Good dogs sit outside the gates of Heaven

     Okay, I know dogs don't go to heaven. It was difficult answering the question to my 11 year old as we pulled up to the vet's office for our appointment to euthanize our 13 yr. old cocker spaniel. Answering the question was harder than telling my kids there was no Santa Claus or Easter bunny. I wasn't delicate about that. It was fact. No cartoon Santa. Old man dressed up. No enormous rabbits hiding in the woods coming to our door. Got it? Its ALL ABOUT JESUS BUT THEY ARE IN DENIAL UNDERSTAND? 

     This was a dog we rescued. She was at a feed store we frequented. She barked at me as I walked in and her stub of a tail wagged uncontrollably.  My elderly mother had wanted a watch dog, but not a high maintenance one. She wanted it perfect and trained and wanted it to bark when it should. This dog was shaved and when I asked about her they said she had been dropped off by some elderly people who didn't have time for her anymore. She had mats so bad she could barely walk and her nails had not been trimmed for years and she had ear mites. They apparently stepped on her feet to discipline her. I was shocked. I said, "I certainly hope that you turned THEM in to animal control." The employee just shrugged their shoulders.  I went home to get my mother and she agreed to buy her for $150.  She didn't last long at my moms. Mom just wanted her to 'visit'.  This was a 'great' dog. Smart and could play soccer.  She could tell you she wanted to go in and out and she liked everyone and wasn't a pest.  Her bark could sound like a Rottweiler on the other side of the door when she heard the bell. So we kept her and let her 'visit' mom when mom felt scared.

    'Cookie' (black and white dog) was given the purple heart of appreciation when she saved our parish priest in Olympia, WA.  He had been in the hospital for heart problems and some type of test and was recovering at my mother's home. It was perfect. My mother was in her 70's and feeling unappreciated and he needed care. They were both from the south and understood each other and she loved to cook and feel appreciated. She was hard of hearing and Father was in the bathroom and Cookie heard him hit the floor and went to the bathroom door and barked like the house was on fire. My mother came to shut her up and discovered Father on the floor and called an ambulance.  This happened not once, but twice!  The second time Father stepped out of the shower and was drying off and one of his veins burst in his leg.  He was on Coumadin (rat poison my mother calls it) and it is a blood thinner.  Within 45 seconds he was squirting blood all over and passed out and hit the floor.  Cookie again heard and my uncle who was there heard the dog and went to the door and when Father didn't answer, went in and he stopped the bleeding, called an ambulance and saved Father's life. 

     I won't go into anymore glories of our dog, but I do hope the good Lord allows her outside the gates of heaven. I promised my 11 year old and I will be a liar.