Puppy Sitting From A Distance

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Hello everyone,Today's update finds Agatha feeling and looking better than I could hope.  I wanted to share some photos of her favorite puppy sitting position, from a distance that allows her to observe and wag but keeps little people from bothering her beautiful long ears which attract puppies like a magnet.She loves the babies (see that wagging tail?) but as the matriarch of Foxglove, she has certain privileges and even the puppies adore her with wide-eyed enthusiasm.(Look at this next photo closely, what a priceless puppy face lol).Prayers that this finds you cozy and like us, grateful for another day and its blessings.With Most Fondest Love and Wags,Terry, John, and grandma Agatha

A Story From Last Year

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No, this wasn't taken today, but little miss was indeed doing a bit of cantering until I almost fainted and called her to a stop.  She is feeling so well, I have to watch her, she thinks she's completely well.  I, on the other hand, am worn to a scrap worrying about her.Oh Lord, where is my faith?  I've prayed for your will and for now it looks like my dear Agatha has been blessed with more time, I need to rest in that and not worry...Someone wrote asking for a funny story, I need one too dearhearts, here is one of my favorites, with part 2 and part 3.With much much love,Terry, John and yes, Lord, my sweet Agatha

Agatha wanted me to thank you

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Today has been a good day, someone we all know and love wanted me to send you a special thank you and loads of doggie kisses for showing her (and her mom & dad too) so much love.We continue to pray and hold you in our hearts with love and gratitude.She is grubby and in need of a bit of brushing, but she is WITH US, I try not to cling too tightly or watch her too closely, but I am so comforted that she is happy and cheerful and full of wags and kisses as ever.God bless each and every one of you dear friends.

The blessing of sunshine

Monday and the sun shines again.Agatha is better today, she actually pranced into the kitchen for breakfast, the cough is still with us but she is bright and beautiful and sat in a sunbeam this morning while I did my devotions and sent more prayers heavenward.I fear to overburden you with my emails but I know that many of you have wept with me over our beloved dog and I wanted to give you some brighter news.  Agatha is undoubtedly better. She'd be embarrassed to know I share a picture of her all scruffy and damp from her walk around the yard this morning, but I wanted to share the love that shines from her eyes.  Though you might not have met her, she would greet every one of you with kisses and adoring wags if you'd been to visit.I do not know how much time she will have, I'm praying for another year, an audacious prayer indeed for a dog that the veterinarian thought wouldn't live through last Thursday.  But I am happy for each new day with her as long as they last.I'm trying also to pray for His will and not my own but it's so hard.  He knows best and this time of fearful watching has shown me that my faith while strong is shaken more than I thought possible when I look at the angry waves that beat against our little vessel.I send the utmost sincere & grateful thanks for all the faithful prayers being sent up on our behalf, please continue to keep us there.  Thank you, thank you, thank you, I am humbled at such a response.  The letters and words of encouragement continue to flood my Inbox and comments section, many of you have shared your stories of the people and yes, the pets you have lost, that pain never goes away even after many years, I pray for your pain as well.  You have strengthened me in ways you'll never know, I pray He blesses you dear friends for your goodness to me and yes for sharing in our love and our tears over our Agatha.Grateful Love & Wags,Terry, John and dearest Agatha

Prayers for Agatha

Dearest of friends and readers,I know so many of you are praying for Agatha, and I wanted to reach out and thank you from the bottom of my heart for your prayers.  She woke up early looking for her morning cookie and following John through the kitchen watching carefully that he not forget where her treats were kept.I cling to hope when I watch her wagging tail this afternoon and extreme interest in what is in her supper dish and yet during the night was awake and ready to leave with her for that last trip to the veterinarian.  (Things are always so much worse at night when it feels like the whole world is asleep but you aren't they?).  She slept peacefully and then fitfully and a deep cough woke her every few hours, signs of the wretched condition that afflicts her.  I laid on the couch to be near her and in the middle of the night she came over and sat beside me while I stroked her silky little head over and over and over and prayed.Yesterday, I drove into town hurriedly to stop at the post office to quickly drop some orders off that needed to be on their way and at our small market to pick up things to tempt her appetite (which thankfully is good).  I wore sorrow like a garment and my eyes would fill with tears at the least kindness.  Glancing down at the packages in the post office, prancing Agatha stickers adorning every box almost overwhelmed me, the nice man who carried my purchases to my car nearly reduced me to weeping, a frozen pain somewhere deep inside that made me cold with worry.I rushed home worried and found her looking cheerfully at the bags, almost her old self and but a rough cough still very much in evidence and I watch her knowing we need a miracle and yet trying to pray that if we are not granted one that He will be with us through the hours and perhaps days ahead.I beg your continued prayers, yes, that she go quietly when her time comes, but oh that I have wisdom and courage to know if the time comes when I must allow that process to come medically... I will not allow her to suffer but oh God that the end does not come that way...Forgive me for this most emotional and wrenchingly honest of letters, I must thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your prayers, your loving words, your letters and sharing your stories, they have made this time more bearable.  Yesterday afternoon I read through them and felt that glacier inside begin to melt as I wept, knowing that you love her too, even though you've perhaps never met her, has comforted me in this time of pain.With much love and gratitude,Terry 

