The Rainbow Bridge

The real Rainbow Bridge is near Lake Powell, Arizona.
It is a sacred Indian stone bridge.
The legend says:
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All of the animals who had been ill or old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: They each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. Her bright eyes are intent; her eager body quivers. Suddenly she begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, her legs carrying her faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again.
The happy kisses rain upon your face, your hands again caress the beloved head and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together..........

Jimmy
(Orlas Intrepid Endeavour)
Jobeka Jasper of Nortonwood x Orla Charlotte
Born 29th July 1990 - Died 20th February 2004



Jimmy certainly lived up to his name

Jimmy was a single puppy from Lucy’s third and last litter. Although at the time we didn’t know there was only one puppy in Lucy’s tummy, we would sit feeling the movement and even then jokingly called it “Little Jimmy”. He was born in the early hours by caesarean section and travelled home inside my jumper to keep him warm. Lucy would not feed him at first but would obsessively clean him, in the first few days he spent most of his time tucked in my jumper, I also bottle fed him and a sickly goat I was rearing too, beside the warm Parkray fire in the kitchen. After a few days I told Lucy that if she didn’t want to feed Jimmy then she couldn’t clean him and I was going to have him for myself, at which point miraculously Lucy started to feed him and Jimmy never looked back, he was already a big puppy when he came into the world but with all Lucy’s milk to himself he just grew and grew. The first visit to the vet was after a few weeks when he didn’t seem to be able to get up onto his feet, he was X-rayed but nothing untoward was found and soon after, sure enough he started to walk, we think he was just too fat to get up onto his legs.
His next visit to the vet was when we took him to be castrated at about eighteen months old because he had a retained testicle, the op was duly performed and I want to pick him up only to find him in a pool of blood, of course I couldn’t bring him home and he was opened up again to find out what had happened, on my way home I thought about what was happening to Jimmy and remembered that a few weeks previously he had cut a pad on his foot and I couldn’t get it to stop bleeding, so I asked the vet to check his blood for clotting and sure enough it didn’t.
We never thought Jimmy would make old bones because, well to tell the truth he seemed to have everything wrong with him, his mouth was not right and seemed a little twisted, his feet turned out (ten to two as we breeders call it), but Jimmy was to prove us wrong, because after the op to be castrated he never saw a vet except for his routine injections, until a few years ago when an ominous lump appeared on his side, we discussed this lump with the vet but I was worried about putting him under the knife because of his bleeding problem and was worried I would be sentencing him to death, so we held back from operation until such a time as the lump was smelly and opened and bleeding anyway and really we then had no choice, so we went ahead and had the operation done. Jimmy came through the op successfully even though he was eleven and a half, and although he bled for a number of days afterwards, a drain had been put in to allow this to flow and not build up inside. His wound healed very quickly and soon Jimmy was back to normal and you wouldn’t even know he had had the lump in the first place, he was fine for almost another year and then lots of little lumps grew, this time on his face, again one was particularly bad and so I took him to the vets fully expecting the vet to say there was nothing more he could do for Jimmy, but Jimmy was still so full of life and when the vet said he would operate again if I wanted him to, I did not hesitate and took him back two days later to have five lumps removed from his face and a couple of others on other parts of his body, when I I went to pick him up he looked like a patchwork quilt. Again even though by now Jimmy was twelve and a half he recovered quickly and within a week or two you wouldn’t have known he had even had the lumps. Jimmy continued to enjoy life and loved his food and rides in the car, right up to a week before he died. During the last week he seemed to enjoy life less and when the day before he died he refused his food, we knew the time was coming. On the day he died I made the decision that the time had come, but Jimmy knew that this was a really hard decision for me to make and before the time came to take him to the vets, he passed away himself. Jimmy has been a very important part of my life and will be missed so much. He grew into a really big dog and was always just there wherever you went. He was always with his harem of girls because being castrated he was “safe”.
Jimmy had a special relationship with his older half brother Joshua, they vied constantly with each other and were very competitive, but when Josh died Jimmy missed him ever so much, even though he had lots of other friends to play with, and for a while all meaning seemed to go from his life, but time has a way of healing and soon Jimmy seemed to start enjoying life again but a little of the sparkle had gone. Now hopefully Jimmy and Joshie will once again be able to play together.
Jimmy also welcomed our new comers and was always gentle with our new babies and played with them all. He had a wonderful temperament and it is a pity he could never sire children because he would have made a wonderful Dad.
We will always love you “Little Jimmy”

Weep not for me though I am gone
Into that gentle night
Grieve if you will, but not for long
Upon my soul’s sweet flight.

I am at peace, my soul’s at rest
There is no need for tears.
For with your love I was so blessed
For all those many years.

There is no pain, I suffer not,
The fear now all is gone.
Put now these things out of your thoughts,
In your memory I live on.

Remember not my fight for breath
Remember not the strife
Please do not dwell upon my death,
But celebrate my life.