Tiggy 2001-2009

[grizabella]

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Tiggy was our Golden Retriever, our first dog. We got her when I was eight, shortly after my fear of dogs had been replaced by a love and obsession of them. She was my best friend growing up and had the sweetest, most loving personality. Tiggy would often greet us in a little tail-wagging circle dance in which she made little sounds almost like purring. I miss Tiggy very much, and will love her always.

Rest in Peace lovely Tiggy xx


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[Gazinghound]

R.I.P., sweet Tiggy-dog, and enjoy running free with all the other animals at the Rainbow Bridge, knowing your old friend still thinks of you and loves you.

Her dance sounds like Ulla's wiggles of excitement that make her start howl-singing or speaking in her low, growly voice. :3

Here's a dedication I made back in April for the two dogs I lost last year:

ccfmki.blogspot.com/2011/04/song-dedication.html

[grizabella]

That dedication to them is really beautiful. <3 What gorgeous doggies they were! (I love the coat that Casey is wearing in one of the photos)

[Gazinghound]

Thank you. :’3 I was inspired to do it while listening to that song on the way down to Virginia. Figured I had to put something up for them. Hehe, that was one of her fleecy coats that looked like a big old horse blanket. ^^ (And she possibly was the size of a miniature horse!)

What's even sadder is that within the past couple of years, my best friends' Westie and Cairn Terriers also passed away. The dogs we had all throughout middle and high school are gone, except for Rusty, though I only had him for the last...well, less than a full year of high school.

I believe it was George Carlin who said, "Life is a series of dogs."
That guy gave us a lot of truisms, but ain't that one of the biggest?

[grizabella]

I've been thinking about Tiggy a lot recently, I still get a strange mixed happy/sad feeling whenever I see a Golden.

[Gazinghound]

Poor, dear old Tiggs. :'} I know how you feel, actually. I've been thinking about Casey, as next month it'll be two years already since we had to put her down. I also recently spoke again to one friend who'd been very helpful in getting through her loss. Days like that stand out enough, unfortunately, that it still feels more like only a matter of months. And nobody can ever replace them. I like to think that they're all young and healthy and and free, running and living near "the Bridge"...perhaps paying the occasional visit. Maybe they've even met one another.

I do wish I had more digital pics of Case. I was mostly still using film cameras on her (which I also miss, despite the greater ease of storing digital, and the ability to edit if necessary. There was just someting about the anticipation while they got developed, and then flipping through to see how they came out...)

Her lifespan was similar to Tiggy's, actually. We adopted her in 2001, and she passed in 2010. So, she was at least 10 or 11, because the vet had told us that she'd had multiple litters already. Not bad at all for an apparent Great Dane/Mastiff cross found on the streets of urban New Jersey with no one else to care for her...:*} Right from the beginning, she was just loving and friendly and grateful and happy--so much so that she jumped out the car window on the way to her first vet visit the day we picked her up, in an attempt to join some kids playing in a front yard!

[grizabella]

I can imagine Casey must have been just the biggest sweetheart, and how lucky she was that she ended up so well loved after a rough beginning. It sounds like she gave a heck of a lot of love in return for all she was given. 10/11 certainly is a nice long life for a dog of such breeds, it's so sad that big dogs so often aren't with us as long.

I believe that dogs (and all living creatures) do remain with us in spirit, I'm sure Tiggy is very happy wherever she is, no longer having to live with horrible seizures. Mum felt Tiggy's presence very strongly when she was still making her mind up whether Bella would join our family, she felt that Tiggy approved. I think Tiggy would have liked Bella, she liked running around like a mad thing as well!

[Gazinghound]

She absolutely did...she was one wonderful, totally sweet and gentle dog right from the start. We needn't have ever worried about her having any major behavioral problems. It does seem unfair that the big ones have such short life expectancies.

Aww, that's so great, to know that Bella has Tiggy's blessing. :} We wound up waiting longer than I'd expected to get back up to three dogs, over a year...but it was a respectable amount of time, and I know Casey would never have objected to the addition of another little pup to the pack. I can just imagine how she would have played with teensy Jack; she'd have been his biiiiig sister. ;u; Now we consider her a guardian angel of sorts, especially for the backyard and garden, which she considered her domain and always patrolled and protected well.

