Life & Story: Dulce the Dog

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Have you ever had to deal with your pet/companion passing?

I have such a brilliant story to share with all my lovely readers. It is a story filled with so much love that your heart will expand just a bit and your eyes will well up with tears.  It is happy and sad and sweet and if you have ever dealt with the loss of a loyal companion, this story will ring in your heart and possibly help that spot in your heart to heal.

I asked my dear friend, Wendy Parr (an amazing vocal teacher in NYC and ps. she is the teacher of singer Regina Spektor), to share her story of losing her pup, Dulce, after 10 years of journeying together.  Please read their story, you will be glad you did.

 

I was born with a dog under my crib, watching guard over me. She would growl when my door opened until my mom said, "it's me" then she came out tail wagging. I learned to walk clinging to Sam's hair and hanging on as she led the way. One morning when I was about 5, I woke up to such noise, rubbing my eyes and wandering out of my room, saying "Teddyyy, moooove", until my morning sleepy eyes cleared and revealed the staircase was gone and there was nothing but Teddy, our sweet Old English Sheepdog barking and blocking my way, protecting me from falling to the floor below.  I have a long wonderful relationship with dogs. I spent my childhood and adolescence in their companionship, taking care of them as they took care of me.

When I was an adult and felt it was really time for me to have the friendship of a dog again, the first time since I lived at home, I went from Shelter to shelter wishing I had a farm so I could take them all home, but none was my companion. Having always had a sheepdog and knowing the Briard was the dog for me, I connected with half a dozen breeders. When I spoke with Kathy in Ohio I knew she was the one and she felt she had a great pup for me. It was a match, sight unseen. Dulce arrived at LAX cargo and when the crate door opened, Dulce ran straight to me and hugged me. Yep, stood up on her back legs, squeezing my thigh for that's as high as she reached at the time and hugged me, reaching up she kissed and kissed me. I was so happy and so surprised, she was already so big! Tall as my knees at 15 weeks. I barely slept the first week she arrived as I woke to check on her sleeping on her big doggie bed next to mine. On the second night she was laying on her back, all limbs splayed and I took a sigh, that's one happy dog, and I finally slept.

Dulce and I hung out together for ten amazing years. Ten years spending it all together. Dulce went everywhere with me. If you know me, you know Dulce. In fact, I met so many people because they all stopped to ask "what kind of dog is that?! " Dulce came to work everyday - hanging out in the music studio, making so many people happy. A few friends and clients overcame their fear of dogs because of Dulce. She traveled with me - California, New York, Argentina, Uruguay, Miami, Sarasota… we met thousands of people.  Dulce walked off leash for 10 years, first in LA, then Manhattan. Such an unusual dog, we were stopped all day long by strangers for photos, to say hello to D, to ask "what kind of dog is that". When three months old, my dad experienced this and said, "You're going to need a placard to answer all these questions". It was always fun meeting new people, she got lots of love and attention and brought so much joy to people. After 8 years it got to be so much, I started a blog www.dulcethedog.com and had business cards & T-shirts made.  I'd blog Dulce's adventures - since she went everywhere with me - I posted photos of her in local shops, going to gigs and so on. It was great to share music and cool stuff through her eyes. She's such a character and always happy to be photographed. Strangers took pix with her and I posted them in the photo gallery. One couple, Jim and Jessica stopped me in the street so excited because they had seen a dog just like Dulce uptown and fell in love with her. They showed me the photo and I said, "That's Dulce!  They were thrilled. Jim got Jessica a dulcethedog T-Shirt for her birthday which D personally delivered.  Dulce was asked to be in a music video and for a while the majority of the comments on YouTube were about her. She made friends everywhere.

We communicated without words… and with. She would surprise me with her brilliance, and let me say EVERYONE who ever met her said "That's not a dog, she's a person in a dog suit! because she really was the smartest dog I've ever known. Once I came home and she was happily chewing a bone on my wonderful Berber rug from Morocco. I said, "Oh Dulce I'm so glad you like your bone, but not on the good rug. You're supposed to eat that in the kitchen." She looked at me, picked up the bone and took it over to her bed where she continued to enjoy her big beef bone.

