Crossing the Rainbow Bridge

Lula R. Chessie
?? – March 29, 2013 (approximate age 11 or 12)

This is a post I knew I would one day have to write, but I thought it would be sooner and for that I am grateful. Lula passed away on Good Friday (March 29th).  Lula came to live with me in November of 2009. All she wanted was to live in my garage in a crate. Fortunately, I refused to allow that and over time she decided she much preferred the creature comforts offered by a house. So began the 3.5 year journey we shared. Lula taught me so much about Chessies, rescues, disabilities, survival and just plain life. She came with a mysterious past which I will never completely know, but she certainly made an impression I will never forget. Although Lula is now running like the wind at the Rainbow Bridge, I will continue to share the wisdom and lessons she taught me. There are Lula stories left to be told and I will.

Roll on sweet Lula, you were one-of-a-kind.

Tribute video put together by one of Lula’s friends. Thanks Charlie.

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Who needs hind legs???

This is my Help Em Up harness.

I know it has been a long time since I posted to this blog and I apologize. We have been busy with 3 Chessies in the house and two needing extra special training. I have been doing pretty well until about 3 to 4 weeks ago. The snow and ice are tough on the disabled, both the 2 and 4-legged. I took a few slips on the ice despite Pam holding my harness and they have either taken their toll or my hips have just finally given up. Either way, I am unable to walk on my own any more. I am okay with this and have taken it in stride, not literally! Even when I could walk on my own, I have been spending most of my time lying in the middle of the living room floor. This way no one can move through the house without stepping over or around me. Now I am just there all of the time unless someone moves me. I alternate between sitting and lying on one side or the other. Periodically I drag myself a few feet one direction or the other but I pretty much stay on the area size rug in the living room.

I can even cut my own trail in deep snow with my Walkin’ Wheels, but it is pretty hard work.

I am still getting out in my wheels once a day for a “roll about” the neighborhood. I explore the neighbors’ yards and greet the other people and dogs that are out and about for about 20 minutes each day. Rain, snow or sunshine, I am out. However, Pam draws the line on icy days and we don’t go for a roll on those days. We have had to make several adaptations to my harness on my wheels so Pam can get me in and out with one hand as she has to always have one hand holding up my butt. You would be amazed how quickly we can harness up and down. In fact, Pam can even get me into my wheels while talking on her cell phone!!! She only dropped it once and luckily I have broad shoulders and it landed right on them and sat there! It didn’t even fall in the snow!

Indoor Cart prototype #1

We are in the process of testing and adapting an indoor cart so I can stand in the kitchen while Pam is cooking. These are still under construction but so far they are working pretty well. The reason I cannot use my regular wheels in the house is because they are too wide (32″) for the doorways in our house. Our house was built in the 1930’s and only has 30″ at best interior doorway openings. So we had to design some narrow wheels that also will accommodate my large size with some basic stability. We are still working on the weight displacement but the model pictured is prototype #1. Pam really should remove all the blue painter’s tape that Jeff put on to help her re-assemble the cart after shipping!

Well, I think that is about all I have for right now. I will try to post a little more frequently and bring you up to speed on what we have been doing and what is going on in the life of a disabled Chessie! I am very happy to announce that I now have a group of “wheelin’ friends”! In the last few months I have developed friendships with Coco, the chocolate lab and Emma, the black lab have both acquired wheels. And my dear friend, Casey, another rescued Chessie like me just got his wheels this week!

I will leave you with a view of me rolling around the ‘hood. Sorry Pam only shoots rear views, she can’t walk backwards very well!  Enjoy!

Here is a photo of me walking today taken from the front.

Thankful for People with a Sense of Humor

In the true spirit of the season, we must revisit a Thanksgiving favorite and soon to be legend. At Christmas we read “Twas the night before Christmas” and at Thanksgiving, we read “The Thanksgiving Lula Ate the Turkey”!

This story is available in my book or at the link below. Read, enjoy and spread the holiday spirit of thankfulness. Many of you can be thankful I still live with Pam! Here are the 2012 Turkey Security Measures:

Second Line of Defense – Lula Proof Strap around fridge. Note the duct tape that holds the fridge seals and door together from the second refrigerator raid of 2010.

First line of defense – Metal gate at the top of basement stairs, bolted into door frame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to The Thanksgiving Lula Ate the Turkey

https://lularescuechessie.wordpress.com/2010/12/03/the-thanksgiving-lula-ate-the-turkey/

Chessie-Proof Toy Update #2

We have a new toy to add to the list. Our friend, Erin, brought me a new squeaky ball two weeks ago and it is no worse for the wear! Louie and I love it so much we have had to buy two more because we fight over it!