[grizabella]

It's been four years this month since we lost Tiggy. It's hard to believe that so much time has passed. A friend of mine said to me not long ago that he still found it odd to come over to my house and not be greeted by Tiggy. Thinking of her a lot, and remembering all the good times, and all the times when she was a naughty little terror as well. Funny how the times when she got herself into trouble, and all her funny little quirks and imperfections are some of the most fondly remembered things that come to mind when I think of her. As well, of course, as the lovely cuddles she used to give, especially when I sneaked her onto my bed (something that was certainly not allowed!)


This is one of my favourite photos of her, taken in our old backyard when she was only about a year or so old (goodness, I'd have been about nine!). I miss that old house as well, we had so much fun in that big backyard, it was a perfect playground for a dog. It's a bit sad looking at photos like this, as that part of my life is over now, I've now got a different dog and am living in a different place (that old house will always be what I consider to be my main 'home' growing up).
Tiggy LOVED that green space hopper, actually I loved it too, but it was all but impossible to bounce on without getting mugged by a loopy golden retriever puppy. Eventually, as you can see in the photo, it became permanently deflated due to sharp doggy teeth and ended up becoming Tiggy's toy rather than mine.

Miss you Tiggy! xx


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[Gazinghound]

That yard looks like a fun place for a kid and a dog. And I had one of those handled bouncy balls, too...oh, was that fun. I bounced it all over, especially around the basement, and pretended the handles were udders so I could milk it. D; Thankfully I think the dogs we had at that time opted to steer clear of the crazy bouncing kid; I'm sure it'd be a different story with the current crew, even if they feared it or were wary initially. Tiggy's reminds me of a turkey baster. xD Well, at least she wound up with a really cool, big, squishy toy!

Rest in peace, beautiful Tiggy. :*{ It can feel strange and wrong and as though something very important is missing for a long time after someone has to leave...and no matter how much time passes or how many other animals come into your life, the past ones never truly get replaced, you never stop missing them...and there's always that little space...even if it shrinks a bit...that feels empty because you wish they could still be there, physically. I know what you mean about remembering the troublesome times, too. In the end we wind up looking back fondly and missing even those times when they'd get us upset...which is why I try never to get TOO upset with anypuppy. Their unique ways of bugging us someday become things we'd give anything to experience again.

Not allowed on the bed, eh? How times have changed.
I get the same twinge of sadness when looking at old photos, with places and things and animals and people that are no longer around...periods of life that you can't get back no matter how much you may want to return and relive it. And now every September, I'll think especially about Casey, because that's when she passed in 2010...and then every May, Molly...who did the same year. Actually, there have already been so many dogs and other animals that I've mourned, and reflect on from time to time as I remember them. The most recent loss was Karl, the betta...which sounds as if it should be a lot less traumatic, but that little guy was just about as dog-like as a fish can be, and truly a good, sweet, bright, loving friend. I know that if he could have come out of the water and been even more like a dog, he would have. I knew I was really going to miss him, and didn't think I'd feel enough closure without creating a little tribute/memorial for him, so I did... ccfmki.blogspot.com/2012/11/swim-free-my-finsome-very-special.html

[grizabella]

I'm so sorry for your loss, Karl was a very beautiful fish, and it sounds like he had such a special and unique character. No matter what species, it is always so hard to lose a friend that you spend so much time with, they're an important part of your life, no matter how small (and seemingly insignificant to some) they may be. I can imagine you must be missing Karl very much indeed. That's a really lovely tribute to him, it's obvious how special he was.

Mum softened up on the 'no dogs on the bed rule' once Tiggy had passed, I wish Tiggy had been allowed, but I suppose rule breaking bed cuddles are even more fun in their own way.

The old yard was great (much bigger than the picture shows) with a sandpit, trees to climb and plenty of space to run around in. I think Bella would have loved it.

[Gazinghound]

Thanks very much... He was a pretty rare find. I've had dozens of fishes over the years, named and loved them all, physically memorialized several...but relatively few become interactive and personally bonded to you on that level. A couple of others did in their own ways (especially Mercedes and Alan the plecos), and left me with their very special memories.
Species doesn't matter nearly so much as the bond they develop with you. It's still hard to look at where his house was on my dresser and remember why I now have so much more space on top... And of course at the area of the backyard that is by now a veritable all-species (including insects) pet cemetery.

He, he! Yeah, you get to share that covert "we-shouldn't-be-doing-this-but-we-are-anyway" feeling that brings all partners in crime closer together... ;D

Oh wow, Ulla would have loved that yard, too--she liked it when our central sand pit was sandier! Now it's become overgrown. Hopefully the winter frost will get rid of all the weeds and everything; I want to try and freeze the pit over as a makeshift ice rink, anyway.