My Human Went to the Rainbow Bridge

No one here probably remembers me, Levi the Schnauzer. I’ve grown up and haven’t been blogging. But something happened I want to share with the world because it hurts so much. My daady died! My human daady died and I’m so worried because he went to the Rainbow Bridge without his wheelchair. He needs that chair and Moomie just took it to a place called Goodwill. If they really have good will they’d bring it back and bawl my moomie out for leaving it there.

God, the house is quiet! I miss how my daady and me had howling contests each morning until mean Moomie would tell us to knock it off. I miss sitting at Daady’s feet during breakfast, at the ready to round up stray Cheerios that might roll down my way. I miss giving Daady doggie kisses each night. And I miss the fact that every time my pawrents got ready to go some where Daady would campaign to let me ride along. The house is sooooooooooo quiet without him. Moomie doesn’t even turn the lights on in the living room anymore where Daady and I used watched TV.

I started sleeping on the foot of Daady’s side of the bed---something I never did before. At first I’d stay just until the lights went off. I kept thinking Moomie would tell me to get off. But she didn’t. Then it went to a couple of hours before I’d move some time during the night. Last night was the first night I spent the whole night, and not just at the foot end of the bed. When I woke up I was stretched out like I owned the place. I don’t know how that happened. I didn’t mean to do it but when Moomie woke up, she smiled at me. So I know she’s okay with me keeping Daady’s bed from getting lonely at night like I do.

Cooper and Jason, my older brothers, are at the Rainbow Bridge. I never got to meet them but I heard stories about them and I think they’ll take good care of Daady up there. At least I hope so. I hope they get him a new wheelchair. I still can’t believe Moomie gave his away! But then she’s been doing all kinds of dumb things since Daady died. Some times I’m afraid to let her walk out the door for fear she’ll get lost and won’t come home. ©

Moomie's widowhood blog is here.

Voices in Her Head

Look what me's found in Moomie's diary today. Me's shouldn't be read it, Levi knows that but me is sharing this for a reason. Here is what she wrote:

"Sometimes I swear Levi, our dog, can telepathically talk inside my brain. This morning I woke up to someone calling my name and when my eyes opened all I saw was my husband sound asleep. I listened for the voice to call my name again but the house was silent. A dream, I thought, but it was so real---and so annoying because it’s a common way for me to wake up. I rolled over and there he was, smack-dab in my face, his little eyes peering over the top of the mattress. 'Finally!' Levi seemed to be saying, 'I need to pee.' The creepy part is the dog also seems to be able to tell time. It was nine o’clock. It’s always nine o’clock---on the dot---when I wake up this way."

Okay, Levi needs to know are all humans this dumb about talking without words, or is my human....ah, well, you know, a little slow? Duh, of course me was using telepathy to talk to Moomie. Me's didn't want to wake Daady up by barking. He needs his sleep. Me is worried. Is there a book she should read on training humans how to talk inside their heads?

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Note From Naked Levi

My moomie was happy today because she got to leave Daady and his wheelchair at home while she took me to the groomer, then she got to wait for me at grocery store while they threw me in soapy water before stealing Levi’s hair. Me’s don’t know why that should make her happy but me’s don’t think she was telling a fib.

Before we left she made Daady a lunch and told him she was going on vacation from the men in the family. She also promised me some French fries from Wendys if me’s was good at the hair stealing place. Oh, they were good! At least she cared that we men in the family didn’t starve to death while she was gone.

Me is always good at the groomer but me’s not so sure that Daady was good at home alone because when Moomie came to pick me up he was sitting in the front seat of the car. Maybe Moomie missed him like she did Levi? Me’s don’t know what happened. It’s a mystery. All Levi knows for sure is that Daady was singing what Moomie calls non-sense songs on the way home and she told him, “Now I remember why I needed a vacation from you today.” Daady laughed and kept on singing.

We got to stop at the park on the way home where me’s scouted out some poop bigger than a house. Moomie said some horse-of-a-dog must have come by. Me’s don’t know what a horse-of-a-dog is but if Levi ever sees one me’s is running in the opposite direction. Could this be a picture of a horse-of-a-dog? ©

Christmas, Bah Humbug!

Christmas was a GIANT big disappointment. Me's read all over "Dogs with Blogs" how we're suppose to have a good time on Christmas day and get lots of pretty presents but all me's got was this dumb banana---oops, bandanna---and a bag of my favorite treats. Then me's got left alone all afternoon because my daady got sick with the dreaded cabin fever. At first me's was really worried when Moomie said the only thing that would cure cabin fever was to go see a dog named Marley at someplace called Showtime. Then it came out that Daady is in LOVE with Marley's moomie, Jennifer Aniston, and me's got suspious. If you ask Levi me would say that Daady was just pretending to be sick so he could be with that Jennifer woman but Moomie didn't seem to catch on to his charade. So no one tell her, okay?

While they were gone Daady's pillow tried to run away from home. Since Levi is the head of security when Moomie's gone it was up to me to stop it. Me wrestled the pillow in the living room but he kept trying to make a break towards the back door. Then Levi accidentally bit a hole in it while me was dragging it into the library. After that Daady's pillow gave up and me was able to hold him down until my pawrents got home.