The last two years of her life, she was glued to my side. I'm sure she knew long before I did that she was sick. I knew she had kidney disease and we did everything to take care of her - changed her diet, acupuncture, chinese herbs and in the last few months doggie dialysis. In fact, when she passed, Babette told me that when she discovered the kidney problem, most dogs would have lived six months and Dulce lived for two years. We did good ;)    It was amazing to share ten years, ten years. So many experiences together! Two cities, four homes, three girlfriends, three teaching studios, countless walks, hundreds of pounds of meat, more yams than I can count, over a dozen flights, walks on six beaches, two continents and thousands of cuddles and kisses. She knew me best of all without words. If I cursed she got scared - couldn't stand to see me angry, if I said ouch, she came running to offer a kiss, every time I wrote a new song on the piano she grabbed a squeaky toy to play along… Dulce was magic.

One morning I looked at her and began to cry. "You're leaving soon", I just knew. Friends questioned it, because she was still vibrant as a puppy, but I knew. And for the next three months I felt her slowly getting weaker. She took one less walk a day and her walks got slower and shorter. I had to get a harness and help her up stairs. It was hard to experience and not be able to do more than I was to help her. It was also an incredible experience - we got closer than ever. She showed her love, her gratitude to me.  She asked for what she needed - putting her head on the bed with her brows slightly lifted, a little hummmph noise to get my attention. I'd get out of bed to lift her hind legs and help her on the bed where she'd remain 'til late the next day. Sometimes I could see her crying, her eyes so sad, sometimes filled with so much love and deep gratitude. She was softer. I'd been going to yoga 5/6 days a week for two years and in during these last three months she came with me a couple times. Usually, she would be happy to sit at a distance from me so long as she could see me, but at this point that wouldn't do. She got up and walked into the room, laying down beside me. She spent the whole hour and a half laying next to me. A couple times, kissing my arm while in down dog and she leading us all by laying on her back belly up in happiness into Shavasana.

I wondered, if I need to help her pass, how will I know? It was so clear. For the last three months she was weak, looked sick, then would be like a puppy, then weak again. Her last weekend she was dying. She basically stopped eating, couldn't even get her to eat her favorite treats. She wouldn't let me take her photo and I have thousands of photos, she poses. But that last weekend she kept looking away from me when I snapped a shot. We had upped her liquids and had an appointment with the vet for Monday to see how she was doing. Saturday night I felt her slipping away, I could smell the odor… she was dying. We were up all night - she was choking, we'd go outside and she ate grass for a half hour, drink water. Then we went back in for an hour or so, back out for grass… I cried a lot, felt so hopeless unable to do anything for her. I gave her my love. Saturday night was so hard on her, I didn't want her to go through another night like that. I made the appointment with Babette for Sunday evening to help Dulce go. We drove back early, Dulce laying in the back seat. I'd cuddle her, read and give her space, I took a nap with her. All the way letting her know, "just 5 hours til we're home and it's all over"…" just three more hours Dulce, it's okay" … such a bittersweet day. We got back to the city and walked home, Dulce was bouncy, so happy. I said, "It's our last walk through the Meat Packing District". I took all the luggage upstairs and offered D a last walk. We crossed the street and she laid down. I asked her if she wants a walk or to go home. She turned her head towards the house. She jumped up and we walked home. Upstairs she lay down, spent. Complete. I put everything away, nice music playing, set the house nicely and sat with her head in my lap. Our final conversation. The bell rang and Dulce jumped up greeting Babette with puppy enthusiasm, her tail wagging. She was happy and ready to go. I was weeping, uncontrollably weeping, telling Dulce how much I loved her, wishing her a safe and happy journey. How grateful I am for her… Babette asked, "Are you ready?"  As soon as I said yes, fireworks went off! Pride fireworks. I laughed, "Really?! You're going out to that? fanfare?" And I knew it was a celebration. It was all good. I asked aloud, "When will I know she's gone?"  and as I brushed her head I saw the light go out of her eyes and I knew, she was gone.

It was such a hard process, so hard to see her spirit gone. She was really just a caracas. It was also amazing to be a part of her full journey. Puppy to death. Years and years of sharing my life. Because everyone loves D and I had clients the next day - my big fear being having to tell everyone one by one, feeling it over and over again, I decided to make a post on facebook and Dulce's blog. I spent hours writing and crying so very deeply. In the pain, I realized some of what I was grieving was my own death. Dulce lives in me, in my molecules and she took some of me with her. She is forever alive in my heart, my body, my spirit. But grief, in addition to loss, it is our own death - both what is lost in the moment and the awareness of death we grieve. Writing her remembrance was incredibly helpful and healing. It got me sharing my love and gratitude for her. I spent Monday writing it and posting a memorial to her on her blog. And once I posted, the phone calls, texts, messages came pouring in and the tears came pouring out. It was beautiful to hear the love so many had for her.

