Stanhome Rainbow Bridge

Ragamuffin (Raggs)

Raggs was mean't to be, like her beloved friend and companion Gabbi. We  went to see a Tricolour bitch. On our second visit there in the next puppy pen was a  new litter, in it was a very pretty Blenheim bitch, as I cast  my eyes in her direction I  was told you can't have her, she was sold before she was born to another breeder.  Every  time I came to visit  she would catch my eye and I would give her a cuddle, then  when we came to pick Gabbi up, not the Tri as planned I said to her breeder, if for any reason you ever get her back I'll have her just give me a ring.

A month later we got a call to say that she had been to see how the little Blenheim was getting on and was appalled at her condition and had brought her home with her. She had already had her a week and was feeding her up but if I wanted to come and see her in another week we could. So a week later we arrived I knew I wanted her, we had spent hours deciding on a name, she was so pretty, so a pretty name was in order. When she was brought in to us we couldn't believe our eyes, she had been a playful puppy, with a rich chestnut colour and big sparkly eyes, before us was a nervous pale (almost) white puppy, dull eyes, thin, with a tail tucked tightly under her. We picked our chins back off the floor, looked at each other, I swallowed deeply, about to say thank you but no thank you, then she looked up at me, I crawled under the table to her and held her to tightly, as I said, can we take her home with us now please.

On the way home I just held her close to me, what had we done, what had we just bought. Gabbi very excited when we arrived back she had a friend and wanted to play but she just ran and hid, at last they snuggled up together on my lap, my beautiful plump glossy Black n Tan and this thin shivering scrap with her dull lifeless coat, poor little Ragamuffin, and so she was named. We called her Raggs, within a month she was transformed on the outside, her coat regain it's colour, her eyes began to twinkle and she learn't to play a little. She never recovered completely, we will never know what turned that beautiful confident little puppy into what we brought home only a month later.

So we set one fine day to buy a long awaited Tricolour Cavalier bitch, 12 weeks later we owned two, a beautiful confident Black n Tan and a loving devoted Blenheim, it was not until was 5 years later I owned my first Tricolour also through a strange quirk of fate.

All her life our little Raggs remained nervous, she didn't like to be left, became agitated and noisy if she lost sight of people poor Raggy, she and Gabbi were always so close and when eventually we increased our Cavaliers she remained slightly apart but very content in her own world as long as there was always one of us around for her. She loved people but it took a while for her to trust them, once she did they were friends for life.  She loved her walks and her treats, unlike Gabbie she could eat a horse and never put on weight, she was a very contented little soul never asking anything in life except to love and be loved.

She did love with every fibre of her body, and she was loved with every fibre of ours. Rest in peace my little Ragamufin, enjoy your reunion with Pebbles, Hope, Ellie Mae and your very very special friend Gabbi. Run those lush green fields together, play as you never really learnt to here, wait at that Rainbow Bridge with them for us to join you all.  As I look up at night I know that among those bright twinkling stars I see are the reflections of  those wonderful ever devoted Cavalier eyes.

                                                                

When the time is right for me to cross this brief divide,

You'll rush to greet me once again, we will stand side by side,

 So many things to show me, there's much for me to see, 

 I will be patient, live my journey out ... but then come home,

 to be with thee.

Gabriella (Gabbi)

   Gabbi was my first Cavalier and a dream come true for me, I had always loved    them   and desperately wanted a Tri. Finally I tracked down a litter with a Tri bitch    and      went to see them at a week old, there she was my Tri just waiting for me. We  visited   weekly and took pictures until she was ready to leave mum, to balance the  pics I  always seemed to be holding two puppy’s and it was always the Black n Tan.  She    chose us, we didn’t stand a chance really I ended up going to collect the Tri  and    coming away with Gabbi, I just couldn’t bear to lose her. She was the gentlest  little  dog all she wanted was to be with you, she adored Pebs and looked after her until she died, she was adored by everyone who met her she was the boss and with one look from those beautiful eyes the coldest of hearts melted. She suffered from two major traumas in her life being attacked by a Labrador  and sustaining serious eye injury's amongst many other things and the dreaded pyomytra when we were given the time it took to set up the operating room to say our goodbye's, an operation which we were told was useless and a waste of our money. She survived both trauma's without any side effects and lived to a grand age. Never to be forgotten always missed my beloved Gabriella.

Her gentle head upon my knee

she share her silent thoughts with me...

A voice far greater than my own

Has called her to his golden throne.

Although my eyes are filled with tears,

I thank you for the happy years

Sisi (Fefe)

As I write this the tears return, in memory of my little Fe, she was so young, so full of life .  A judge once referred to her a spring lamb, there was always a lilt in her step a sense of adventure, life was fun and there to be enjoyed and enjoy it she did.

When she came out of her crate at Heathrow I just hugged her, she was exquisite, petite, feminine, self-assured and all those qualities just grew with her. Her sense of fun rubbed off on us all, when she ran and hid as I tried to put her to bed it was just a game, never naughtiness, her eyes would light up, her tail would wag so hard. Down on her haunches, bottom in the air, come on mum it’s time to smile and play, at last she would let me catch her, she would snuggle up with a sigh for that expected cuddle before bed only to start afresh again tomorrow, another day another adventure.