Daady and Moomie smelled strange when they returned. Like corn on the cob with lots of butter on it and me's couldn't smell that Marley dog anywhere. Me checked their pants, their shirts, their hands and faces. No dog essence anywhere. Me guesses that Dr. Marley dog was zipped up inside one of those isolation bodysuits to keep himself from catching cabin fever while he treated my daady. Me's didn't smell another woman on Daady either. That Jennifer woman must have been wearing a blue bodysuit, too.

Me's is getting a headache and my tummy hurts. Oh no! What does it feel like to get cabin fever? ©

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Levi and the Snow Machine

Me's got up this morning
and found the most beautiful white stuff
all over the deck.
Moomie called it snow and she moved a lot of it out of the way
so I could go down to my yard to pee.

My yard was so full of snow my four foot fence was only was only 18 inches high.



Me's decided to dig my way to the fence so I could stick my head out between the slats to see what was going on in the street. Moomie said cars were stuck all over the place.


This is me still trying.....trying, trying to dig.



Me had to give up so Moomie could take this silly picture. But Levi did get the eve trove pipe uncovered. That's important.


This is me back on the deck taking a break and watching Moomie shovel my dog yard.



This is what it looked like when she got through. Me's don't know why she did that. Me's was planning to eat it all up when me got finished playing in it. Snow tastes DDDDDDDDDelicious!



This is Moomie trying to take a picture of herself. She's laughing. Me's don't know why.



Me had snow in my beard for a long time after we came back in the house.

Levi LOVES snow!

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A Jolly Old Butt Smelling Day

Me missed Schnauzer Saturday but it wasn't my fault. Levi couldn't figure out how to turn on the computer. Moomie and Daady had gone away so I was trapped in the boring kitchen ALL afternoon with nothing to do but try to catch the spider in between the window and the screen. They went some place sad. At least I think it was sad because after they got home Daady pretended to cry---waw, waw, waw---many times that evening and Moomie would console him with soft words. She wrote about it in her blog but she says I'm too young and have too many legs to read Accepting the Failings of Age and Disabilities.

Today was very special. We went to a place called a dog park with my cousin Ted. Ted and me never met before but he is part schnauzer and part poodle so we had lots in common. We are the same size, age and temperament. I don't know what that last thingie is but we have good ones, our parents said. At the park we didn't get to know each very well because there were so many other dogs to meet and greet but on the way home we stopped where Ted lives. Boy was I tired when I finally got home. We played and played and played until our tongues hung all the way to the ground and I thought me would step on mine and trip. Moomie and Ted's parents are going to set up play dates for us. Isn't that dogtastic fantastic!

The dog park is far away but the minute Moomie and Daady turned in the driveway Levi knew it was worth the ride. Moomie said there were 50 dogs there between the big dog side and the small dog side. A man at the park said we just missed a Chihuahua club of 100 dogs! He was nice. He helped Moomie push Daady's wheelchair over the dirt so he could sit with all the other dog parents. But Moomie got in trouble for bringing a pocket full of kibble into the park and the man made her take it back to the car. Moomie said she felt like the Pied Piper of Hamelin going back to the entry gate. Levi doesn't know what that means but she was laughing so it must be good.

Well, me has to go hide. Moomie is looking for my hair brush. Smell ya later.

Love, Levi

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Big Green Dragons and Pantie Surfing

Levi is back for Schnauzer Saturday. Me missed you. Did you miss me? Do you have time to read my diary? Levi had a weird week.

Monday: Moomie and me went back to obedience school. Only one of my friends from puppy class was there---Miss. Rat Terrier. Rat and me played a little while before class but during class we wasn't allowed to do that. All the trainer did was talk, talk, talk and I had to behave myself at Moomie's feet. The trainer told Moomie I settled down since puppy class. Me guesses that is a good thing in their eyes but I was bored. Two of my new classmates are chocolate labs. They were both as BIG as Daady's La-Z-Boy chair but I didn't care. Me ran right up to Mr. Lab and tasted him because I heard that chocolate tastes good. Me thought he tasted just like Rat.

Tuesday: That nasty thingie called a vaccummmm trapped me in the corner of the bedroom and I couldn't get away from it without running past it and Levi was afraid to do that. Me had to wait and wait and wait until Moomie discovered I'd been missing for an hour. She came and put the thingie back in the vaccummmm's cave so I could escape.

Wednesday: A huge big green dragon snake came in the house and breathed fire and steam all over the carpeting. Daady and me stayed in the kitchen but Moomie is a dare-devil so she made friends with the dragon handlers. Me was jealous because she seemed to like that dragon spitting up all over the house. Levi hopes he doesn't come back again. He stole all the good smells in the house!

Thursday: That evil rain came back and me had to keep my pee inside all day until my eyes shined yellow and it was about to spill out of my ears. Moomie is mean, though. She kept trying to make me go outside even though I used my very best manners to say, "No, thank you."

