Scout will be arriving a day early. So you’ll get photos by the weekend, unless I’m completely overwhelmed and suddenly realize my folly. I remember saying no puppies ever again! Nothing wrong with an older dog, I said.
Meanwhile, my heart is torn right now – the closer Scout gets, the more I miss this girl.
I may not be ready, but Bixby sure is … he looks for “his puppy” every time we go out somewhere … or anytime I return home, he practically mugs me for this so-called puppy that’s coming. Then he’ll go away and mope because I haven’t delivered on my promise yet. Ha! Tomorrow he will be in for a shock.
In other beloved pet news, commenter jacy lost her beautiful dog today. Here are some pictures of the handsome and much loved Bismarck (2001- Jan. 3, 2018), with his favorite boy.
May Bismark find heaven filled with his favorite treats and endless balls to chase.
Open thread
The Moar You Know
RIP Bismarck
RIP Bailey
All the dogs and cats will be in heaven, and we won’t have to work and can spend all our time with them, as intended.
Mel
Jacy, I am so very sorry. Bismarck was such a beautiful, gentle, dignified looking fellow. Sending hugs to you.
Old Dan and Little Anne
Good Luck. The last 4 months have been the longest time in my life I have ever gone without living in a house with a dog. Excluding dorm life my freshman and sophomore year in college. I did go home to a dog during vacations, however. I am already anxious about looking into a puppy in either spring or summer. Having a baby is easier I know for sure.
trollhattan
Oh, the Bismark pictures are both charming and heartbreaking. So very sorry, Jacy and family!
rikyrah
RIP Bismarck
RIP Bailey
Beautiful dogs.
Sorry Jacy for your loss :(
randy khan
Since it’s an open thread: Paul Manafort has filed suit claiming that Mueller’s appointment was illegal and that he didn’t have the authority to prosecute Manafort. That should be . . . interesting.
Gin & Tonic
@randy khan: Magic 8-ball says “Outlook not so good.”
Yutsano
The Buddhists are wrong. The ultimate Nirvana is to be reborn as a happy doggo.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
John C. Reilly as George W. Bush. Discuss.
JCJ
Dammit! I am not much for dogs, but those pictures are causing someone to slice onions while blowing dust in my eyes! RIP to these sweet doggies.
Yarrow
Very sorry, jacy. Bismarck looks like a lovely fellow. RIP Bismark and Bailey.
Looking forward to pictures of Scout and especially Bixby’s response to her.
Barbara
So sorry for Jacy’s loss. And I hope TaMara’s new dog lives up to Bixby’s expectations!
MomSense
@JCJ:
Same thing is happening here. Must be onion cutting bandits on the loose.
RIP Bailey. You are missed.
RIP Bismarck with your sweet eyes and that old salt face.
Miss Bianca
17 is a good run for a larger dog, but oh, somehow it’s just never long enough. : (
Trying to be gentle with my big old girl Stella as we wind down. Took her with me on a New Year’s trip and it has become glaringly apparent that she *cannot* travel any more – it upsets the routine too much that makes her continued existence even possible, much less moderately comfortable for her and for the rest of us. No more trips for Stella, except the last one…
But so happy to hear that Scout is coming! I think “never again” for puppies would be too definite a line for me to draw – but “never again a puppy without an older dog in the house” is where I stand.
NYCMT
The Manafort suit. Huh. Zehnle and Downing are…not going to be practicing attorneys when this is done.
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
Jacy my heart goes out to you for your loss. They leave such big paw prints on our hearts.
Bixby is gonna be so excited tomorrow! I know how torn your heart must be TaMara; I teared up a bit at those photos.
Mary G
Jacy, I am sure you and your son are heartbroken. Sorry for your loss.
geg6
Peace and love to Bismarck and Bailey. I’m wiggling with excitement anticipating the arrival of Scout and Bixby’s reaction.
debit
Jacy, I’m so sorry. Thinking about you and your beautiful Bismark.
Lizzy L
Jacy, I am so sorry about Bismark, and indeed, all the old dogs. It hurts so much to lose them. My old boy Theo is 14 & 1/2, old for a 55 lb dog. He is slow and tired, and his muzzle is white, but he still likes to eat, and walk, and sniff, and say hello to friends.
TaMara, I have told myself the same thing: after Theo has crossed the Bridge, I’ll go for an older dog, a rescue. But puppies are so wonderful….
Mnemosyne
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD):
Will Ferrell already cornered the market. Cast Reilly as Dick Cheney.
Mnemosyne
RIP Bismarck. 17 is a good, long run for a dog but, as others have said, it’s never long enough.
And I miss hearing the Bailey stories, so I have a small gleam of how badly TaMara and her family miss their girl.
debit
@Lizzy L:
I vowed to only adopt older pets, then Dani came along. I love having a kitten in the house (most of the time). But I think I’ll take some time off from dogs after Ellie and Kelpie are gone. I shouldn’t have adopted Kelpie so soon after Walter. I was (and am) still grieving.
SiubhanDuinne
Jacy, my heart goes out to you and especially to your son. It looks from the sweet photos as though they have literally spent their lives together, and I’m sure he’s devastated. Extra hugs for him, please, from the stash heading your way.
Nicole
Bismarck was what, 16? Seventeen? That’s an excellent run for a dog. He was a lucky pooch. Condolences, jacy, but how lucky he was to have you as his person.