At first it was awfully hard, especially seeing people who knew me, who knew her - it brought up all the sadness. And my first new student who came in I realized, wow you won't ever know Dulce. Everyone I meet from this day on will never know D. And that made it all the more real and surreal.  Other than that it is simply a new chapter. I don't miss her. So strange she is such a huge character, energy and when I traveled and she wasn't here I felt her absence, but with her death, my home felt light, clear, not missing anything. I saw her - laying at doorway, in white butterflies that flew around me for weeks after she left. I live on the fourth floor in Manhattan and butterflies were outside my window and out my kitchen window. My kitchen window! It's strickly city outside my kitchen window. My clients felt her greet them for the first couple weeks after she was gone. And I dreamed her. How lucky am I! We were walking again together. She came to tell me today was the day put her body to rest. I had her ashes and was flying to LA and planned to scatter them there. The night before I flew I dreamed her. We were walking and at each intersection she was laying dead and I realized, "Oh that's right, you're dead and I have to do something with your body. "Are you ready to be buried?" I asked her and she looked at me, smiled and nodded her head. I woke up feeling soooo lucky. And that day I got off the plane, drove straight to my old apt where she first lived with me and scattered her ashes under the three big trees where she used to play.

Dulce left to make room for a person in my life, ushering me into a new chapter of my life. Since she left my health has improved and my social life expanded exponentially. I believe she took things for me that have made me better. I have time I haven't had in ten years and new choices available to me. I can hang out at the club I belong to more. I have some freedoms that come with the loss. And I can see why people get a new dog immediately. There is a space, a relationship that is gone. I want the space right now. So I stop and give scratches and cuddles and kisses to dogs all day and get that canine creature love for a few minutes. And every once in a while someone who hasn't seen me in a long while asks about Dulce and I have to say, "I'm so sorry to tell you", knowing that they are going to be sad and shocked, "that she left us this summer". And I see the tears well up and the surprise upon their face as they say "No! I never thought it could happen, not Dulce."  Her best buddy Leon, the dog walker texted me just last week saying his heart is still broken missing D. My neighbor who's Old English, Toby, Dulce's dear buddy, who passed just two days after D just got a new friend, Gabby Tobias Wooleybottom and I am so happy for her. I can see how good it is for her that she has a new five month old furry friend.

As I write about D all the love I have comes up and tears and grief too. Sometimes I can lean over as if to snuggle her and all the love is there and her absence makes me sad. I have a wonderful children's book, The Magical Adventures of Dulce the Dog to write. It may be a few years until I do it, but I hope to commemorate her amazing personality forever through story and illustrations. Her blog is still up, don't know what I'll do with it, but I certainly can't take it down. And I have a shadowbox with her photo, leash, tags favorite toy and rubber ball waiting for me to put it together. I just haven't been able to get myself to do it just yet.

I hope Dulce will continue to visit my dreams and I imagine I'll see her again in another form. A connection like that isn't ever gone and since we all come back again and again, I feel sure I'll see her again and when I do, I'll know it's her and I'll call her my Dulce again.

~Wendy Parr

www.wendyparr.com
www.dulcethedog.com
www.wearebeautifulpeople.com


Some friends I love:


www.rockyridgerescue.com
http://sheldrickwildlifetrust.org./index.asp

Dog Yoga (DOGA) part 2

After I posted yesterday's article about Doga (yoga with your dog) I found this other great article and had to post it as well.

Downward-facing dogs for upwardly-mobile pets: How 'Doga' (that's yoga for your pooch) became a hot New York trend

By Hannah Rand

Last updated at 8:02 AM on 11th January 2012

Forget fetching a stick, the hottest new way to exercise with your pampered pooch is dog yoga.

'Doga', which is said to appeal to your pet’s natural instinct to stretch, has become a new fad among New York dog-owners who believe it creates a unique bonding experience.