Friday: Me girlfriend at the Starbuck's window gave me another cup of cream. Levi lovvvves her. She is pretty.

Saturday: Well, that is today and Moomie is cleaning the closet and said I couldn't help. Me don't know why. Me is good at dragging panties out to the living room for Daady to see.

Well, that's all I have to say this week.

Smell ya later,

Love Levi

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BIG Trouble for Levi

Anyone there? Levi here. I'm in BIG trouble and me don't know what to do. I needs advice. Oops, Levi has to go. Moomie is coming and I'm not allowed on the computer without her next to me.

Being an angel dog sure isn't as easy as you might think. I was right in the middle of watching the Angel League Agility Trials when Levi started sending urge mental telepathy messages out into the world. By the time I got back to the magic water to look down to see what was going on, Mom had come into the kitchen after her nap to find my dad had scattered every mail order catalog in the house all over the table and counter top. He was on a mission. He was looking for the same baseball cap that Levi had just chewed up. It was his favorite hat, a Tony Lama number they bought 3-4 years ago, and there wasn't a chance in hell he was going to find it in the current batch of catalogs.

Mom had been warning and reminding Dad not to leave that hat on the table next to his La-Z-Boy but he forgets that Levi isn't me and he will steal things off all the low tables in the house. Poor Dad. He wore that hat every where, probably because it reminded him of his pre-stroke days. He loved his western attire---Pendleton wool shirts, Levi jeans, Tony Lama cowboy boots and Stenson hats. But they aren't very wheelchair compatible so he traded them in for a better level of independence that comes from sweat pants and pull over knits.

Levi was upset when Dad caught him in the act. Dad was upset, too, and he blamed himself for not taking better care of his hat.. My baby brother had never ruined anything more than a piece of paper before. (Not that he hasn't tried but Mom keeps a close eye on him.) Even Mom felt guilty for not corralling Levi in the laundry room when she took a nap. The whole house was in a gloom and doom mood as Mom searched the internet for another Tony Lama hat like the one Levi ate. No such luck. I wanted to use my angel power to help find one but my older brother tells me I can't do that. There are rules, he keeps telling me, about frivolous interference. Yadda, yadda, yadda. So now I have to watch poor Levi worry about getting un-adopted over this. Silly boy thinks Dad and Mom won't love him anymore.

Speaking of love, Levi got this neat Blogging Friends Forever gold card from Nottie Scottie, Rocky, and the gang over at Forget Sit & Stay. Levi will be beside himself when he sees this gold card and maybe it will make him forget about the hat. Thanks you all!

Like all awards it has some suggested rules for pawing it forward:

1. Only five people allowed.
2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

We're going to paw it foward to: Mr. T-Bone Beasley, Secret Schnoodle, Scruffy, Lacie and Stan's Place. And the forth one goes to any long-time friend who hasn't gotten this award yet and wants to grab it. For our new blog follower we paw it forward to: Mona and the Mommy.

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Best of Levi Sleeping Award

Mom and Dad went to a family day picnic today. They had all kinds of entertainment for kids and grandkids, which Mom and Dad don't have but they always go anyway. Among the activities was a clown show, a balloon artist, dunking booth, fish pond and Mom's favorite, a cake walk.

Mom has fond memories of cake walks going back over sixty years to her pre-school days when she won a cake at her very first cake walk. It was a strawberry angel food cake made from scratch and it was decorated with whipped cream and juicy red berries. The cake walk was a popular custom at the weddings of her youth. Mom walked the cake walk a dollar's worth today---four times with 2008 rates---and she told Dad, "Some traditions die hard when you have such vivid memories of the first time you ever won a prize." That got me to thinking about poor Levi not placing in the medal at the Paw-limpics today. Every puppy can't win every contest they entry but they should have a good memory of their very first contest. So I want to create one for my baby brother.

Levi sent in several photos for the sleeping category at the Pal-limpics and the judges picked the first one below to go up against all the other dogs who entered. Did they get the best photo of Levi sleeping? I'm asking all our friends in cyberspace to vote between the four below so I can present Levi with his very own prize. Silly, I know, but he'll be so happy when one of his photos wins this Best of Levi Sleeping Award that he'll forget all about not winning metal at the Paw-limpics. Vote in the comment section!


1) The Wall Hugger



2) The Floor Kisser



3) The Full Monty #1



4) The Full Monty #2



Congratulations to all the dogs who placed in the medal and honorable mentions at the Paw-limpics. There were some awesome entries. Here's a link to the sleeping event. Mom especially like Bolo, Archie, Willow, George, Happy and Jackson.

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The Naughty Puppy Catalog

Anyone there? Anyone there? Levi here. Me graduated from puppy obedience class last night! Moomie says we might go back in September. Me hope so. Me will miss playing with my friends.

Levi, it's not Schnauzer Saturday yet.

Me gotta go. Moomie's coming. If she catches me on the computer Levi will get in trouble.