The pain will never go, the hole will never be filled, we have wonderful dogs each is very special but the love for Fe and the knowledge we will be reunited keeps the emptiness from sometimes becoming quite overpowering. God bless you my little darling, thank you for allowing us into your short but very precious life. It is said only the good die young, maybe that is true but to us it is still bitter sweet, to know her was to love her, we had so many wonderful letters and calls when she died one Cavalier friend wrote this and it says it all really her name for her Trixiebelle Peaches n Cream.

“ I  can't say anything that will make the pain your feeling any less. The name I called her might have been bigger than her body but certainly not bigger than her personality. Thank you for giving me the priviledge of knowing her and letting me say my goodbye to her yesterday. I share in her loss but only a fraction of what you feel. I am so sorry.”

 

Poirot

Nature made you in 9 weeks and it took you from me at 9 weeks, you were a miracle puppy you should never have survived. I learned so much about nursing puppies from you, I fed you with a toy feeding bottle and later with a syringe, you never left my side night or day while you lived. At 9 weeks you were the size of a can of coke, smaller than a toilet roll but with a heart as big as heaven. You were house clean in your special home we created for you and adored your food especially chicken, you sometimes played with your brother and sister who were so gentle with you. I will never forget or regret the time spent together my little miracle, my little Poirot

Spring was in the air and the sun was shining through

But just as you gave your last breath away

  The heavens started to cry with me,

 

Mistletoe n Wine (Hope)

  A chance meeting in the street gave us Hope and a true and lasting friendship with   her breeder. She was a beautiful gentle Tri colour who had come back to Carol to be   re-homed. 

What a joy she was, gentle as a summer breeze, loving as a doting    parent, she would give anything to please you, an absolute darling. She was never  happier than when she had puppies around her either her own or someone else’s it  didn’t matter to her at all. 

She gave us our first litter and the precious gift of Ellie  Mae, they remained so close until Ellie’s untimely death. Her ears dragged the  ground they were so long her coat gleamed like black velvet and her eyes shone  with pure love and devotion she was a gift from the gods an absolute poppet. She left a huge hole in all our lives.

There could never have been a better name for you

Hope was what you gave us, Love is what you left behind..

My Lady Eleanor (Ellie Mae)

Ellie Mae was from my first litter it was love at first sight although there was a Tri bitch which I had hoped for. She was always the one for me, gentle, loving, trusting always there beside you, I showed her a little but it was really for us when she entered the ring, she was a home bunny but loved all the fuss she received at the shows or when out. Somehow people just remembered her and asked about her and when she was killed along with her unborn litter the world was an emptier place without her precious presence. The lose was immense but the love and happiness she gave was immeasurable she lived for us and her puppy’s, she asked only to be near us and to share our lives, now she waits with her pups and her dearest friend Gabbi until we are all once again reunited. 

Sweet Ellie Ellie Mae they have taken you away

You will never walk beside us anymore

But when our time draws near to leave all that we hold dear

We know that you'll be there to open god's own door.

Bless you my baby 

Pebbles (Peds) 18.5 years

Our dear Pebs she re-introduced me to the wonderful world of dogs, only this time I was able to live with her which I had always so longed to do. She was a mixture, no one really knew what of. When I had the privilege of meeting her she was 14 years young, a truly loving trusting animal who gave everything to those she loved, there could never have been a better dog to show me the joys of sharing my home with a four legged friend and companion. For four and a half years she shared my new life here in Norfolk, she took me into her life instantly never once did she make me feel that I had intruded into her already complete world which centred around John, such was her love and generosity she just opened her paws and showed me in true dog fashion that there was room for all. She became a lap dog, I became a walker, the three of us shared so many wonderful landscapes of Norfolk together some of my fondest memories of her are at Blakney racing across the sands when the tide was out doing huge figures of eight always ending back with us just in case we got lost.

 At 17 she took to our two Cavalier puppy’s as though they were hers and they in return enriched the last eighteen months of her long life, Gabbie became her ears, Raggs her hot water bottle, they were both beside her when she finally and peacefully crossed to the Rainbow Bridge to wait until we are all reunited once again. I know she is the first to greet any of our beloved friends who join her there such was her abounding love and generosity to everyone and together our little band will await us until once again we are all together.

I lost a treasured friend today, my dog who used to lay

her gentle head upon my knee and share her silent thoughts with me...

She'll come no longer to my call,retrieve no more her favorite ball

A voice far greater than my own has called her to his golden throne.

Although my eyes are filled with tears,I thank you for the happy years

 you let her spend with me and for her love and loyalty.

When it is time for us to go join her there, this much I know...

we shall not fear the transient dark for she will greet us with her bark.

RUFTY

Rufty was the nearest and dearest companion I ever had as a child, I owe my love of our four legged friends to him alone, he taught me to enjoy walking, playing, laughing, sharing adventures with a companion. As an only child who was not allowed a dog I borrowed the lady up the roads, a golden Cocker Spaniel. He was such a delight and if he could would follow me to school even, everywhere I went he went he was my constant companion, I told him my secrets, my fears and joys the years I shared with him live in my memories and still bring a warm glow and smile to me so many decades later. He will be at the Rainbow Bridge with my beloved friends waiting patiently for me just as he did so long ago when I came out of school.