August 28, 2024

by HoofPrints owner Gina Keesling

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August 28th is Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day — a day to celebrate the lives of the dogs and other pets who touched our lives and are no longer with us.

Some believe that our pets cross over to a place called the Rainbow Bridge when they die, and they wait for us there until our lives end so we can meet again. Whether or not you believe in the Rainbow Bridge, this day is a good opportunity to think about the dogs who’ve been so special to you and to honor their memories.

We lost our Jack Russell Terrier Lucy back in 2021.

I have been trying since then to write her story and the emotions are still almost too intense. I never dreamed that a 13 pound dog who unabashedly bit me dozens of times over the years would have captured my heart so completely.

She was the cutest puppy we'd ever seen. A snarling, thrashing, biting puppy that had to be taught that biting her people was NOT cool. She was so fierce and so tenacious, it was truly impressive.

Brenda Aloff describes them best:

”Think about a Golden Retriever who encounters a deep, dark, claustrophobic hole. At the bottom is a raging, salivating, snarling creature. Most dogs might say to themselves, “Oooo, I bet this creature doesn’t want me here.” And after a cautious investigation, the dog will leave.

But most terriers, even at a very young age - every one, to the creature - would say: “BONSAI! I’m COMING IN!” Their little eyes are shining with anticipation and their tails are wagging with joy, because the possibility of a truly awesome rumble - all-out-to-the-death, hand-to-hand combat in close, claustrophobic quarters - is in the offing.

It’s not so much that that is what they do that’s frightening, but that they are truly happiest and most alive when they are doing this.

This analogy alone should prevent anyone from wanting a go-to-ground terrier. However, there are some of us who like that living-on-the-edge feeling. And so, like idiots, we choose small, fierce, yet cheerful, monsters dressed in dog suits for our pets.”

For most of 18 years Lucy kicked the ass of every creature on the place whenever she deemed appropriate. Anything smaller than she was did not survive the ordeal. The bigger attack-ees fared better, and many times we were fortunate to be able to intervene before she was bested. She was a frequent flyer at the vet as a result.

Unfortunately, the sad day came where she was bested, and the same vets who'd patched her up for almost two decades instead helped her cross the Rainbow Bridge.

She was still a young dog when I took this random picture of her perched on my desk. I still don't know how she got up there. Directly in the background is a resin angel dog sculpture - HoofPrints carried those and the angel horse on the left until they were discontinued. I never would have imagined that nearly a decade later I'd be painting it to match Lucy's bright white and orange coat, a keepsake to mark her grave.

We used to say it was a good thing she couldn't fly - she was so fierce that she'd have dominated even the sky and no squirrel or bird would be safe, nor would food on the counter or table. Whenever I look at this sculpture (it never made it to her grave, instead it's on my desk) it makes me smile as I imagine that now she can fly.

When he was little our son Jordan said he wished she still had her tail. Now she has her tail back in addition to the wings. She also hated having her nails clipped, they were thick and hard and grew FAST so they needed trimmed weekly - it was a struggle her entire life; this angel pup has tiny, short nails that surely wear down and never need trimming.

My desk was a mess when I snapped this shot with my paints, brushes and some random books that I was reading at the time.

Most amusing to consider is How Stella Learned to Talk - a fascinating true story about speech therapist who applied what she knew about teaching non-verbal children to teaching her dog Stella, to talk - using the same kind of buttons that the kids used.

Lucy was so feisty that she'd have needed about half of her buttons to be cuss words. She used to get so angry if we left her in the house when we needed to do chores that wouldn't be safe for her to be out with. She would stand at the patio door and commentate with a tapestry of doggy obscenities that could be easily heard on the other side of our 20 acre farm.

Rainbow Bridge Day is fairly new, but folks have been remembering their canine companions for millennia

Did you know that the ancient Greeks really had graves for dogs? And they carved stuff on the stone like “Carrying you here, I now feel as much grief as I felt joy when I carried you home” and “You never barked without reason, but now you are silent”.

The human urge to tell a story spans the ages, and the loss of a good dog makes you want to tell everyone - even people centuries in the future, who will never know your name - that there once was a dog who was a very good girl, but now she no longer is and you aren’t sure what to do with all this sorrow.

This sturdy steel Angel Dog Sculpture is a perfect memorial marker, or garden decoration

Look what I found!

A Treat Pouch / Hip Pack created especially for DOG LOVERS

It was quite a blow when our old standby treat pouch was discontinued. I had been looking for months for a replacement, and this one has far exceeded my expectations. This is the Swiss Army Knife of hip packs; Sipsey Wilder created it with horse and dog trainers in mind. Vibrantly printed durable canvas, it features zippered compartments; is lined with insulating, easy to clean vinyl - for any style of treat. Zippers make for easy control of the opening and there’s a magnet closure to close up while training without having to zip! Compact and thoughtfully designed with room for your phone and more, includes a compartment with dispenser slot for poop bags.

NEW! Leather Sleigh Bell Door Hanger / Dog Potty Bells

Made in New Hampshire, USA by New England Bells, these authentic solid brass sleigh bells are mounted on heavy leather and have a lovely tone

Look what else I found!

You all LOVED the Vintage Equestrian Horse Stamps Puzzle (on sale HALF though 8/31/24); many of the 4th quarter orders included multiples, so it was apparent that they were being given as gifts, too. Surprisingly, even after Christmas these are still super popular. A quick internet search reminds us that puzzles are an interesting way to exercise our brains. Did you know utilizing a puzzle helps improve memory, cognitive function, and problem solving?

One of the things I love about the Equestrian Puzzle is that it's made up of over three dozen mini images, so you're implored to study the fine details of each one as you fit the pieces together. My graphic-designer brain supremely appreciates how they're all so thoughtfully arranged; the colors, the movement, vertical vs horizontal - all serve to direct your eye around and around. I never tire of looking at it, and I didn't think puzzle art could get any better than this. But then I found this...

TWENTY DOG PURSES! Purses from Chala and Vintage Addiction - I can't rave enough about how wonderful they are.

These are so intricately designed, pieced together out of a variety of contrasting materials; every single stitch is perfectly sewn. I remember taking sewing in 4H - and having to re-do seams that weren't perfect, so I notice this stuff. These are perfect. I've sold a LOT of them and haven't had a single problem.

And Chala's awesomeness doesn't stop at the cute logo and the perfect stitching. The inside of these purses are so thoughtfully designed, they literally thought of everything. Every square inch has purpose; a place for all your important stuff so you can find it with ease. On the wallet-size cross-body purses, they include two different length straps so you have multiple options as far as how you can carry it.

Almost gone! Life is Short - Play With Your Dog T-shirt

A great gift for a dog-loving friend, or a reminder for yourself

I love helping with gift giving... It's probably a dumb idea to promote a service I offer that doesn't make a single penny for the company, but it's one of those feel-good things that I like to share stories about. I offer to include a gift card at no charge should the customer be needing to send the item directly to it's intended recipient. Probably the big companies have a clever computerized way to handle this, but HoofPrints doesn't. It involves choosing an actual card from the specially reserved stash, and hand-writing the requested sentiment inside. It can get to be time-consuming, especially if it's a long message, or one with a lot of names that I need to make sure are spelled correctly, etc.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Gina Keesling started HoofPrints in 1986 to provide promotional materials for farrier husband Rob. Along the way she added a fun selection of horse and dog products geared toward women of a certain age. This newsletter is emailed to subscribers a few times a month. Watch for sales, stories (including dog-bathing instructions) and more.

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