Category: Labs

a new era with annie

whbeebe
Annie car ride

It’s been six weeks since we said our goodbyes to Ruby. Since then I’ve been working consistently, and sometimes intensely, with Annie, working with, and just being with her. I’ve been working with Annie since the very first moment I came home from the vets.

The first week Ruby was gone Annie missed her companion intensely. It motivated us to consider getting Annie another companion. But we couldn’t seem to find the right one, and Annie was beginning to respond to my attentions. So we made the decision to put off getting a second dog, just to see how Annie would continue to respond. That turned out to be a good decision on several fronts, the first being that Annie loves being the center of attention now. Where-ever I go I try to take Annie with me, and that’s especially true if the two of us need to go out on errands. The weather is cool enough that I can crack the windows and Annie will stay cool in the car if I have to run inside a store. I don’t stay long at all. If the two of us are out, then one of us stays in the car with Annie. Annie loves her car rides with her people.

The second reason not getting a new dog was a good decision is that my wife wound up in the hospital again for about a week. If we’d gotten a new dog, or especially a new pup, I don’t know how I could have handled everything happening all at the same time.

At this point in time Annie is my biggest fan, and I’m her’s. We do multiple walks per day, and when I go outside to work she’s with me, watching and just enjoying being with me. Of course, I enjoy her company just as much.

I don’t know if we’ll get a new companion for Annie or not. Frankly it’s good not to have to worry about an animal in decline the way Ruby was towards the end. Annie is a sweet and joy-filled little girl, and I’m so glad we have her at this point in time.

mourning

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Annie Waiting For Someone to Return

Ruby left us physically on Monday. Her loss has been felt all week to everyone, human and animal alike. Her companion Annie has felt it most keenly. I’ve been working diligently to engage with Annie, taking her on multiple walks, letting her pick the route through the neighborhood as well as the distance. Even at nine years Annie is still full of energy and playfulness, but you can see how she wanders around the house and yard looking for Ruby. Ruby’s scent is still around this place and will be for some time, so that’s going to stretch out this process.

The Date Ruby Left

I’m keeping these as keepsakes of Ruby’s passing. I didn’t realize it until I looked closely, but there’s a Christmas tree on the calendar date. I had hoped that perhaps Ruby might stay with us one more Christmas, but nature called her well before that. But I felt it appropriate that coincidence had the calendar publisher print the date of her passing with a Christmas tree. I think I’ll plant some white narcissus now like the calendar entry says so that when they bloom at Christmas, they’ll represent Ruby in spirit.