Can you believe my baby brother? He finds the most creative ways to get into trouble. This past week he's been a handful with his wussy reaction to his neutering surgery and he's added several curious items to his naughtiness catalog. 1) He's started playing on the internet when Mom's back is turned and 2), he's been peeing on my gravestones. What's that all about? Seriously. Does he somehow know that I'm the one whispering advice in his little ear? I doubt it but it's got me puzzled and I don't mind telling you, it's kind of creeping me out. I guess I should have my angel powers checked out to make sure I'm doing things right.

In addition to the wussiness, grave peeing and internet episodes, Levi's figured out that one of Dad's feet doesn't work very well so he's been snatching the sock right off that foot and running with it. Every time Mom turns around she has to track the sock down and return it to Dad's foot. He's got no respect for Dad's disability. Well, that's not entirely true. When Mom helps Dad with his showers, and has to transfer him in and out of the shower stall, Levi has learned to sit-stay just fine. But I think he's only doing it for the treats, not because he really understands the safety issue of getting in the way.

Mom's got treats in all her pockets. She never did that for any of her other dog-kids. Half the time she forgets to remove the kibble from her pockets when she does the laundry and it gets washed and dried. Weird, it doesn't look any different having gone through the laundry process. It just falls out the dryer door and Mom scrambles to pick it up before Levi gets to the detergent laced stuff.

Got to go. It's been busy up here at Rainbow Bridge and I want to tag along with the welcoming committee, help out if I can. ©


By the way, if you haven't seen the Bone Relay for the 2008 Paw-limpics, you have to check out the neat video that Lenny made. What a lot of work he put into that video and it turned out to be an awesome start to the Paw-limpics.

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The Neutering Ritual

Poor Levi is having a bad day and he's desperately trying to piece together what happened when he went to the vet's office to get neutered and micro-chipped. Mom told Dad that my brother's surgery went good and they don't expect any complications. But poor Levi doesn't like the cone and all he's done since he got home is sit, trying to tell Dad his troubles. Listen to the thoughts he's blasting out of his little boy brain, trying to connect to dad to get some answers ……

What happened to Levi? Moomie took me to the visit the nice vegetarian---or was it veterinary? (Darn words get so mixed up!) But while we were waiting a lady snatched me from Moomie's arms and put me in a wire cave---no---cage. Me don't remember what happened next but when me woke up from sleeping me discovered something missing. Me looked every where for my walls---no---balls but they are gone. They used to be right here between my legs. Me almost sure it was my back legs but me looked in between my front ones, too, just in case they moved. Me counted my foes---no---toes and they are all still on my foots---no---feet. (Darn English!) Me checked my tail. It's still there. Just my balls are gone. Then Moomie came and brought me home and put this thing on my head. Now Levi can't walk anymore! Me hope Moomie doesn't get sad---no---mad when she finds out my balls got lost. Me don't feel good. Levi needs a nap!

I'm a little stressed up here watching Levi being so scared and confused over his surgery. When he gets to sleep I'm going let him know he'll be just fine without those body parts. That's not a frivolous use of angel power, do you think? He's really worried and it won't take but a second to whisper reassurances in his ear. He should know that humans apparently think testicles are just accessories we don't need and to tell you the true, I never missed mine for very long.

There's a rumor going around, though, that neutering makes dogs more responsible citizens. Judging by all the neutered angel dogs I've met, it must be true because there are some awesome guys up here. Don't get me wrong. Those fully equipped dogs are great, too. It's just that some of them seem pretty damned proud that they escaped the neutering ritual---oops, I've got to quit swearing. I'll have to get one of my fully equipped friends to tell me exactly what those balls are for. I never gave it much thought when I was still on earth.

Hey, look at that! Mom took pity on him and put Levi in a onsie. That did the trick of covering up his stitches so he can't pull them out. No more cone! He's even got a little hole cut in the onsie for his tail. He's settling down for a nap now so I've better get ready to do a little angel business. ©

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Schnauzer Saturdays

The 'Dogs With Blogs' community has a nice tradition going on many blogs where they set aside one day of the week for blogging something different. There's Wheelie Wednesdays and Rosco Wednesdays which are like having guest bloggers come in to tell about their adventures. There's also Thankful Thursdays which is like doing affirmations and Wordless Wednesdays for photos plus there are a host of other special days that I can't find on the tip of my tongue.

That got me to thinking that since Levi is six months old now and is trying to send mental telepathy messages out into the world that maybe it's time for me to help him start blogging. Levi regularly snatches ink pens off the table when Mom's back is turn and paws at her keyboard which probably means he's ready to take communicating with humans to a higher level. So, from now on Saturdays on this blog will be known as Schnauzer Saturdays. Be warned, though, he's still a baby and the thoughts he tries to express are still the thoughts of a baby. With that said, I turn this entry over to Levi….



Peas tell Levi what thingie is that pits---no---spits paper! Me fears---no---hears thingie run back and forth. Mouse in there? Me watch paper come out. Me listens to Moomie tell---no---yell "NO PAPER!" If me can't have paper why does thingie want to give it to me? World is so confusing. Moomie covers thingie up sometimes. One day me took cover off so me could study thingie. Moomie said, "NO!" but she won't answer my questions about thingie. Levi needs help learning about thingie!




