Libby the Wonder Dog

I wrote this piece in the months leading up to my dog Libby’s passing.

I dedicate it to all of us who have known the love of a furry angel who comes to this earth with one purpose, to share their love with their beloved humans.

Libby The Wonder Dog

Have you ever bent down to place a bowl of doggy-dinner in front of your beloved furry friend and suddenly noticed how old she has become since last spring, only a few short months ago?

Have you ever looked into her adoring eyes only to see her return her gaze through a cloudy film that dulls the loving twinkle.
A rolling in mist that you have never ever noticed before?

Have you ever strolled down the pet food aisle,
Past the puppy section, brimming with roly-poly pictures of labrador babies, breathing puppy breath you can almost smell.

Past the active dog section, alive with pictures of flying canine-adolescents chasing invisible sticks, pictures like the ones in your photo album from just a few short years ago.

Then arriving at the seniors section for less active dogs.
and realising in that moment that it was a heart burstingly brief journey from one section of the aisle to its opposite end.

Have you ever sat reading and suddenly felt compelled to go outside silently summonsed by your beloved furry friends silent lonely call, to be rewarded with laughter and delight as joy spins her uncontrollably into a twirling dirvish of ecstasy.

and all because you have suddenly appeared, granting the ultimate wish of her devoted-doggy heart.

Her belief in the magic of manifestation unwavering  is unencumbered by doubt and uncertainty .

Have you ever noticed quite suddenly that you’ve been calling her old girl for quite some time, even though her puppy photo is still stuck to the side of the fridge.

hmmm that old familiar photo seems to be aging and yellowed.

I hadn’t noticed that before.

Have you ever been patting and rubbing her coat and suddenly felt how dry the skin has become with time, How that living breathing organ of fur seems more itchy and scratchy than ever before and you know that the vet would say to give her another shot of that stuff  that relieves the itch but demands another price on her organs and blood, each shot needing to be stronger than the one before.

Can I put her through those cortizone blasts again? She got so sick that last time .
Diet
Herbs
Healing
Hygiene
Medicines

Nothing has ever worked for any length of time.

Have you ever sat down at your computer to try and capture just the slightest tiniest piece of a Love that transcends the kingdoms of fur and skin and two legs or four and felt the tears sting and cloud your eyes because you know you are coming to the end of your beloved furry friends story , that she may not be with you for another Spring and in the telling of a small part of her life story the heart releases bitter-sweet tears of sadness and joy .

A short life

A Tail of moments spent in the presence of a wingless angel wearing coat and tails.

So you step away from the page and outside into the cool evening air and notice yet again that she seems stiffer than ever before.

Her old bones crack as she rises to greet you her tail wags with ageless gusto and you entice her with her old rubber ball

Her eyes light up, the mist suddenly gone
as the ageless ball-game passion warms muscles stiff with age
and we are magically transported back, through the aisles of time

As the old girl embodies the delight of playing Fetch
We are granted a brief reprieve in the hour glass of her very most absolutely most favourite game

Have you ever noticed that, you can no longer say, She would chase the ball all day if you kept throwing it for her.

Her world is more alive when she is in the company of
Love
Activity and
Play.

Libby
My gorgeous little furry friend
Daughter of tragically ferocious, fiercely  protective guard dog
A beautiful  fur-baby whose life was never really  free of the high anxiety of growing in a hyper vigilant guard dogs womb

Libby. Totally devoted
Highly strung and emotional (leaving her tied up outside of the store could result in a puddle of tears from her bladder)
Infinitely loyal
Fierce protector
Butterfly and March-fly stalker (she has never caught one yet despite hundreds of hours staring fixedly at the moving shadows)

Libby. My gorgeous and loving Friend.

Have you ever noticed how excruciatingly short life can be when we speak of love and other indefinable things.

In the beginning I used to wonder why I went from a 12 year loving partnership with peaceful, old-Soul, woolly old english sheep dog to a highly strung, german shephard cross breed who began her first few months in a leg cast from losing a play fight with a cattle dog who mirrored her rough-play-mixed-with
guard dog ways.

And 11 years later it is all so clear.

She came to teach me that Love can never be defined by who or what has gone before there is no mold to define how Love shapes our life  because Love IS the mold

Thank you Libby-loo. I Love you. xxxx

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Libby loved to bury her bones in the cold ashes of the fire circle…

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