Journeys Begin And Perhaps End...

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The last few days I have watched the journey of loving a dog begin for families that have just started on the path that will span happy years with joy.  The work that I delight in has been my comfort during some of the most difficult days of my life.And with a broken heart I am perhaps watching our journey with our most beloved of dogs, Agatha, come to what I fear is the end.With tears pouring I write these words.  The words I dreaded back when she became ill with cancer so many years ago and now as she approaches her 12th birthday and I know in my heart that even the very best dogs, the ones that have woven themselves into the very fabric and being of our lives cannot live forever.

That is the sorrow that is part of loving a dog.

We grow over a short span of years to love them more than we ever dreamed possible. 

Agatha those many years ago, arriving as a puppy with more mischief and intelligence and yet a heart more filled with love than I could have dreamed.  Agatha, who has become my constant most beautiful companion.  Agatha who inspired me to begin a company to help other pets live healthier and yes longer lives.

My sweet Agatha who has filled my days with laughter.

Agatha who has been by my side for over a decade almost without exception every single day for nearly 12 years.  She is asleep now lying in her basket beside me, still so beautiful, gazing up at me as I write these soul-wrenching words

How do I say goodbye to my constant companion, the dog of a lifetime?  This one that is so very dear to me?  This small friend who has made it work of her life to make me smile, to watch over me with a heart so full of love that many human relationships have paled in comparison.

She has never failed to bring me joy and I will miss her so much I do not know how I can bear it.

My dear old veterinarian told me one day with tears in his own eyes “I can’t own a dog again, they die and I can’t stand it.”

I will spare you the details, only to say that an almost 12-year-old Cavalier heart is a very old heart indeed.  The best of doctors and all the money I could spend to give her more time may not be enough.

And so I anguish along with my dearest John, we childless ones who foolishly love small creatures who at their best can only stay by our sides a few short years.  And I know that our sorrow is nothing when compared to the loss of our human loved ones, but perhaps that’s not true after all.  God somehow gives to our dogs a heart that fills so many of the empty places in us in a way that no one else can.

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Please pray for Agatha, oh that she could rally, oh Lord that she does not leave us quite yet.  Her doctors say that she is one tough little dog and I cling to the hope that she will once again miraculously recover.

Oh but my prayer too is that when the time comes that she will sweetly and quietly leave us to go that heavenly home where I believe God will allow her to wait for us. 

(Oh surely my Father would keep her safe for me there, the little one that has filled so many empty places in my heart?)

Oh yes, I believe that my most faithful and dearest of Agatha's will be lying, just inside the gates of Heaven, her sweet little nose resting on her paws, eyes alert, waiting patiently, tail ready to wag with the most joyful of welcomes at the sight of the ones she has adored.

With Tears,

Terry & John and yes, Agatha

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(dearest readers, forgive my lack of reply to your comments, for now, I know you will understand that I cherish your friendship more than I can say, I send love back for your prayers and kindest wishes). 

The last few days I have watched the journey of loving a dog begin for families that have just started on the path that will span happy years with joy.  The work that I delight in has been my comfort during some of the most difficult days of my life.

And with a broken heart I am perhaps watching our journey with our most beloved of dogs, Agatha, come to what I fear is the end.

With tears pouring I write these words.  The words I dreaded back when she became ill with cancer so many years ago and now as she approaches her 12th birthday and I know in my heart that even the very best dogs, the ones that have woven themselves into the very fabric and being of our lives cannot live forever.

That is the sorrow that is part of loving a dog.