Well, that's all the little guy has to say today. He's off to take a nap. But I've got something special to tell you. I'm getting a new feather in my wings for coming up with this idea! Jason says there'll be a little presentation ceremony tonight since it's my very first merit earned feather. The ones in my training wings are just standard issue, you know. ©

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Mom's Crocs and Other Family Secrets

Gosh, I wish I could still 'talk' to mom the way I used to do when I was on earth. I'd tell her: "Chill, Mom, chill. Levi will get it eventually." She's been struggling this week with the homework from puppy obedience class number four. Specifically, trying to teach the 'stand' and 'stay' commands. The technique of teaching the stand command starts with Levi being in a 'sit' position and then drawing him forward with a treat until he's standing. That part is working well but he's not connecting the word with the action. It's all about the treat for him and he would follow her to Alaska to get it.

One thing I'm learning up here in angel training is that yesterday's successes (or failures) don't matter, only the present counts. I wish I could tell Mom it doesn't matter that Levi was a shining success in past classes and that people there might have great expectations for his performance at the next class. (She can be a little competitive, you know.) It only matters that they are spending quality training time together, building a strong bond in the process.

That growing bond and the love that goes with it are good things for Levi because for the first time he ruined a material object---one of Mom's beloved Crocs shoes. She can still wear it but it's full of teeth marks. She didn't notice how badly he'd 'puppy stamped' it until yesterday when she was sitting along side of a nature trail that overlooks the backwaters of a river. She and dad were having a rare day with her brother, niece and her niece's husband when her niece wanted to try on her Crocs. As she handed them over and noticed the wide-spread damage Mom thought about how much of a puppy Levi still is. That some how made her feel less guilty that she didn't bring him along on their outing. He can still be unpredictable. (Important lesson to be learned here, Mom. Don't take off your Crocs. Wear them to bed, sleep and shower in them because they chew just like Kong rubber toys. Yummm good.)

On the nature trail Dad and Mom saw three families of tundra swans, several great blue heron, green heron, mallard ducks, two varieties of turtles sunning themselves, and a dozen other birds not normally seen by city dwellers. Levi would have wanted to chase them all, his puppy bark breaking the peacefulness of nature's masterpiece. Yup, as much as Mom suffers separation anxiety when she leaves Levi home it was a good thing common sense won out and she left him home on that hot summer day. With three other people along to push Dad's wheelchair, and no puppy to keep out of trouble, Mom got a much deserved day of bliss, void of worrying about the comforts of another being.

When they got back home, it was apparent that Levi faired just fine being left to his own devices for six hours, the longest he'd ever been left alone. The woodwork was tooth mark free, the table cloth was still in place, the decorative towels still hung on the oven door. The only things that Levi touched were the toys in his box. He'd obviously beat the crap out of them because they laid around the floor like dead soldiers on a battlefield.

When the forces of heaven matched Levi up to my family they did good. Happy six months birthday baby brother! ©



Painting by Robert Bateman
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Three Dog Beds and Mom's Chair

Angel dogs in training are not supposed to be jealous of their charges. And I'm not. Truly I'm not. Really, really, really I'm not. I just want to know why my earth-bound brother, Levi, is allowed to sleep in Mom's chair but I never was. She even had one of those X-Mat pet training things designed to keep me from getting up there. Be warned, dogaroons, those thing hurts when you jump on them!

You're probably thinking there's more to the story. I guess I did leave out that fact that I liked to dig in the chair, too, trying to make a nest for myself while pretending I was out in the wilds of Montana. But Levi will learn to do that as well. Doesn't Mom know that? No, she just lets him sleep where he can keep an eye on her in the kitchen and Dad in his Lazy Z Boy. I'm not jealous---I think I've established that---I'm just concerned for Mom's judgment with raising Levi. She's getting old, you know.

And since I'm making comparisons, he's got three---count them---one, two, three dog beds. I only had one. He's got the soft, cushy one in the laundry room that he uses at night. Another one that fits in the bottom of his crate that Mom keeps in the car, and the third is a 'crate liner' bed that Levi is allowed to drag all through the house so he can plop down and sleep where ever he pleases.

Here is a photo of Levi in his crate liner bed, sleeping next to the waste basket. Can you believe it, he's never looked inside that basket! What self-respecting dog wouldn't have dove in after the junk mail and shredded paper by his age? He's going to be six months old on the 23rd, he should know about waste baskets by now. I hope he's not retarded.

My angel brother Jason says I have a selective memory. He says I didn't need a dog bed in the car because I always got to ride on Mom's lap back in the days when Dad could drive and after that I got to ride on Dad's lap. Levi needs a crate and bed in the car because, 1) he doesn't know enough not to jump out of an open door while Mom is transferring Dad to his wheelchair and 2) times have changed since I was a pup and Mom knows, now, that dogs are safer riding in the back where air bags can't get them.

