Our hearts are heavy and there is much sadness today as Ralph joins Riley and Wednesday in puppy heaven. Ralph was a wonderful canine companion who brought us great joy and much happiness with just a wag of her tail. She arrived in our backyard without a name or a collar or history, although we knew she must have had a bad life before she found us.
I've compiled some photos of Ralph over the 8 ½ years since she wandered into our backyard.
We first saw Ralph while sleeping in our tent in the back woods. I woke up and looked outside one morning and saw a dog looking at our tent. As soon as the dog saw me, it ran off. The next morning the dog was back and ran off just as quickly.
I put some cat food (that's all I had on hand) and water in some bowls near the campsite. The next day the food was gone. Some animal was enjoying the food. I moved the bowls a few feet closer to the house each day. Some days when I checked no food had been eaten. I thought our "game" might be over, but then the next day the food was gone. Finally after several days I saw the dog at the food dish.
This is the very first photo I ever took of Ralph. The two food bowls are just left of the white covering next to Ralph. Over the next two weeks or so, I moved the bowls closer to the house each day until they were just off the back porch. At that time, I was able to stand on the porch and see the dog. We were able to coax Ralph close enough with dog treats to be able to hand feed her. At this point we named her "Ralph" not knowing yet she was a girl doggie.
Ralph was skinny and flea infested. She reminded us of PigPen of Peanuts fame.
I put an old piece of carpet up on the back porch and somehow Ralph knew that that was her new home.
She slept of the back porch for about three weeks.
She was right at home and happy to have such a nice place to sleep.
It was during this time that Ralph and Wednesday became such good friends. Ralph would lay on the back porch by the screen door and Wednesday would lay inside and they would both watch what was going on in the back yard.
After another week or so on the back porch we decided it was time for her to get cleaned up and come inside.
I bundled Ralph into the van and took her to a groomer who bathed her well and gave us our first indication that she looked mostly like an Australian Shepard. Then to the vets for a check-up and shots. When I got home Ralph simply refused to get out of the van, she liked it so much! I finally coaxed her out with some treats.
I then brought Ralph inside the house and she promptly found a comfortable spot in the kitchen and fell asleep. I left the house to run a quick errand and returned to find Ralph still in the kitchen. When I told Cathy, she thought I was crazy! She said we had no way of knowing what Ralph would really do, but I felt comfortable. From that point on and over all the years Ralph never had a single accident in the house nor chewed on anything! Plus she and Wednesday were friends right from the beginning.
This is Ralph and Wednesday both laying by the back screen door.
Ralph was a great protector of our house. Anybody coming to our house always got warning barks to stay away until we could reassure Ralph that they were not burglars and it was OK for them to be there. For some reason she was particularly ferocious with any UPS truck. She would race from the back yard all the way out front to bark at any UPS truck that drove by. She could tell the truck just by it's sound. In all her time with us she never bit anybody and ever got close to the street out front.
She was always happy to be outside. She liked to watch out for deer and chase them out of the yard whenever she spotted them (they might be burglars, you know). When we walked the property she always liked to be out front of us seeing what was going on.
She liked to pick up apples off the ground from the apple trees around our camp site. In the photo above you can see apples laying on the ground.
Here is Ralph with an apple she brought out into the yard. She's just laying there keeping an eye on it and thinking about eating it soon.
Ralph always liked our campfires. If we were sitting around the campfire she wanted to be right there with us.
Here's Ralph waiting for us to come out and join her. We also do campfires back by the tent and she liked that as well because it usually meant we were gong to sleep in the tent that night. Sleeping in the tent was about as good as it got for Ralph. She could be outside yet still sleep with us.
Here's Ralph in our tent waiting for bed time.
I often wondered if she remembered seeing us in the tent for the first time and that someday she would be in there with us.
Here's a few more Ralph photos.
Christmas Eve with Ralph and Wednesday both happy laying on the floor with a coffee table full of food just above their heads.
Ralph in festive regalia at Mary Lou's party. The party was not at Ralph's house so there was no need to bark at anybody. Just wait till some piece of food got dropped on the ground.
Sitting with Cathy in the backyard while Cathy works on her quilting.
Speaking of quilting. Last year Cathy commissioned one of her quilt friends to make a wall quilt from a photo of Ralph. This beautiful quilt hangs in a prominent place just off the front living room. Here is a close up.
A fitting tribute to Ralph.
I have just a couple more photos to share.
This is Ralph just a day ago.
Still looking good, but having trouble breathing comfortably. A visit to the Vet yesterday turned up kidney failure and that broke our hearts. We got to bring Ralph home for a final night together. We made up our bed in the back living room for Cathy and I, with Ralph next to us. This room overlooks the back yard. I opened the back door for some cool fresh air and there we spent a final night together.
I'm sure Ralph is glad to be free of pain and hanging out with Riley and Wednesday. I believe that I'll see her again sometime. Until then she might even be looking at me like this because of my sadness...
My brother Charlie emailed me today and helped put things in perspective.
Heard a Dr Seuss quote on the radio last week
"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened"
Good advise.
I do smile because Ralph was a part of our life all these years. And I smile because Ralph smiled a lot, too!
