This is a reposting of a tribute to our wonderful Rusty. This time, however, I have the beautiful addition of the following painting done by our very own Cindy A. I am so touched by this rendition of Rusty that I had to post it to our Rainbow Bridge thread right away. We love you Rusty - you lived large and left huge, soft paw prints on our hearts. We miss you so. (We remember your birthday is coming in a few days.) Thank you Cindy for this most precious gift.
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File comment: Rusty's ever youthful self so happy at the rainbow bridge, as portrayed by Cindy A.
Rusty impressionistic painting resized matted.jpg [ 36.46 KiB | Viewed 1776 times ]
The following was originally posted on 4/2/10.
It was a year ago today that our beloved Rusty went to the Rainbow Bridge. I couldn’t post when he first passed. However, time allows us to heal a bit. We’ve had a full 12 months plus a love, named Sadie, help us deal with our loss. We remember Rusty each and every day.
Rusty was blessed with a handsome stature and a happy personality. All who saw him would comment on what a gorgeous Cocker he was. Every day of his life, Rusty had a wiggle butt for all who approached him. He looked so friendly and cuddly. We would warn all about his fear biting; most would comment, “but he’s wagging his tail.” Guess what; he didn’t bite with his tail.
Rusty was The Cocker from Hell, but he was our Cocker from Hell; and we loved him. He embodied all the poor characteristics of the Cocker breed – fear biter, eye, ear & skin problems, and allergies, along with the Cocker warble. That’s what someone told me that terrible sound which ranged from emergency siren to a pack of coyotes.
Rusty was “just right for his generation” - the ME generation. Rusty was all about Rusty. Whatever he wanted to do was what he did. However, he could be bribed. The raging fear biter would very gently take a treat out of any stranger’s hand.
Our Rusty loved his trips to the vet (bribes) and would shower his groomer with kisses all the while she worked on him. Go figure!
When he was young, he ran like greased lightening. The only way to catch him was to have a blanket to throw over him. He loved to play on the slides at playgrounds, chew on bones and his red ball. One of his favorite tricks with the ball was to play at the shallow edge of the pool with until his ball “accidentally” fell into the pool. He would then follow it along as he watched it roll into the deep end. When it stopped rolling, he would lie down, paws and head over the edge of the pool right above the ball and cry until someone came outside to rescue his ball. He’d run to the pool net to let you know you had to get the net first, and then go point out exactly from where his ball needed rescuing. When Rusty wasn’t chewing on a bone or eating, the red ball was ALWAYS in his mouth. He could breath through it, bark through it – it’s a shame they don’t make those balls anymore. He was always “in the ready mode” for a long game of fetch. Of course, chewing on the ball was always an option. It was tough enough for his strong chewing that he was never able to destroy it.
Pattern studying was a great pastime of his. When he was just a wee one, he was at the side of the house growling, snarling and barking. I went outside to see what in the world the emergency was. I figured there must be some burglar preparing to strike. He had spied the trash cans weren’t in their correct lineup. That just wasn’t allowed!
For most of his life, he never knew how much fun being petted was. Not because we didn’t love him enough to pet him, but because he just “wasn’t in to being touched.” The last few years, though, he couldn’t get enough of having his ears kneaded and his head and back stroked. He really wanted to be physically close to us. As he went deaf, he would lie between whoever was in the room with him.
Scamp is the fun word I think of when I think of his capers – from eating $100 worth $20 bills at a pop, to waste basket tramp, to “catch me if you can.” He loved to do anything naughty and then run off only stopping to laugh at whomever he was teasing. His eyes were always dancing with anticipation of mischief.
For all Rusty was, his personality was larger than life. Our home felt soulless when he left.
Rusty’s personality started out like a roaring lion and ended as soft as a lamb. We were blessed to have so many years with him. No, we weren’t ready to say goodbye, but we don’t always get to choose how life goes.
Rusty you left a big paw print on our hearts. We love and miss you each and every day!
We love you dearly; thank you for the active, fun life you shared with us.
Love,
Dad, Mom and “Boy”
Indie Kodak's Canyonview Little Miss Independant, CGC, ThD (in training)
Those Cockers up at the Bridge must have such fun times together.