I'll concede that Jason is right about all of that but he didn't have a logical explanation for why Levi has that third bed. The best he could come up with is that when I am able to let go of my earthly attachment to things, Levi could have a hundred beds and it won't matter to me. This is where Jason loses me with all that Zen stuff. Up here at the Rainbow Bridge, what ever we can imagine having to make us happy---tennis balls, steaks, Sarah with her pink tutu, fields to run in, water to play in---they magically appear. Yet when I look down on earth, all I'm suppose to see and help nurture is love, compassion and laughter.

"You already have that ability inside you," Jason told me. "You just need to master using it."

"Couldn't you just wave a magic wand and make me full angel wings worthy?" I begged him. All I've got now are those stubby trainer wings, you know.

"And have you miss great opportunities to grow and learn?" he answered with a smile. "That's not the angel way."

Love, compassion, laughter, growth, and learning---I'm tired of trying to figure out what all this has to do with Levi having three dog beds and Mom's chair to sleep in. I've got a poker game to go to. I'm out of here. Catch you later, alligators. ©

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Second Puppy Obedience Class

Levi's second obedience class went well, especially the first fifteen minutes when Mom and Levi practiced the 'settling' exercise while they listened to the instructor lecture. One of the things the trainer stressed was the importance of interrupting puppies at play with little obedience tasks and then letting them go back to play. The theory is that as puppies grow into adolescences they will be less apt to ignore or avoid owners when they are playing with other dogs or headed toward danger if they have learned that obeying their humans does not necessarily mean an end to having fun.

The second fifteen minutes of class was a combination of play time and grabbing a puppy by the collar---anyone's puppy---and having him or her do a couple of 'sits' before releasing the tyke to play again. It was a mass of humans and four-legged kids running around, the puppies having a great time and the humans looking like they were in a catch-the-greased-pig contest. Well, not quite THAT bad but you know how I like to exaggerate.

The third fifteen minutes of class was demonstrations on how to teach the 'stay' and 'down' commands followed by the last fifteen minutes of demonstrations on how to start puppies walking on a leash. The instructor used Levi for the demonstration and he did wonderfully. Can you tell I'm a proud big brother? The idea was to only go 2-3 feet at a time and then stop, 'sit' before going again. If the puppies pull on the leashes then the humans are suppose to turn and go the opposite direction.

A few days after the class Mom was feeling so confident that she had Levi under control while walking on a leash that she decided to take him and Dad out on a nature trail near by. How hard could it be to push a wheelchair and heel a dog at the same time? Harder than it looks, she decided. There were so many things Levi had never seen before---bicycles, joggers and other family pets not to mention the dam, river, swans, ducks, poison ivy, bugs and grass taller than him. The ragtag trio only got about a quarter of a mile along the river before turning around and coming back. Poor Mom, now she's resigned to taking them both separately until Levi masters ignoring distractions while practicing his obedience lessons.

Well, I've got to go find my angel brother. He's taking me a Zen Living class. It sounds boring to me but Jason says tonight's discussion will be particularly interesting. They're going to discuss, 'do dogs have a Buddha nature.'

"Of course we do!" I told him as soon has he had finished barking out the title.

"You may be right," Jason replied after a long, drawn-out pause. "Or you may be wrong. But answers giving without meditation are unacceptable." Then he winked at me! I can never tell if he's being serious or pulling my leg. All I know is he's one of the most respected angel trainers up here---even if he does talk in riddles half the time---so I listen when he speaks. ©

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Devil Angel

There are rules...or I should say principles to learn to become an angel dog. Yesterday I screwed up royally. I swear, I couldn't help it and if I were being totally honest here, I'm not sure I feel sufficiently contrite about my error in judgment to EVER pass the muster up here at the Rainbow Bridge. My knobby little pair of wings will probably never blossom into glorious, pure white fluttering appendages like my brother Jason and my silly sister Sarah has. If I didn't have such a macho image to maintain, I'd sit down and cry about that.

What exactly did I do? you ask. I crossed over the line and possessed little Levi for a few minutes. I truly, truly couldn't---why won't anyone believe me---help myself. As an angel in training we're suppose to learn how to look out for our earthly charges without twisting their desire to fit our own purposes. How was I supposed to know that doing the latter was more like the devil's work? The angel pledge is full of fine print. Yadda, yadda, yadda. Who reads all that?

Anyway, back my heartfelt confusion. Levi was in the bathroom while Mom was peeing and I saw him looking at the flash of white paper that came off the roller. "Do it!" I shouted in his head. "Grab it!" And he did! I know I possessed Levi for a few moments because he's been watching Mom pee and pull toilet paper off the roll for two months now and he just accepted that flash of paper as something humans do. It was none of his business and he had that down pat until I planted the naught idea in his head. This time---because of me---he snatched the paper out of Mom's hand, took off running and left her holding air. I used to do that all the time in my the first two years and last six months on earth.

Jason said that what I did was bad in principle but not in deed.

"What the heck does that mean?" I asked him.

