Old friends :-)

[merimask]

Ahh...I brought everyone down last time (including myself, I kicked my own ass!), so I'm just going to share cute pictures I dug up of my old buddies.

This baby picture of Ruby is one of my favorites.  I'll hide the rest behind the link below, but this one has to go here out in the open where everyone can see how cute she was.  She was the most quiet, sedate, clever puppy in the world.  :-)

Claudia, what a sweet cat.  This first picture is SO beat up (these all pre-date digital cameras so the photos are well worn and used)  but I always loved it because Claudia always looked like this, she was regal.  She never once used her claws on anything but her scratching post, and she loved being held.  It made her so happy she would drool!  It was very weird.
 
Below is a typical picture of Claude with Charlotte.   Those two were best pals.  I think Claude is about 13 years old here...


Here's old Ruby, doing her favorite thing; napping near Greg.  Like most redheads she went really gray in her old age.


Below is a picture of her in her youth.  Her coloring was so lovely; deep auburn with copper points and one small locket of white on her chest.  Her eyes were golden.  Her nose was brown and it would get sunburned easily.  She had a glorious coat with long feathers (I spent hundreds of hours, brushing my dogs).


Tucker below...what a clown.  I have very few pictures of him because he was always a blur of activity.  Somehow he knew when his picture was being taken and he'd go wild...his big black nose always ended up poking the camera lens eventually (digital would have been a godsend!).  None of these really do him justice, except to convey how hard it was to capture him on film!  A very busy boy...

...his eyes freaked people out.  They were ice blue and when he was all worked up he actually got a bit crosseyed!   He was on overdrive ALL the time.  Always ready to play with me...

...with a goofy grin.   This picture of him was taken when he was 13 years old!  He romped like a puppy every day of his life.


This last picture is my very favorite.  It's Tuck, of course.  He LOVED to roll around.  He'd do it vigorously just because he loved to.  I used to say "roll around!" every time he started to roll, and soon he'd do it on command, kicking and laughing a happy dog laugh.  :-)  It was a favorite party trick.  Whenever we had garden parties in the back yard, I'd ask him to roll (a safe distance from everyone, because he was likely to kick tables over in his zeal) and he'd crack everyone up.  He was just so damn gleeful about it!   He'd thrash around until he made himself dizzy, and we'd all laugh like loons which just made him ham it up even more.


He was such a happy guy.  I think he taught me a lot about aging with grace.  

:-)

Comments

[zipis1.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, they're all so lovely! And, gods, you're right about his eyes. Simply gorgeous.

You're really warming my heart, ya know that? Even (especially?) working at an animal hospital, I very rarely hear people speak with so much fondness for their pets. I can tell you really loved (and still do) them.There should be more pet owners like you. *smooch*

[merimask.livejournal.com]

:-) Thank you so much.

It sort of breaks my heart to talk about my old pals, but in a way it's nice to remember them like this. They were members of my family.

And yeah Tuck's eyes were so wild...he was hard to read sometimes, and then those pupils would dilate and you just knew he was up to trouble. ;-)

When I decided to get another dog (I spent a year without my Tuck and it was like a slice of hell for me) I knew I'd better not get an Aussie because Tucker was an impossible act to follow. Which is how I ended up with my husky Kiba...who's writing his own story in my heart these days.

[moko-moko.livejournal.com]

Be-freaking-autiful. Tucker is so gorgeous, the iceblue looks so startling against all that white. *stares*

I read your post about your lovelies at work and got all teared up in front of my boss. But I'm glad to have faces to the names now :3

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :-) I don't know what gets into me sometimes...every now and then I ~really~ miss those guys.

Sorry about work! I did the same thing to my poor husband, who left early to come home and give me a hug and pout at me for making him sad (he acts like a tough guy but he misses Ruby like crazy. She was his first dog.).

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

Saw the eyes on Tucker first thing. They're like a woman's eyes, damn. Ruby was a very cute puppy (my little cousin Madeline's middle name is Ruby...it's a family name) and Charlotte's hair is really nice, such a great shade of chocolate brown. She's so lucky not to have mousy non-descript brown hair, like so many of us :) She won't ever need to dye it unless she just wants a change, lucky girl!

[merimask.livejournal.com]

It's funny how appropriate Ruby's name was. I picked it because I was really stumped for a name...and she was a red dog so... But later as her quiet, gentle, somewhat crotchety personality became evident, it ~really~ fit because "Ruby" is kind of a sweet, old fashioned name.

I covet Char's hair. :-) Mine at her age was a little lighter and redder but her color suits her so well. Of course, she wishes she were blond. Someday she'll appreciate it.

[rumdiculous.livejournal.com]

XD My mom happened to be walking nearby when the puppy pic of Ruby was onscreen, she stopped and went "OOh!!!"

That's almost exactly what Blossie looked like as a puppy, except for the light streak down her chest. Boss (nickname...figures she's a bossy thing) was that same cinnamon color until she started to get older, now she's turning really light tan. Wah! I miss Aussie puppies! They're the best. So fun and hyper. Boss had this thing for shoes, she'd attack your feet until your shoes were untied, and then she'd be satisfied.

Wow, Claudia is such a strange color...almost like purple.

I LOVE Tucker's eyes! I've always had a thing for light colored eyes in dogs, even if they usually tend to have problems. Aw, he just seems like such a cool dog. You could tell he was a character.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

NOW you see why I love your old Blossie-girl so much? The more I hear about her, the more she reminds me of Ruby. They were soul sisters.

Yeah, Claudia was the coolest color ever. It's called blue-cream and she had a tortoise-shell pattern...usually you see those in black and orange but she was the diluted version. On top of that she had lynx-points on her head (I had to look all this fancy crap up in a cat book) so she was really a beauty. Nothing more than a mutt-cat though. We picked her up at an ASPCA shelter when she was about four months old, just another sad stray...but the sweetest cat I ever met in my life.

You would have loved Tuck. He had a huge personality. When he died I had to call around and tell people who knew him, because he had a lot of fans among my circle of friends. Just about every single one of those people burst into tears on the phone...it was so sad.

[rumdiculous.livejournal.com]

:) Blossie is one in a million. I don't know how I'm going to react when she dies. We've had her for fourteen years now. That's impressive as she was attacked and almost killed by a Mastif four years ago. I really thought that was the end of her. She's hung in there though, even now she's still the leader of Iris and Chloe. The hierarchy hasn't changed despite her age.

Aw! You found her at a shelter! That's so sweet. I've found most animals found in odd places make for the best pets. Maybe because they've been through more?

When he died I had to call around and tell people who knew him, because he had a lot of fans among my circle of friends. Just about every single one of those people burst into tears on the phone...it was so sad.

That's horribly sad. I bet I would have loved that dog. I always get attatched to my friend's pets especially if they have a very bright personality.