Dusty, My Bridgegirl

Dusty went to live at Rainbow Bridge on January 25, 1995
Dusty has her very own webring too below just like her brother Bo!

Dusty was our little shelter girl. We got her originally for my mom who was ill and needed a friend. Soon after she was no longer able to care for Dusty, so she became part of our family. I'll never forget the first time I saw her through the cage at the humane society. She came to the front of that cage and just wagged that tail and whimpered like as if to say "Take me home" and we did. Dusty was two when we got her and we enjoyed 15 years with her.

This background I found for Dusty is perfect for her page because she loved to dig holes in the yard!! I could go out on any given day and there would be a hole dug usually under the fence---yep, at least once she escaped and we'd have to run around the neighborhood looking for her.

Well, here she is doing one of her favorite tricks--she knew if she did this she would always get a treat. And sometimes you could get her to hold it for a few minutes on the tip of her nose!

I put this little doggy here not because Dusty chewed shoes. Actually she never chewed anything since we got her after the puppy stage, but she was really good at fetching and she's go get her ball or her toy and bring it to you a million times a day. It did not good to try to ignore her because she'd just whimper and sometimes "woof" at ya til you played with her.

Dusty loved everyone except some men. She was the first baby we had and when two kitties invaded her territory, she took it all in stride and made them right at home by chasing them around everywhere until they all got used to each other. We had brought two kitties into our family and Dusty, Bo and Boots all became fast friends. We added another doggy baby named Coco later.
I'm sure that Dusty was there to welcome Boots and my precious Bo at they made their journey to Rainbow Bridge. But the one thing that no one could ever do was touch Dusty's food. She would snap at anyone withine eyesight who even looked at her food.
Dusty loved to sleep in her dog house too in the yard if she ever got tired of running around and digging!

Here's Dusty with her best friend Bo just taking it easy.

No, this isn't one of the tricks Dusty knew! She be in this position a lot just scratching her back and moaning as she'd toss from side to side. Dusty did know a lot of tricks tho. My daughter taught her several but much to our surprise one day when Tina was just making a circular motin with her hands, Dusty ROLLED OVER!! We couldn't believe it, but you would have to draw a circle in the air t make her do it. She also sat up like in her picture above, would shake hands, speak, play dead dog (and she didn't move either) She was so smart and I like to think that she is doing tricks for the Angels and the other Bridgekids up at Rainbows. And I am sure she has a little Rainbow bed like the one above up at the Bridge. Dusty's bed was to her as Bo's wicker chair was to him. She just loved her little bed and would curl up in it---well, like a kitty. She also had begun to like her paws to mimic Bo's cleaning.

This is Dusty above feeling the love I have for her and also showing the love she had for our family. Dusty was certainly a true and loyal friend and even though she was so little I know that if someone had ever tried to harm us they'd have had to get by her. Once Dusty was hit by a snowmobile, some careless kids, and when we called her to come in after her last night potty break, she didn't come. That was odd because Dusty would usually come after calling her for a few minutes. We went out looking for her for hours and could not find her so finally went to bed. About 5 AM that next morning I heard crying at the door and when I went down, it was Dusty who could barely stand up. We got her a pillow and got her to the vet right away who said she was very badly bruised but nothing broken. He was amazed that she had gotten herself back home and told us she must love us a lot and be very loyal because she had to be in very bad pain. He figured she had been knocked out for several hours and could not believe she got herself back home. After a while Dusty was fine but later in life developed serious arthritis which eventually caused her to lose the use of her back legs. I used to have to hold her back legs up so she could do her business.

Dusty was honored with this award below from Laurie, Ti, Angus and Pooh. Visit this site and see the touching stories of these Rainbow babies and the stories of those who carry on their legacy. Thank you Laurie for this award and also for inspiring me to finally get this page up for Dusty.

A MESSAGE FROM THE RAINBOW BRIDGE