Thats a very good point Rolosmum - I think I know that I am going to get another flatcoat, probably soon before Luna is too old to cope with a pup around. Thanks for your post

A Glimpse Of The Rainbow Bridge
by Jean L. Mowry-Everett


Was it today; yesterday; a week; a month ago?
There are no days; there are no nights since my furchild died.
I reach to pet my furry friend who is no longer here.
My heart is broken; my arms are empty; how many tears I've cried.
I leave the house, into the lane we always walked together.
The rain is falling. I notice not. Just more tears on my face.
She used to lead me down the lane. Her spirit leads me still.
But we go a different way to a very strange and different place.

I stand before a rustic bridge I've never seen before.
I stop. I know I'm not to cross. But why, I want to know.
And then the rain suddenly stops. I look up into the clouds.
I look down. The bridge is gone and in its place is a rainbow.

I look across the Rainbow Bridge and see a joyful sight;
Thousands of healthy furchildren playing with my beloved pet.
I want to run and love her, but I'm rooted to the spot.
She looks and wags her tail and I hear her bark, "Not yet."

And then her bark turns to a voice and I hear her say,
"You cared for me, you played with me and loved me to the end.
I'm healthy now, don't cry for me. I'll meet you here again.
Others need your love and care. I'm sending you a friend."

I rub my eyes and the rainbow is again a rustic bridge.
I send a prayer for that quick glimpse to the loving God above.
I hear a noise and glance back down. I can't believe my eyes.
Across the bridge, my darling pet sent a furbaby for me to love.

I pick up the furry bundle, hold her close to my dampened cheek.
She nuzzles my neck, kisses my tears. It's true love at first sight.
Not to replace the one who's gone; another who needs my love and care.
My eyes are drawn upward to see a Rainbow Bridge in radiating light.

Joedee that is lovely! Aerolor glad to have helped a little, i find it so hard to make big decisions, sleep helps they happen overnight too!

Although that said the decision to get both dogs happened really quickly so some of the biggest decisions of my life happen with the least thought and I have never regretted one yet! So maybe less head and more heart is my motive!

I don't think I'll ever get over the death of my old boy

He was my protector, and best friend.....There is definitely something missing now he's gone. It's been 2 years next month, I just don't feel ready to get another dog.

About 18 months before he died, I did get another dog. A pup, I wanted my old boy to have someone to play with, thought it might lift his spirits abit, it did

When he died I felt totally robbed, I still go down the garden and sit at his grave.

The way I feel right now, I'll never have another......

I miss him so much xx

I'm not the type of person who can get another dog soon after one has passed and I could never be without a dog so for this reason I always like to have at least two. Three is my ideal number partly for training reasons (leaving two behind feels less difficult) but also so that when one does eventually pass, the remaining two have each other for company.

That's my philosophy as well, and it also helps the other dogs if they have other doggy companions. I was onto dog number 4 when my first dog died aged 17, and it was nearly 3 years later before my 5th dog arrived making the numbers back up to 4 again. I've recently lost the oldest taking me back down to 3 again but don't have any immediate plans to bring another in - the current dogs are 10, 4 and 16 months so it'll probably be at least a couple of years.

Joedee that is lovely and has tears running down my cheeks. I would give anything to have Shady sat here beside me now, the way she looked so loyal and lovingly at me, to cuddle her as I did again or just to see that bridge and her there playing with Milo.
But its not going to happen is it.

I worked with a lovely lady who had to have her Greyhound put to sleep as it refused to eat after her other dog died. It was heartbreaking as the vet said that although it was elderly it was perfectly healthy but it couldn't cope without the other dog being there.

Parker was very "depressed" when Cherry went into Newmarket Animal Health Trust twice last year for 10 days each time. He started not wanting food and was playing with people's puppies! (he's 9 and usually wuffs at puppies to say he's too old for that sort of behaviour!). I realised then that if Cherry went first we would have to consider getting another dog to keep him company. Of course it would be a dog for us as well and we would enjoy it too but in no way could Cherry ever be replaced but Parker does like other dogs. If Parker went first I'm not sure how Cherry would cope? Being poorly sighted she does rely on Parker more I think and snuggles next to him more than she used to.

Lou, I know exactly how you feel. My darling old boy Hal is buried in my garden under the hawthorn tree, and over three years after his untimely death, I still talk to him out there. Because he went before his time, I felt robbed too, and grieved like I never have before for any animal, whether human or otherwise. 6 months after we lost him, Tai needed a home desperately. We took him on for all the wrong reasons, mainly because he looked like Hal. He wasn't Hal of course, and was nothing like him, except in looks. I was devasted, we had made a terrible mistake, but because we had had such a wonderful 10 years with Hal, I considered this to be pay-back time, we owed it to Hal to give a similar type of dog a good home in his time of need, and we kept him. It was the best decision of my life. Tai has in no way replaced Hal, and never could. We have now even rescued one of Hal's son, Ben, and he is an utter joy, but he is still not Hal, and never will be. However, both dogs have eased the empty ache in my heart.

We are all different, but for me having another 2 dogs, both of whom desperately needed a new home, has soothed and comforted me like nothing else. You might find that just fostering a dog to start with might help to ease the pain, and then if you found it wasn't too bad, you might be able to go the whole hog and rescue a dog by offering him a forever home. As I say, we are all different, but I know what I did was completely the right thing - Hal is in no way forgotten, as I say, I still talk to him and put flowers on his grave, but life goes on and now we have his son and Tai to take care of, without ever forgetting him.

When I lost Morgan Ian was so upset he said he could never have another dog, but because I couldnt imagine my life dogless I went on the internet and ordered another welsh from a local breeder who had a litter and picked Spence up about 4 weeks later.
These were the lonliest weeks of my life but I so think I didnt give myself time and wonder if Spence's problems are a lot of my making.