couple weeks ago Journey asked me why we weren’t posting Barks anymore. I told her we were too busy with classes and all her training, but that wasn’t the real reason.

After Shiloh died my heart felt heavy. Even the funny things Journey did couldn’t make me laugh. Then one day I saw Journey loving on mom. Journey’s little butt was wiggling, her tongue was going a mile a minute, and mom was laughing like the old days.

That’s when I realized I had to let go of missing Shiloh. I couldn’t keep wishing for the past. Little Journey is already sixteen months old. I’m ten years old. Time keeps bringing us lots of good stuff. I gotta pay attention to what’s happening now.

This morning I told Journey the truth about why we hadn’t been posting Barks. She looked at me real sad for a minute. I thought she was gonna cry.

Instead Journey looked right into my heart and said, “We can do this Ash. We can keep BarkingProse running. We’re working dogs……we can do this!”

Yes we can, Journey. Yes we can.

Shiloh

Heart Full Of Sorrow

by Asher • May 24, 2016

Ash

Sometimes I get to thinking too much and it makes my head hurt. When Tess was with me I’d play some bump and run with her and forget about what made me sad. Now I’m sad because Tess isn’t with me anymore.

I’m so grateful I have Journey. She can’t replace Tess but she has such a sunny spirit she always makes me smile. When I look at her I see myself as a pup.

Now I’m raising a pup of my own. I’m Uncle Ash to Journey and she looks at me with the same trust I felt for Codie.

What’s making me sad is thinking about all the mutts that have passed through Asherpark. It feels like one loss after another starting with my beloved Aunt Codie, who helped raise me from a pup and taught me my manners.

We said good-bye to Shiloh two weeks ago. We all knew her end was coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier. We only had Shi for three years, but she’ll stay in our hearts forever.

Shiloh lived a lot longer than anyone expected. She was diagnosed with cancer eighteen months ago. We were told she might only have a few months to live, but that little mutt fooled everybody.

On her last day Shiloh told me she wanted to talk to me. We wandered down by the front gate while Journey was busy chasing flies. Shiloh lay in the cool green grass and sniffed the wind.

Shiloh said she was ready to give up her body and become a spirit dog. She said she wasn’t afraid to die but she worried about leaving the rest of us behind.

“You have a great big bark but you’re really a big softie,” Shiloh said. “You’ve wept for every dog who’s crossed over.”

It’s true. I’ve loved every mutt who has called Asherpark home. I miss them all terribly.

“I know you’re gonna cry when I go, Ash. That’s okay. Your tears show me how much I mattered to you,” Shiloh said.

“I love you, Shiloh!” I blurted out.

“I know, Ash. I love you too,” Shiloh whispered.

Shiloh straightened up her crooked back. She lifted her head high and let the breeze blow through her beautiful creamy fur.

Shiloh

“Courage, Ash. When you think of me I want you to remember my courage. I had everything going against me, but I never gave up. Don’t you give up either,” Shiloh implored.

We walked slowly back to the house. It was all I could do to keep from blubbering.

“I promise, Shiloh. I promise.”