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"Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge"
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here,
that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all
of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty
of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All
the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor.
Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as
we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals
are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone
very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They
all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops
and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body
quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green
grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You
have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet,
you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy
kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head,
and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone
from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then
you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
Author
unknown...
Gracie was a little old pregnant 10 year old gal that came
into our rescue back in January of 1999. She was very shy, but VERY
loving. There was no way she would have been able to deliver the 4 pups
she was carrying, so she had to be spayed. Gracie went in to be spayed
for adoption and never woke up from the surgery due to an enlarged heart
that no one knew about. Gracie is with us in thought everyday,
she was the first one we couldn't save. We do have the comfort of knowing
that her last few days were filled with love and comfort though, instead
of in a shelter or with an abusive owner.
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Iggy came to us from a shelter in March of 1999, as he turned
a year and a half old. The shelter employees were afraid to get near
him because he was quite a vicious little bugger (they thought we were
nuts for taking him). Iggy's owners had turned him into the shelter and
said he needed to see a little "reality"...whatever that was supposed
to mean. He'd been kept on a chain outside since the time he was 10 weeks
old because he wasn't housebroken. After working with Iggy daily (and repeatedly
getting bit), he calmed down and was a wonderful little dog to those of
us he knew. Unfortunately no matter how many hours of training, no
matter how many behavior modifying drugs, and no matter how much love we
gave him, he wanted nothing to do with other people or other animals. He
would repeatedly attempt to bite other people, and would attack other dogs
whenever he felt the need. We held Iggy, kissed him, and let him know that
he was loved, and helped him to the rainbow bridge.
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Mickey came to us from his owner.....well okay....his 6th
owner in his short 1 year life. He'd been passed from one home to another
when no one had time for him anymore, or when they couldn't housebreak
him, or when he'd bark at the cat. The owners that gave him to us told
us that he would bite anyone, an for no reason at all. After having Mickey
for two months it was evident that he didn't trust anyone, and wasn't
willing to try trusting again (after all, I'm sure in his first 5 homes
he'd tried and as soon as he started to trust them he was off to another
house with totally different people, rules, and situations to get used
to). After much time with behaviorists, it was agreed that Mickey was not
adoptable, and wouldn't ever be adoptable no matter how hard we tried.
Mickey ate three cheeseburgers from McD's and then went to the best home
there is....he went home to God while those he knew talked to him and told
him he didn't need to be afraid of anything anymore.
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This Mickey came to us from his elderly owners in NY when
he was 4 years old. It was reported to us from family members that he
was purchased from a pet store and given as a gift to the elderly couple,
thinking they would enjoy the companionship of a little dog. Unfortunately
Mickey (who had AKC papers) grew to be 26 pounds. He was never trained,
and was very spoiled by his owners....he got to do whatever he wanted. As
he got older, he only got worse. When he wanted to do something and was told
no, he would snap at them. When he didn't want to take a bath and was forced
to, he bit his owner repeatedly. He was out of control, and none of the
family members who loved him would take him because they had young children
to worry about. After dealing with Mickey for 5 months, trying everything
we knew and everything suggested, he would still bite you if he didn't like
the smell of the food you put down in front of him. Exhausted from the daily
battles with him over minor things, we decided that it was best for Mickey's
happiness that he not have to suffer dealing with people any longer. We
took Mickey to our vet, and after biting the vet and one technician, he
went off to the rainbow bridge where he needn't see another human unless
he wants to.
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Charlie Brown came to us from the local shelter. He was one of
six dogs surrendered to the shelter as a cruelty case. He had been living
with 5 other Chihuahuas whom were used as "breeding stock" instead of family
pets, and a Chow-Chow. They were all on edge upon arriving at their CNWH
foster home, and were quite snappy at first. They all made progress (it
was slow, but it was progress) over the next few months, all except for
Charlie. It was quite clear that two year old Charlie, the oldest of
the six, was the boss of the pack and the others merely followed his lead.
If he was noisy and snappy, so were they. If you took Charlie out of the
room, they were suddenly quiet, and would even be quite nice to you. They'd
jump in your lap for attention, and would sit for a treat. Charlie had his
mind set on not liking his foster mom, and never came around. For the sake
of the other five we decided that Charlie couldn't stay. Charlie was given
his favorite (20 nuggets from McD's) and went peacefully to sleep, where
he can be happy and play with the other animals, at rainbow bridge.