He gave me that wise-old-monk-on-a-mountain-top look of his, laughed and said, "Grasshopper, some answers you must find in your heart." ©



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Doors and Lamps, No Problem

I thought I was smart while I was on earth---or was it smart-alecky?---but I never in my entire life tried to turn on a lamp or open a door. Levi is only inches away from accomplishing both of these things. Granted, the lever style door openers Mom and Dad have in their universal design house makes it easier for a clever dog (and disabled people) to figure out. But still, Levi's got to be a pretty smart little puppy at 23 weeks old to stretch himself up in an attempt to pull one of those levers down, thus opening the door if he could reach it. Once he puts a little hop into his efforts---which he'll figure out soon---Mom is going to have to make sure the doors are locked with the deadbolts all the time. Did Houdini have a dog? If so, I wonder if it was a schnauzer and Levi is a blood relative.

The lamp is easier to figure out than the door but still I never tried turning it on like Levi did today. He crawled to the top of Mom's chair in the living room and made a grab for the pull chains. I guess he wanted to learn to read the new book Mom got in the mail today---The Dog Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook---and he needed some extra light.

Levi also managed to crawl on top of the twin beds today, too. I could never do it because they are extra high to accommodate dad's bed-to-wheelchair transfers. The first time my baby brother did it Mom didn't see how he got up there. Levi can't take a running, flying leap in the bedroom like he does to get on the couch in the living room, so she was puzzled. She turned around and there he was lying in the middle of the bed. So she put him on the floor and five seconds later he crawled up the side of the bed like Spiderman on the side of a downtown skyscraper.

Another accomplishment for Levi this week is learning how to nap with Dad. He's been in training for this event for weeks but today he actually stayed on Dad's lap for more than a few seconds. Mom was pleased. She clocked him out at six minutes before he jumped down and she said, "When he grows up enough to have a longer attention span he'll be a good little napping buddy."

That napping comment was bittersweet to my ears, though. I was Dad's napping buddy from the day he came home from the hospital until six months before I came up to the Rainbow Bridge when I just couldn't jump anymore. Levi can't get up there by himself, either, without Mom to help but he's young and will learn soon enough. In the meantime Mom puts Levi on Dad's lap every afternoon for bonding time. When she does that, I have to turn my head and look off towards the magical place where all the rainbows from earth arc up to touch. That helps me remember that angels aren't supposed to be jealous of our earthy replacements. I'm still an angel dog in training, you know, so I have a few things like that still to master. ©


P.S. In case anyone is wondering what the two headed pot is sitting by Mom's chair, it's called a Yellow Dog. It got its name from Teddy Roosevelt who saw these hanging on oil derricks in Texas. They filled them with crude and had two rag wicks coming out the spouts and lite them for light. Teddy said they looked like yellow dogs. A newspaper reporter over heard him say that and soon after a newspaper back east had a headline that read something like: The President Sees Yellow Dogs in Texas! The name stuck. Mom and Dad bought that because they didn't know what it was and it took them several years to find another one. That second one was in an oil and gas museum where they finally learned its purpose and history.

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Heaven Sent Service Dogs

I've been thinking a lot about services dogs. So instead of blogging about Levi today I want to share some of my thoughts from here at the Rainbow Bridge. What got me started thinking about service dogs is I a met a K9 military service dog today, a beautiful German shepherd. A bunch of us were exploring the four-leaf clover field at the time and he was talking about how rewarding it was to have a job down on earth. Then a Siberian husky spoke up about how he came from a long line of working sled dogs. One after another we all told about our breed histories regarding jobs we've done for humans---herding stock, circus performers, hunting, guard and patrol dogs, search and rescue, drafting like horses do. Our blood lines went way back to the Middle Ages when dogs were used to power crude machinery. We even have drug enforcement and cadaver dogs up here and one of newest types of working dogs---the therapy canines.

All this talk made my angel sister, Sarah, cry and we couldn't figure out why. Finally she told us that because she had been so dim-witted down on earth from being the product of a puppy mill that she hadn't been of much value to anyone. I didn't know what to say---I was speechless at her assumption---but my angel brother, the ever-so-wise Jason, told her about how she filled a giant hole in our Mom's heart at a time when she was just figuring out that she couldn't have any two legged babies. "You were a therapy dog," he told her, "before they even invented that category of working dogs." That Jason, he always has the right words on the tip of his tongue. That's why he's one of the official newbie greeters up here at the bridge. When dogs come here, disorientated from a sudden death, he helps them find acceptance and sticks with them until they understand that they are still with their families in spirit, can check on them at the magic water under the bridge, and will be able to jump in their arms again when it's their time to come to heaven.

Levi is a therapy puppy, too, I think. You see the last six months that I was on earth I was getting sicker and sicker and that made my Mom more depressed than she even realized. She knew that she'd get another dog when I was gone and she spent some time looking at rescue sites and the local human society site in my last two months. That depressed her even more because none of those dogs seemed right for Mom and Dad's situation. They had personalities or special needs already formed and with Dad in a wheelchair she didn't want an older dog. Puppies seemed rare on the rescue sites and even if there had been puppies there was no guarantee that they wouldn't be unhealthy puppy mill victims, she thought, or would be like me who had been sold way too young---5 1/2 weeks---from a ruthless breeder creating a lot of behavioral problems. Mom needed an easy dog this time around.