Just A Little Puppy Love

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Cavapoo puppy storyIt's a cold March evening in Ohio and I'm sitting in my favorite old wingback writing chair, thinking about how people find the pets that will inhabit their lives.  We had a visit this afternoon, a sweet couple from Columbus and their little girl Berkley had come to pick up a puppy.  Her mom said that Berkley had been pleading for a puppy for years and they'd promised she could have one for her 8th birthday.  I love visits like this one.  Berkley was starry-eyed and quietly over the moon about finally getting to have a puppy of her own.I was almost certain that they would be going home with beautiful Viola of the creamy white coat and soft dark eyes.  The perfect sort of little girl puppy for a little girl to love and care for.Twizzler and Viola were bouncing up and down with puppy excitement as the family came into the kitchen and began oohing and awing as they gazed into the puppy playpen, It took just a few minutes, and I could see that yes, Viola and Berkley were meant for each other. I know it's silly, but I'm sure that Twizzler could tell too and I watched sympathetically he redoubled his efforts to show what an amazing puppy he was, and began an earnest campaign to convince everyone that he was the puppy they should go home with...  I'd been working with the babies teaching everyone to tether and to sit on command, and he went carefully through his small assortment of tricks.Cavapoo puppyPosing and being a pretty boy.  Sitting neatly with paws carefully placed together, (peering up at me worriedly as if to ask me to plead with them on his behalf).He did much gazing longingly at both mom & dad, hoping to sway them to his side.Cavapoo puppy for saleIt was no use though, one look at Berkley and Viola (who by this time was attached to Berkley like velcro) and even Twizzler knew this little girl wasn't going to pick him. Cavachon Puppy ViolaMy poor little Cavapoo drooped as the happy family went out the door with Viola in their arms.  I can't say who was beaming more happily, Berkley or Viola, both were obviously smitten with each other and while I knew it was exactly the right home for Viola and not for Twizzler, I couldn't help feeling badly for my little red-headed puppy who had been equally smitten with puppy love for the exceedingly adorable Berkley.Cavapoo PuppyCavapoo puppyCavapoo puppy TwizzlerAfter I had sent the joyous new puppy owners on their way and helped tuck Viola (now known as "Joy"!) into her crate for her journey home, I went back into the kitchen and found a most woebegone Twizzler still watching the door to see if perhaps they might change their minds and come back for him.I reached down to cheer him up a bit and as is his habit, he placed his velvet muzzle gently in the palm of my hand, (such an earnest small soul).  I promised him that his family just hadn't found him yet and that soon, very soon they would arrive or he would fly to meet them and all would again be puppy bliss in his small world.It's a story I've seen unfold many times over the years, each puppy has just the right home and sometimes it takes a bit, but they always always find their way to that special someone's heart and it's always a blessing to be part of each little one's journey.Some little puppy people are not sure that's true but I promise it is : )Twizzler is sad

Prayers for the New Year

Hello dearest readers and friends,It's late Sunday evening, just a few hours before a brand new year begins and I've been thinking of this post and of you and through the hurry of the season, I wanted to pause and say thank you for the kindness and love you've shared and that my hope and prayer for this next year for you is that it will have many blessings and much peace and joy as well.This past year had much of both, but for many of you and for me, it had it's measure of sorrow as well.  I pray that we will become stronger and gentler having passed through those trials, that the mark they have left on us will be one that gives glory to Him who is faithful and Who will use all things, even the hard ones for our good if we will only trust Him.We had lunch after church today with good friends, it was wonderful to sit and laugh and talk (how strengthening our good friends can be, even you dear friends though we only know each other through words sent winging their way on these pages).We talked about how God gives us beauty for ashes and I felt hope rise in my heart that this new year would a good one, not without its struggles, but that even those would bring us closer to the Lord.I hope this finds you enjoying the last of 2017 with someone you love, that you have one or two little four-footed one snuggled by your feet (as I do this snowy winter evening) that you are safe and warm and that your heart looks up to Him who is faithful to keep you in his watchcare in the days to come.Be blessed dearhearts, be filled with hope, for with God all things are possible. Let's look forward with grateful hearts to this brand new year!With Warmest Wags,Terry & John & Agatha and the rest of the Foxglove family!

Thanksgiving Blessings

Hello & Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope your day was filled with family and friends (who can be like family of course) lots of good food and of course a day to count the blessings that abound in all of our lives.  I've been most thankful for you faithful readers and friends and today spent much time thinking about what a blessing you have been in my life as well!