Classes involve stretching, massage and even chanting – at a pitch the dogs can mimic.

Ruff relaxation: 'Doga', or yoga for dogs, is said to appeal to your pet's natural instinct to stretch, and has become a hot trend in New York

Suzi Teitelman has been teaching doga in New York and Jacksonville, Florida, since 2002. 


She started the classes after noticing that her cocker spaniel Coali liked to lie beneath her when she practised traditional yoga at home.

 

She told MailOnline: 'Just as dogs pick up anxiety and negativity, they benefit from being a calm, happy environment with their owners.

'The owners often say that they've never see their pet so relaxed.'

The animals take part in the classes either by acting as weights to help balance their owners or by doing some of the moves themselves.

Read more HERE

New Year, New Workouts...Doga

Have you heard of this? Yoga with your dog! Doga. Charlie comes with me to yoga all time. But it is normal yoga, this looks too fun though.

By BETHANY LYTTLE

 NY Times

IN Chicago, Kristyn Caliendo does forward-bends with a Jack Russell terrier draped around her neck. In Manhattan, Grace Yang strikes a warrior pose while balancing a Shih Tzu on her thigh. And in Seattle, Chantale Stiller-Anderson practices an asana that requires side-stretching across a 52-pound vizsla.

Call it a yogic twist: Downward-facing dog is no longer just for humans.

Ludicrous? Possibly. Grist for anyone who thinks that dog-owners have taken yoga too far? Perhaps. But nationwide, classes of doga — yoga with dogs, as it is called — are increasing in number and popularity. Since Ms. Caliendo, a certified yoga instructor in Chicago, began to teach doga less than one year ago, her classes have doubled in size.

Not everyone in the yoga community is comfortable with this.

“Doga runs the risk of trivializing yoga by turning a 2,500-year-old practice into a fad,” said Julie Lawrence, 60, a yoga instructor and studio owner in Portland, Ore. “To live in harmony with all beings, including dogs, is a truly yogic principle. But yoga class may not be the most appropriate way to express this.”

Read more HERE 
see fun photos of Doga HERE

Photo: Stuart Isett for The New York Times

Bulldog Christmas

 

 

image via 

Christmas Gift Ideas For the Dog Lover

Have you heard of Pinhole Press?  I am sure you have cause it seems like everyone is using it and talking about it, especially to make Christmas cards this Holiday Season.  Anyways, check out Pinhole's fun collection for Animal Lovers.  These could make the perfect gift for that animal crazed lover in your life.  Sorry images are a tad small...click on the image to see it on Pinhole's website. It takes a second to be redirected.

Spotted: Rover Dog, Funny Dog Clothes

I stumbled upon the amazingly fashionable doggie attire of Rover Dog and wanted to share with you. Aren't these cute coats, shirts, and ties funny? They are appropriately dressy without involving even a scrap of tulle or cheesy doggie tuxedo pants. For those of you who consider yourself opposed to dogs in clothes, I dare you to resist this kind of cute. Maybe Charlie should get one for church.

{Photos from Rover Dog.}

Elephant and Dog are Best Friends

You have got to watch this. I cried just a bit--man I love animals.

The Dogs On Halloween

Dog Portraits

So a couple of years ago I did an oil painting of Charlie.  I really like it and am happy with how it turned out.  Is it weird that I have a big picture of my dog hanging in my house?  Does anyone else have a painting of their dog?  If not, maybe you can commission me to do one if you are interested :)

Happy Monday!

Patrick the Pit Bull

Pit bull abandoned in NJ gains worldwide following

 
AP – A 1-year-old pit bull nicknamed Patrick sits Tuesday, April 5, 2011, near piles of gifts donated to him … 

 

By SAMANTHA HENRY, Associated Press Samantha Henry, Associated Press – Fri Apr 8, 3:50 pm ET

NEWARK, N.J. – When an emaciated pit bull found at the bottom of a trash chute in New Jersey was rushed to a veterinary emergency room last month, doctors there thought he would be dead within the hour.

Instead, the scrappy pup, nicknamed Patrick, has defied the odds and is getting stronger by the day.

"He is a tremendous fighter," said Dr. Thomas Scavelli, the director and founder of the Garden State Veterinary Specialists, the pet hospital in Tinton Falls where Patrick is being treated. "There are very few animals, or any life form, that could have gone through and survived what he has, and really never looked back."