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Kriquette, who was 9 years old, came to us from a shelter with
her sister Buttons who was 12 years old. Her owners told the shelter
"one of them is having accidents in the house, and we can't tell which
one it is, so just put them both to sleep." The shelter thought this was
ridiculous and called us to take them. While in foster care neither Kriquette
nor Buttons ever had an accident, so I don't know what the owners REAL
reason was for getting rid of them. Buttons took a few days to come around
and realize that her owners weren't coming back for her. Kriquette
on the other hand, decided that she was going to be loyal to them, and
was heartbroken day after day when they didn't come to get her. She got
more and more depressed, stopped eating, and started sitting off to herself
most of the time not wanting anything to do with her foster mom or the
other dogs at the foster home. After no progress was being made after
9 months, we decided that Kriquettes suffering should stop. We sent her
on to the bridge to wait for her sister to join her.
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Samson came to us from the same shelter as Iggy above. He was a
stray, and his age was guessed at 2 years. He was scared to death when
we got him, and slowly came around. He turned into a wonderful dog,
and was getting adopted. Suddenly the person who was adopting him changed
their mind about the responsibility of owning a dog and didn't adopt
him. People may not know it, but these dogs DO sense when they're getting
adopted. We've seen it MANY times, when we find the person that is going
to adopt one of them they suddenly start fighting with the other dogs
in their foster home, or suddenly have housebreaking accidents.....almost
as if they're saying "I'm out of here...I don't have to put up with you
other dogs anymore, I've got a HOME." After the adopter backed out,
Samson when down hill in his attitude, and went back to the same scared
and snappy little dog he was when he came in. After months of working with
him, hoping that he would come back out of it like he did when we first
got him, it was plain to see that Samson had just given up hope. He was
tired, and was miserable now in his foster home that he'd loved so much
just a few months earlier. We decided that before he got even more depressed
and hard to handle that we would help him to the bridge. He understood,
and as we took him for his french fries (which he LOVED) he showed us that
we were doing the right thing by kissing us, and being the old happy Samson
for just a few minutes. We said our good-byes and he went on to wait for
us at the bridge.
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Boy oh boy....where to begin with Chiquita! This little
girl came to us at 8 years old, when her owner went into a nursing home
and couldn't keep her. She had never been outside since she was 3 months
old, had never been to the vet, and had seen so few people in her life
that she was scared to death of EVERYONE. We had to use gloves on our hands
when we picked her up from her owners house because she was just the worst
piranha you've ever seen. After having her for 3 months and working with
her she did come around a lot, and was adopted to a VERY loving home in
New York. She was spoiled, and pampered, and went EVERYWHERE with her new
owner. She loved him, and he loved her like there was no tomorrow. Chiquita
had a happy home for almost 3 years, where she reigned supreme. In September
of 2000 Chiquita became quite ill suddenly, and was rushed to the vet.
After Xrays and exploratory surgery she was diagnosed with cancerous tumors
that were affecting her digestive tract as well as her brain function.
She didn't have much time left according to the vets, and what little
time she did have left would see her go even further down hill. Her loving
owner didn't want to see her go down hill and start to suffer, and so
he let her go, where she is waiting for him to join her when it is his
time. God bless Chiquita for the love she brought to her owner during her
stay with him, and God bless her owner for giving her the best 3 years
of her life. Although they're tiny dogs they leave amazingly big paw prints
on your heart.
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Quazi came to us from a shelter, where he ended up as a stray.
