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14861. judithathome - 5/8/2005 5:07:38 AM Arky, I'm so very sorry...I sent you an e-mail. Keoni and I both are so down about your news. She was a fantastic and big hearted little dog. You already know how much we loved her..... 14862. arkymalarky - 5/8/2005 5:13:46 AM Thanks so much, Judith. You and Keoni are such fine friends, and you both appreciated Diva so much that I was dreading telling you all, and I was sort of glad you weren't home. It's been hard to keep my composure around people (and I've failed at it several times in the last few days). Bob and I have both been so sad, and we had to take his mother to Little Rock this afternoon, which turned out to be a good thing. We didn't need to stay home.
I'm glad we know where she is and she's home where she belongs, but she's been the best little pet both of us have ever had and we were looking forward to many more years with her. I think we'll sit out back a little with her before we go to bed tonight. 14863. wabbit - 5/8/2005 5:35:29 AM Arky, I'm so sorry to hear about Diva. From your posts I know she was a wonderful little dog and a good friend. Please give my condolences to Bob and Mose also. 14864. Magoseph - 5/8/2005 10:58:26 AM Oh, Arky, this is so heartbreaking--our sympathy to you, Bob, and Moses. 14865. wonkers2 - 5/8/2005 12:04:40 PM Good morning, Mago. You're up early. 14866. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 5/8/2005 3:14:45 PM . . . penned in Boston by Julia Ward Howe in 1870:
Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise all women who have hearts,
Whether your baptism be that of water or of tears
Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands shall not come to us reeking of carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We women of one country
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.
From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says, "Disarm, Disarm!"
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice!
Blood does not wipe out dishonor
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war.
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions.
The great and general interests of peace.
Maybe next year -- Happy Mother's Day! 14867. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 5/8/2005 3:16:28 PM Condolences, Ark. 14868. Frankster - 5/8/2005 3:51:30 PM
Happy Mother's Day, y'all!
...My condolences, Arky. I remember Diva. 14870. PelleNilsson - 5/8/2005 5:55:20 PM Sorry for missing your birthday, Judith and belated congrats. I was away, at the cottage, brief report to appear in Escapes.
Arky, that is bad news. In empathize. We had to put our dog away when we left Yemen. The amount of emotion that went into that was ridiculous, but real. 14871. wabbit - 5/8/2005 5:58:43 PM Hey mags et al!
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! 14872. arkymalarky - 5/8/2005 6:49:48 PM Thank you so much, everyone. You're right, Pelle, it is so real--a loyal daily companion is so hard to part with, especially when she's at the peak of life.
Happy Mother's Day to all you moms! Mose is on her way down to spend the day with me. We already had my Mother's Day dinner out Thursday evening to try to cheer me up when Diva was missing, so I'm glad Mose is coming over today. We've hardly gotten to see her this school year, it seems. 14873. Magoseph - 5/9/2005 3:46:13 AM I deleted #14869 (my post) because it gave more information than I intended to give. 14874. Ulgine Barrows - 5/9/2005 6:41:51 AM never trusT the moon
wheN your'e about to trusT
his
kiss
He knows
aLL THE LINES
ONLY TRUST YOUR HEART
14875. Macnas - 5/9/2005 8:38:37 AM Dogs eh?, and the way we come to depend on them?
I've been lucky enough to work with some great dogs. Pure bred gun dogs rarely live beyond 10 years, maybe less depending on how hard they work, so I've broken my heart many times over these last few decades.
A few in particular always twang a heartstring when I remember them. Damn it all, I liked those dogs a whole lot better than I do a lot of people I know.
Chin up Arky, don't stand on grieving and get yourselves a pup as soon as is practicable. 14876. alistairconnor - 5/9/2005 9:04:05 AM I've never been a dog person. That's what I tell myself; but in reality, I like my friends' dogs very well, particularly the way they function as an extension of their personality.
In fact, I think it's mostly cowardice, I am afraid of the potential for attachment, dependence and loss. There are also a host of practical constraints of course.
It's tough losing a friend, Arky. Good luck with finding the right pup. 14877. Magoseph - 5/9/2005 1:17:45 PM 
I never saw roses presented this way.
14878. thoughtful - 5/9/2005 1:34:36 PM Oh Arky, I was so hoping Diva would make her way home safe and sound. I'm terribly sorry to hear the news. Dog or not, they are still members of our family and our hearts break when they leave us. My deepest sympathy. 14879. Magoseph - 5/9/2005 2:15:12 PM Just dropping in to let y'all know both my candidates won today...in landslides. I guess positive campaigning DOES count for something.
Landslides--Can you give us some figures on that, Judith?
You and Keoni must be overjoyed--I'm so glad for you. 14880. arkymalarky - 5/9/2005 2:16:36 PM Thanks so much, Mac, Alistair and Thoughtful. She tried to get home, and was within 30 minutes of being here. That's the hardest part about it, I think. It really means so much how good everyone has been about Diva. Even the lady at the paper when I called and cancelled the "lost dog" ad was sincerely sympathetic. Our friends here and irl have been wonderful.
You're right, Alistair, it's a big emotional risk, especially if you let them run free much in the country, but we will take it again and with the same breed. The two dachshunds we've had just loved living out here and their lives were very full. They're great for people who need indoor/outdoor companions. I'll try to get to the point of dog shopping fairly soon, because Mojo is very down and needy since Diva's been gone, and I need this free time I've got right now to devote full attention to training a puppy. If I wait until school starts back I won't be able to do it like I would like. I also could use the distraction, since I'm home right now while everyone else is gone or at work. A puppy starts as a project that hopefully ends as a wonderful compantion, so I would not be simply trying to fill an unfillable hole with another dog.
I do want to make sure I'm emotionally ready to not expect any puppy I get to become another Diva, but I don't think that will be a problem. I started to inquire at the same place I got her whether they would be expecting another litter any time soon, and decided against it for that reason. She's irreplaceable, and it wouldn't be fair to any other dog to be expected to be like her.
I will try some different precautions, but not to the point of keeping a dog from getting to live a dog's life out here--all the freedom of the rural outdoors with all the amenities of an indoor, climate-controlled environment. It's a great setup, really. For five years Diva always had such a dependable personality and routine that her straying miles from home wasn't even on our radar.
Diva never crossed the highway but once, and that was when she was a puppy and I had just run over my dog, Chili. She stayed gone three days and a neighbor took her in, having no idea whose dog she was until she heard from our friend--the same friend who found her dead this time. We live 1/4 a mile and out of sight from the highway and she was never one to wander out of our area, even when she was hunting. We've had a number of dogs here over 22 years (many weren't dear pets, but strays we took in), and only three have been killed by cars--two of them by Bob and me, respectively. 14881. Macnas - 5/9/2005 2:29:35 PM I don't know that you can ever get the "right pup", or that you will ever know until the pup is home with you for a while.
I do think that any pup can be a good fit, if you give it the attention it needs and know not to spoil it either.
It does help to get a clever dog. If you are picking a pup from a litter, you might (without actually going in among them) take, say, your car keys and give them a little jangle, just a shake to make a little noise.
The pup(s) who come over to investigate are more likely to be clever, curious and a bit braver than the rest. A clever dog is easier to train and more willing to work/please.
Whatever you do, I know the dog will be lucky to live with you and Bob.
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