This is our spot for remembering those we have lost. This is a long list but I grew up allowed to have only one dog… so I was much more lenient with my kids’ love for animals – and at the risk of giving away my age, this list covers 25+ years! The only bad thing about having a lot of animals is, you also lose a lot… but BOY will there be a STAMPEDE when WE go over the Rainbow Bridge! There’s no rhyme or reason for the order, just however they popped into my head.
Roadie (short for “roadkill” which is what he would have been if we hadn’t let him in the gate) was only with us for a short time, but he kept us laughing with his antics. His favorite thing was “surfing” – standing on the platform of the golf cart trailer while we drove. No matter how fast or sharp we turned or stopped, he stuck like glue, nose in the air and a big grin… He was very protective of our yard, which turned out to be his downfall. The neighbors’ dogs occasionally jumped the fence and came into our yard, but we always quickly chased them out – Roadie helped and apparently when we weren’t home he took it upon himself to chase them without us. Unfortunately one day he went too far and chased them over the fence and into their yard, where they turned on him and killed him.
Spunky was a white cockapoo we got as a tiny puppy when I was in 3rd grade and she was the closest thing to a sister I ever had and the only pet my dad would let me have until I wrote a paper proving I knew how to take care of a hamster... Since she was with my stay-at-home mom they were very close so when I grew up and moved away I couldn’t separate them… she was with my mom several more years before she got to the point her arthritis, blindness and deafness brought about the decision to alleviate her suffering.
Sam and Taffy, the hamsters of my childhood.
Toby, a mutt pup I picked up outside the Humane Society because he was too young for them to take. The first thing I did when I moved out of my parents’ house was go get myself a dog!
Ribbon was Andria’s Christmas present when she was 6 years old. Her mother was a poodle and her father, according to the poodle’s owner, was “either a traveling salesman or the little brown dog down the street”. Ribbon was a GREAT dog and we were sad to lose her at 16 years old.
Motor, a black cat who looked like a miniature panther.
Sandy (terrier mix) who came from a no-kill dog shelter to be Ribbon’s buddy, but had to find a new home when she turned out to be dangerous for the chickens...
Gidget (Chihuahua mix) – this tiny girl was supposed to be my “baby” as my 2-legged babies grew up… unfortunately her physical condition was orthopedically unsound and by the time she was four she had already endured two knee surgeries and even on the medication for her spine she was in so much pain I had to let her go.
Dusty (shepherd mix) and her pup, Gypsy (shepherd/chow mix)
Rainbow the mutt who was afraid of thunder, Bingo the lab/shepherd mix who was afraid of fireworks, and Trey the lab mix who tired to do one too many trick.
Toby and Gypsy (Australian shepherd mix, brother and sister)
Jasmine, Aladdin and Raven (Andria’s hamsters) and Spaz (Lindsey’s hamster)
All the chickens, ducks and guinea hens… most especially Wynona, the hen who was with us the longest, and Alison the hundred-dollar duck…
Little Louie, our first goat, and our first farm animal and our first rescue… and what a handsome Santa he made!
Angel, Gabriella and Jeffrey, the baby goats
Silver, Ash, Slate and ZigZag, our first cats on the ranch, and Cholla, Amber, Jett and Tinkerbell, great barn cats.
Aria, my mom’s first Arab mare, diagnosed with Wobbler’s Syndrome for which there is no cure. When she got so bad she started falling, we had to let her go.
Dandelion, Lily’s first foal (see her story on the Lessons Learned page)
Dogwood Trails Bunny, aka Bonny, my first miniature donkey jennet, and her baby boy donkey Boyd (see their story on the Lessons Learned page)
Wilbur the rescue mule (see his story under the button "Meet Wilbur")
Mr. Harry (Hilary’s guinea pig)
Jupiter (Lindsey’s iguana)