We're pretty sure someone dumped him off to die, and animal control found
him wandering instead. The shelter noticed that he walked oddly, and
didn't have a lot of control over his back legs. He was given pain
medication by a vet, and we took him in. After recovering from a respiratory
illness, we had our vet take Xrays to see what the problem was. In
not so many words, he had several disks in his back that were pressing
on his spinal cord, causing partial paralysis in his hind end. It was
recommend that he come back for X-rays after a month to see if his condition
improved, worsened, or stayed the same. We fell in love with Quazi over
that time, and when he was Xrayed again, this time showing that the disks
were pressing more, and that the cartilage between his vertebrae was wearing
away. The prognosis wasn't good, and we were told that if he lived much
longer not only would he lose total control over his back end, but he would
also be in pain due to the lack of cartilage. The only option would be heavy
pain medication which would "dope" him up, make him hardly more than a couch
potato, and it would affect his liver functions. We decided that it was best
that Quazi make his trip "home" now, rather than wait for him to get worse,
and make him deal with more pain, and with medications that would alter the
sweet dog that we grew to know. We just know that he's now running and
playing with the other dogs at the bridge, with no pain and full use of
his back legs. He's a happy little guy again, and is out there watching over
the other Chihuahuas that are homeless each night, needing help. He has become
their guardian angel.
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This sweet little face is just irresistible. Chip was turned
into a shelter by a man claiming that he had been found as stray roaming
the neighborhood. The shelter noticed that his teeth were in horrible
condition and would most likely ALL have to come out. His gums were infected,
and most of his teeth moved if you touched them.....they were THAT bad.
Chip stayed at the shelter for the required 7 days, which would allow
his owner to report him lost, and find him at the shelter if in fact he
had been lost. Of course, since the shelter employees believed that his
owner was the man that brought Chip to the shelter in the first place, they
knew he would not be claimed by any owner. Once Chips state stray time was
up he was turned over to us, so that we could have his teeth cared for
and find him a home that would love him for the rest of his days. Sadly,
just days after entering rescue Chip had a horrible seizure which he never
came out of. Our rescue members agreed that the best thing we could do for
Chip was to put him to sleep before he was in even more pain. This little
fellow was a trooper until the end, and the sweetest little dog you could
ever meet. Chip serves a valuable lesson for everyone with a Chihuahua....
dental cleaning isn't a joke. These little dogs need to have their teeth
cleaned often or they can end up with infections that can (and do) kill them.
Please don't wait and have your Chihuahua suffer the way that Chip would
have if the shelter hadn't released him to us.
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SWISSIE
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Swissie is a special case for our rainbow bridge, as you'll
learn as you read her story. Please click
HERE
to read about Swissie's happy end to a life of misery. You
may be surprised by what you learn about the life of this brave little
Chihuahua, and hopefully you'll take away with you the memory of the
struggle, hope, and eternal trust dogs offer us each and every day.
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RUSTY
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Rusty was not a Chihuahua as you can tell, but he has been
deemed an honorary Chihuahua due to that undying "little dog attitude"
that never stopped. After a long illness that he dealt with bravely,
Rusty has gone ahead of his people to once again play with his brother
Toby at the bridge. He will be missed by his parents, his sister, and
his nursing care provider.
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PACO
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Paco was the sweetest, licking-ist, squawking-ist, loudest
tag jingling little dog we've ever known here at CNWH. He came to us from
an owner that had him since the age of 8 weeks, and gave him up at 9 years
old because he wasn't housebroken and she was getting new carpet. He had
been hit by a car, was never groomed, and had never had the vet care
he needed. Then Paco came to CNWH and was adopted by wonderful parents who
cared for him, loved him & gave him the life he never knew - a happy
one. They shared 3 wonderful years with him, and loved him more each
day. He was hardly alone and went with them all the time on overnight
trips because they wanted to share as much time with him as possible due
to his age and health. We receivedthe news about Paco from his parents,
who wrote: "He was 12 years old, with a heart murmur everyone
always forgot he was that old because he acted so young - a vibrant little
bird dog that gave us so much love and happiness and we miss him dearly."
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BAILEY
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In memory of Bailey, who is sadly missed by his owner Adele
in Pennsylvania. This memorial is made with heavy heart by Rachel, who
wrote us: " A friend of mine lost her chihuahua in a terrible
accident and I would like to make a contribution in memory of her pet to
a chihuahua rescue group"
A wonderful friend to make the tribute, and a wonderful way
to help other dogs while honoring the passing of a little loved one. Our
hearts go out to Adele, as we know how hard it is to lose a little baby
like this. They make a lasting impression and can never be replaced,
but we're sure Bailey is upstairs watching over his mom and will guide
another little heart in need to her when the time is right.
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