I look forward to the puppy pictures, TaMara! We got an adult dog, when my son was 3, because I said I could only handle house training one animal at a time. But puppies are just the best.
spudgun
Aww, jacy, I’m so sorry…I feel for your loss. Bismarck was a handsome boy…my condolences.
And TaMara, I still feel your loss as well. Bailey was a sweetie.
JPL
All dogs go to heaven, or a special place of their own, with endless cookies and squirrels to chase.
Raven, If you are around, sell you tickets
eemom
If there is a God, and I could ask him one question, I think it would be why the best of all his creatures have such short lives.
We lost our first two generations of doggies in 2002, 2005, 2013 and 2014. It is a horrible heartbreak every time, no matter how old the doggie. Still miss all of them.
Mnemosyne
@JPL:
I suspect that raven is getting his spit glands in shape even as we speak. ?
otmar
Regarding Trumps’s “big button” tweet: this is not new, but is on the point: https://youtu.be/TbJ3DLolN8Q
Betty Cracker
@eemom: Damn good question.
Quinerly
?
jacy
Thank you all for the kind words. Lochlainn appreciates them too (he and Biz never knew a world without each other in it.) Biz was a good boy and much loved, and it was time. It was quick and he wasn’t in any distress, and yesterday he had all the ham he wanted and a cozy spot to sleep. May all our last days be as peaceful.
Miss Bianca
@jacy: Awww. Hugs to all.
Scamp Dog
As others have mentioned, 16 or 17 is a good run for a large dog–you must have done well by him to give him so many years. Of course, that’s more time to leave paw prints on your heart. And seeing the picture of your toddler with the puppy, along with pics of them as a teenage boy and an elderly dog–they have effectively lived all their lives together. RIP, Bismark!
satby
Oh jacy, condolences to you and your family on Bismark’s passing. He had a long and I’m sure happy life with you all. A loving family and home is heaven on earth to the animals we share them with. So sorry.
Sab
jacy, I am so sorry.
Mingobat (f/k/a Karen in GA)
Congrats to Bixby (and you, TaMara).
And Jacy, my heart goes out to you. My condolences.
WaterGirl
@jacy: Oh, jacy, i am in tears. I am so sorry for your loss. It’s heartbreaking to lose them.
@eemom: Your comment with your question to god directly followed JPL’s comment about Trump, and i thought for sure that your question was going to be how/why Trump can still have a place on this earth when beloved dogs like Bismark and Bailey are taken from us way too soon.
WaterGirl
TaMara, I go through that, too, when I get a new dog after losing a beloved dog. There is something about getting a new pup that makes me feel uncomfortable, like somehow I am doing something wrong. I have to come realize that for me, getting a new dog is acknowledging the reality thatI I don’t want to accept, that my beloved dog is gone forever. Reality sucks.
One time I waited too long, and it was so hard on my Murphy. For months Murphy had a limp the vet could not find a reason for for and a skin condition that would not respond to treatment. The day I brought home his new brother, the limp instantly disappeared and the skin condition was gone within a week.
You will be making Bixby one happy boy, but he will never forget Bailey. I burst into tears every time I see a picture of Bailey – she was a special girl – so of course you are still struggling with her loss.
Tomorrow you get to see your “baby” being the big brother, showing the new pup the ropes. Wishing you all much joy, even if there are also tears. LOVE is coming your way.
debg
Jacy, so very sorry for your loss. I’m glad your boy didn’t suffer.
Tamara, looking forward to pix and stories about the new baby.
MazeDancer
Jacy, heartfelt sympathies to you and your Lochlainn for such an achingly hard loss. Beautiful pictures. Beautiful Bismark. No suffering and lots of ham are very, very good things.
TaMara, may the very lucky Scout bring much joy to you. Bailey will always be missed. But she would, no doubt, be so happy to see you and Bixby all full of smiles.
eemom
@WaterGirl:
Well, yes, that too. Big time.
J R in WV
When we got our second dog, a puppy, our first dog, Muffin, (short for Ragamuffin, who was an amusing little demon back when people still believed in those) showed Annie, who was a tiny little 8-week-old Airedale mix, everything. We didn’t do any toilet training, Muffin had it squared away in 2 or 3 days.
When we took Annie for her first car ride, Muffin jumped in the back seat, and back out, and looked at Annie. Three times, then Annie jumped in and off we went. I’m sure Annie was pretty apprehensive, as she was dropped by the side of a rural road in Mingo county a week or two before. But it all worked out.
My condolences to you and your son, it is really hard. Dogs are so sweet.
Cats too, of course. It’s been so cold here, even our tight and well heated house seems colder than it should be. So Punkin has discovered she can weasel under the down comforter, between it and the quilt, between Wife and I, and purr invisibly, when we lie down to read at bedtime.
She sneaks out not long after we turn out the lights and finds her spot by a heat duct for the rest of the night, but that purring us to sleep is so sweet.
You guys take care, everyone stay warm and inside where we belong during this kind of weather. Dammit, what’s that in my eyes!?! Seems to be everywhere tonite.
SWMBO
@jacy: My condolences as well. Your son’s grief must be palpable. Hugs to you all.
TaMara, you and Bixby (and the rest of the critters) may still miss Bailey but there’s always room in our hearts for another.