Hospital staffers, who named the dog for his reddish fur and because he was found the day before St. Patrick's Day, have been chronicling his progress on their website and a Facebook page that has garnered fans from around the world. He's received hundreds of emails, donations, gifts and letters from those inspired by his tale of survival.

When Patrick was brought to the hospital after being rescued by officials at the Associated Humane Societies, he was so starved, emaciated and dehydrated he was curled into a ball, unable to walk or stand. His ribcage protruded, he weighed about 20 pounds — roughly 30 pounds less than average — and was covered in sores with parts of skin hanging off him, according to Patricia Smillie-Scavelli, Thomas Scavelli's wife and the administrator of the hospital.

"Everyone thought that, you bring in an animal like that, that looks like it's really just a corpse, you put it to sleep," Smillie-Scavelli said. "But of course, he looked up at you with those eyes, and you say: How can you give up on this dog? How can you, when he's not giving up on life? So, we gave him that second chance, and he has just run with it, and thrived."

Today, after weeks of emergency measures that included a transfusion of three pints of dog blood, a special diet, medicine and physical therapy, Patrick continues gaining weight — currently weighing just over 29 pounds — is finally eating solid food, and enjoys taking outdoor walks in the sun and playing with the many toys that well-wishers have sent him.

Click HERE to read full story

Dog Playing Dead

I saw this on Facebook and thought I would share it with all of you.  Be ready to laugh.  This is a video of Bailey the Dog playing dead in his Oscar winning performance on David Letterman.  Way to go Bailey!

Please Bless This Never Happens To Me

Today I was sitiing in class and my friend emailed me this.  I started laughing out loud-I should not have read it during class. Please read this story.  This dog looks to close to Charlie and if he did this I would die a thousand deaths.

 
First there was Steven Slater, the flight attendant who used an inflatable slide for his job walk-off. Now, the Steven Slater of dogs: a 12-pound Manchester terrier named Mandy who escaped her cage mid-air and went on a biting rampage.
Mandy was on a U.S. Airways flight from Phoenix to Newark when her sedatives wore off. Her owner's seatmate tried to soothe her, causing Mandy to fly into a rage: She broke free of her cage, bit the strange soothsayer, then raced up and down the aisle, eventually biting a flight attendant, causing the pilot to take an emergency landing in Pittsburgh "in the interest of safety."
That's nothing. I once rode an airplane with a class of adolescent boys who went on penis-punching rampage. Since they punched only one another, however, the flight carried on with only one warning from the pilot and a lot of passive-aggressive sighing from onlookers. If only you could stow children in little cases underneath the seat in front of you. [NYP, Image of non-violent Manchester terrier via dodsports' Flickr]

article found here.

Funny Dog Halloween Costumes

Seriously?

Halloween Costumes

I think I will dress Jack and Charlie up and create this same photo.  I already know which dog would play which role.  What are your dogs dressing up as for Halloween this year?

Pug in a Bow Tie

Apparently I am not the only one who dresses her dog up in pink bow ties to go to a wedding.
This are from Katie Armour's Blog.

Click HERE and HERE to see Charlie in his bow tie.

Senior Dog Portraits

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Now this is sweet. I love the wisdom and love in their faces. These soulful Senior Dog Portraits are by photographer Garry Gross. This series shows the grace of old age and the stoic nature of these sweet dogs. Aren't they beautiful?! Click HERE for more images.

Click HERE for more images.

Images via Garry Gross's website

Become a follower of Super Dog Charlie Pants by clicking this button

Reasons to own a Dog

I read an article in USA Today, which said having a dog can improve your health. According to the article, dogs make life friendlier, help us become more active, and help us heal.

For all you parents whose kids are begging for a dog, but you don't want to deal with a dog when your kids are young, here is an interesting notion found in the article.

"Child psychologist Robert Bierer of Albuquerque conducted a study of 128 children and concluded that pre-adolescent kids who get the chance to help care for dogs tend to have higher self-esteem and empathy than those who do not."

All I know is that Charlie is my best friend. Man I love that cute face and those bulging eyes. I would let him kiss me all day, right on my lips, his stinky breath and all.

Dog Halloween Pumpkins

My mother-in-law sent me these cute photos. I want to make a Charlie and Jack one. Aren't they cute?