When Mom first saw Levi, two weeks before I died, she hadn't planned on looking at a litter of puppies. She had gone to pick me up from the groomers but I wasn't ready on time so she was driving around to kill time when she saw a 'puppies for sale' sign. She pulled in and met two male schnauzers. She told my Dad afterwards that she would have taken one of them home on the spot if not for the fact that it probably would hurry up my death. I was too ill from my heart problems to deal with a frisky puppy. Two weeks later, I crossed over to the bridge and the next day Mom called to find out if the schnauzer she liked was still there. He was.

I call Levi Mom's therapy dog because he's bringing such joy to her life. Sarah, Jason and I were all loved for different reason but with Levi it's different in a way---more intense---because Dad can't talk anymore or express things he used to be able to do. Levi gives lavish affection and kisses that Dad can't. Levi also helps her remember that life is a cycle and not all about dying, disabilities and illness. So I guess what I'm saying here is that all dogs that are in loving homes serve mankind in some pretty amazing ways, whether it's through formal training to do a job or just by being themselves. ©


NOTE: Our blog got nominated for the 'Awesome Blog of the Month' award. Voting ended Saturday June 28th and we didn't win but it was exciting getting nominated.

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Busy Little Boy

The windowsills at our house are all very low, only eighteen inches off the floor plus there are three doors with glass panels that are even lower to the floor. A fourth door is solid and it goes to the garage and to a service door that leads to the deck and dog yard. Mom always uses that solid door to take Levi outside.

These past two weeks of house breaking nirvana Levi figured out the best way to tell Mom he has to go outside is to scratch on one of the three glass paneled doors. From her computer wardrobe in the kitchen she can see two of those doors and hear him at the third so it wasn't such a bad plan for my baby brother to devise for himself. Between Mom keeping him on a schedule that fits with Mom and Dad's life style and Levi finally figuring out how to talk to Mom about his bodily urges I'm giving them both A+'s and declaring they can move to the next hurdle in growing Levi into a great furry kid.

Next on the puppy breaking list is biting or grabbing at anything that remotely moves. Bathrobes that flow behind Mom as she walks, Dad's pants as he tries to put them on---you name it, if it's an article of clothing Levi wants it in his mouth. Our dad is right side paralyzed but getting him self dressed is something he learned to accomplish a long time ago. Even so, it's a long process and thus enters Levi to make it even longer. Levi pulls on socks and pant legs as Dad tries one-handed to thread them in place. Mom hears Dad laughing from the bedroom and when he gets to the part where he says one of the few words in his vocabulary---"shit"---Mom goes in to rescue Dad and give Levi a puppy approved toy to chew.

When I was on earth, I had a thing for socks, too. I stole Mom's whenever I could and would take them all through the house. After Dad's stroke I never, ever took dad's socks again even though he always leaves them on the floor. Levi hasn't learned to respect Dad's uniqueness and limitations yet. His dad comes with wheels---doesn't everyone's, he thinks. So along with the regular puppy training stuff, Levi has extra stuff to learn but he's up for challenge. He's a smart little bugger, even if he did cause Mom to 'redecorate' the place now that he's learned how to snatch things off the table tops. Out of the deck he even manages to get himself in trouble. He tries to help with dead heading the flowers only he hasn't got the part about 'dead' right yet and picks the pretty ones instead. But what's really going to get Mom shaking her head is when she figures out that Levi took a snail ceramic off one of the windowsills and "buried" it in the guest bathroom. He's a busy little boy. ©

Recall Training and the Flyball Regionals

Shopping at Chow Hound was on Mom's schedule today and my baby brother FINALLY got a stash of treats besides those bland Mother Hubbard puppy biscuits---although he got those, too. He got some Kong Stuffy'n spray, puppy formula made with chicken liver. Hummm good! And he got Wellness Puppy treats, soft and smelly holistic bits to use for when obedience training starts at the end of the month. He's going to learn to heel with Mom first and then with dad's wheelchair so they all can stroll the neighborhood together.

Mom and Levi have been doing recall training using a seventy foot clothes line out in the back yard. She waits until he gets distracted by a butterfly, a blade of grass or a chipping bird and then she calls him. I must say the little guy comes running faster than I ever did. When they play the recall game in the front yard, however, where there are kids and other dogs to catch Levi's attention, it's harder for him get with the program but he eventually does come running at full speed back to Mom and her pocket full of Holistic Select nuggets. Mom is trying her best to remember to only give the 'Levi, come!' command one time. Sometimes she screws up and repeats it but what can I say, Mom is Mom.

Speaking of running at full speed, Last night was the finals at the flyball regionals up here at Rainbow Bridge. Oh my gosh, I can't tell you how much fun we all had. We wore out our barkers cheering. Every single dogaroon up here was watching or competing except for the canines who manned the steak grills for the after party. Let me tell you, the waiting list to get those plum jobs is longer than an alligator's tail. EVERYONE wants to watch the steaks on the grill because they 'accidentally' fall off quite often and have to be rescued from hitting the ground.

Well, I need a long nap after all the excitement so I'm signing off for now. Mom and Dad are going to a retiree picnic today so Levi will get a long nap today, too. ©

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