JW Pet Company iSqueak Ball Rubber Dog Toy – This squeaky ball is addictive! Louie and I have gotten into trouble for squeaky it at in appropriate hours outside. It is not allowed in the house – Pam says it is annoying in the house! And we are not allowed to squeak it after dark! I love this ball so much I have been known to lie on top of it! This ball gets the highest ratings from both me and Louie!
Chessie-Proof Rating – 5 Roos out of 5

Protecting my JW iSqueak ball

MrChewy.com – They Deliver!!!

I found the BEST web site in the world!!!! MrChewy.com!!!! A COMPLETE online store full of DOG FOOD!!! I shop online and a few days later, it is all delivered to my doorstep!!! I LOVE this concept!!!!

Sunday I sat down with the computer and perused the aisles (okay pages) at MrChewy.com. Do you know that you can sort by “Grain Free” and see all of the food and treats that are Grain Free? Wow I really had a hard time choosing – Pam gave me a budget and said one item was a 30 pound bag of Natural Choice Chicken, Rice and Oatmeal. So I quickly found that, added it to my shopping cart and then I could shop for FUN stuff….

Busy shopping at MrChewy.com

TREATS and Bones!!! They have a whole section full of dogs treats!!! You can shop by brand, life stage, and my all-time favorite “Grain Free” (only because that is Pam’s rule – apparently she thinks I am allergic to corn and wheat???) So there are a few rules under certain circumstances that I do follow – shopping for grain free treats at MrChewy.com is a rule I can live with!!! So I found all sorts of yummy sounding grain-free treats to choose from and choosing was hard!!! I read reviews, ingredients, bag sizes, prices and finally settled on a bag of Grizzly Nutreats Wild Salmon!!! (http://www.mrchewy.com/grizzly-nutreats-wild-salmon-dog/dp/35909) My reasoning:

1. People say I look like a grizzly bear – Grizzly brand
2. Grizzly bears like salmon – I don’t know if I have ever had salmon – better try it!
3. Meets the rule – grain free!

Then I see they have my FAVORITE bones! Knuckle bones!!! I LOVE knuckle bones! Quick put two of those in the shopping cart – one for me and one for Louie – he is quicker on his feet than me so best to get him one of his own!

Placed my order, quick and easy! Then Pam came in with her questions – How will they deliver a 30 pound bag of dog food? How much is shipping going to cost? Well I could answer the shipping question – Free shipping on orders of $49 or more. We qualified in dog food alone so bingo NO Shipping charges. However, I could not answer the delivery question. So Pam calls customer service on a Sunday and she gets a LIVE person!!! Very nice lady who assured Pam the dog food would be in a box delivered by FedEx and she could add special instructions if needed. No need, we have a porch and they could leave it there. The waiting begins….

Monday, Pam gets an email saying my order has shipped and will be delivered on Thursday! Today is Thursday and guess what arrived? Two boxes from MrChewy.com!!! Pam brought them both in and immediately unpacked the bag of dog food and stowed it away in the food room. The second box, she left on the couch and we all went outside to mow the grass. When we came inside, Louie found the box and got it off the couch but Pam heard it hit the floor and rescued it! Whew! Pam had to leave for a few hours so she fed us part of our dinner in our crates and left. She has been leaving my crate door open since I have been having trouble getting up and it is easier to help me outside of the crate. Well I enjoyed my dinner and decided to take a nap in the living room and walked in there to lie down….

MrChewy.com order has arrived and well packaged, but not Lula-Proof - thankfully!

I could smell a familiar, yummy smell but not sure where it was coming from, until I remembered MrChewy order arrived today! I did a little searching and there it was! Sitting on the couch, waiting patiently for someone to open it! I can OPEN IT!!!! It was well packaged and arrived without any damage but the box was not Lula-Proof!!! I just had to chew a bit on the corner and voila! Treats and bones!!!

I ate all of the Grizzly Salmon treats – they were YUMMY!!!! I took the plastic wrap off both knuckle bones and ate the basting off! Best part and then I was full and tired. Poor Louie – he was stuck in his crate and I didn’t share! About the time I was rested and ready to chew on the bones again, Pam came home! Uh Oh the Fun Police arrived! I got a “Oh Lula, you didn’t….” “Yep I did! You said it was a Taste Testing, so I tested EVERY thing I could – box, paper, plastic, treat, bones. I would have tested the dog food but that was secured behind a closed door!”

Louie got the job of cleaning up the crumbs I dropped from the treats and bones.

Needless to say, Louie was PISSED! He sang, barked and when Pam finally arrived home and let him out of his crate, he busted out and RAN into the living room to get his share. Sorry Louie…. no salmon for you! He cleaned up the crumbs.

Well, I guess I better close this post as I need to go back to MrChewy.com and order more Grizzly treats! Those were really good but they sure didn’t last long…