"Erin"
1-31-11 to 2-28-11
On January 31, 2011, Baby "Erin" was born to Piper and Getty.
Erin lived 4 weeks when it was determined that she suffered from a condition called "Hydrocephalus". This is otherwise know as "water on the brain" and is a build up of fluid that puts pressure on the brain, pushing the brain against the skull and damaging brain tissue. Erin was completely or partially blind, and surgery was not an option.
As a breeder, it is always difficult to lose a baby. We have a special love for each puppy we help bring into this world. I knew Erin was special from the beginning, and I also knew she may not be with us long. So is it possible to love a lifetime in 4 weeks? I can't even begin to understand why things happen the way they do...I only know how lucky I was to have such a sweet little soul come into my life...even if it was only for a brief moment.
Sleep well sweet Erin...and wait for me at the bridge...I will find you again...
First Time Outside 2-23-11
Sweet Erin...2-26-2011
Princess Erin
Erin's last picture...watching the Oscars...
Rainbow Bridge Return...
by Joy LaCaille
The little dog arrived at the Rainbow Bridge and a pack of dogs rushed up to greet him. He braced himself, expecting a fight, but this was the first pack that wagged their tails and kissed him instead of attacking.
It was beautiful here and everyone was nice to him. None of them had been born in a puppy mill, like he had, or used for dog-bait fighting, or left to die in a shelter because they were mix-breed battle-scarred curs and weren't cute. They explained why they were waiting...for their humans who loved them.
"What is love?" he asked and God let him go back to earth and find out.
Warm and dark, he squeezed in with the others and waited for the day to be born. Scared, he held back as long as he could, but finally got dragged out by his hind feet. Hands without fur held him gently and rubbed him dry and opened his mouth then guided him to a warm nipple with milk. He didn't get a good hold on it, because one of his big fat brothers pushed him aside. The human hand moved the other puppy to another nipple and held his body, so he could drink.
"Ahhh, that's better," he thought, and drank until his jaws got tired and he curled up to sleep next to his warm hairy mother. "I remember this," he mused. "Too bad I'll have to grow up to be hit, left out in the cold and rain, and used for dog-bait fighting. I remember what it's like, being a dog," he thought sadly.
That night, he crawled up to his mother and tried to nurse but kept getting pushed off to the side. When they were full, the big brothers and sisters got their bottoms cleaned and he finally latched onto a nipple, but the human hands weren't there to hold him up, and there wasn't any milk in any of the nipples anyway. He was weak and so tiny. It was even hard to stay upright. He fell over on his back and couldn't right himself. So he began to cry...and suddenly, the human hands were there, holding him up and putting a rubber thing in his mouth. It didn't taste like mother, but it was warm and made the ache in his tummy go away.
He was having trouble breathing. His lungs weren't fully developed because he had waited too long to join the others in the womb, as he took one last romp at the Rainbow Bridge. He could feel the heartbeat of the human, who had laid him on her chest and covered him with a soft cloth, keeping him warm and soothing his boney body with gently circling touches. He kept thinking of his new friends who had been so nice to him at the bridge and asked God if he could go back.
God said, "Yes, but not just yet. You wanted to experience Love."
So for several hours...it seemed like days, but it was dark and he couldn't tell what time it was...the human supplemented his feeding and let him experience the warmth of his mother's body and tongue, and the pile of warm soft littermates. He got weaker and the human held him more often, leaving the littermates to sleep in a pile while he got caressed and kissed, and got to listen to the heartbeat which was strong and loving.
Finally, God came back and asked, "Are you ready to come back to the Rainbow Bridge?"
"Yes," he responded, with a little sorrow, because the human didn't want to let him go, and was crying.
He pushed the air out of his lungs, floated back to the Rainbow Bridge and looked back at the human, who was still crying and holding the limp body that he had borrowed for his trip.
"Thank you, God," he said. "Love is beautiful. I will wait near the Bridge and let the human know, when she arrives, that I loved her, too."
