I can remember every moment when I first saw her so vividly it surprises me. Carmen and I decided to get a dog and she found an ad in the newspaper for free puppies. We lived in a small single wide mobile home on 2 and a half acres just off Highway 299 near Douglas City California. The location of the puppies was in Weaverville....about ten miles away. We drove to town and found the address. The woman at the house said the puppies were in the garage and opened the door for us. Against the far wall was a cardboard box with puppies spilling out of it at the sound of the door opening. Carmen and I walked towards the box and watched a couple of them begin to play and wrestle with each other. I knelt down about ten feet away from the box and watched to see which looked the strongest and healthiest. One puppy looked at me and slowly walked over towards me. I held out my hand and she sniffed me and then licked my fingers, she looked up at my face, our eyes met and she wagged her tail.....I knew I had been chosen. Her Mother was a small to medium size mixed mutt light tan in color. I asked the woman what the father was and she said he was a Schnauzer from somewhere in the neighborhood and this puppy looked just like a Schnauzer. I told the lady we'd like to have this one and she smiled, she looked at the puppy and I could tell she wanted to keep her and all the others but knew she couldn't so she said, "just take good care of her". I assured her that we would and we drove back home. Our three children were at home waiting. I'm not sure we told them we were going to get a puppy but they were sure happy when I carried the nameless little ball of, mostly black and a little tan and white, fur into the house. The kids played and played with her, the puppy ran around after a short amount of time getting used the place and settled right in. Carmen wanted to name her "teacup" but nobody seemed to like that name. My son Kyle said, "how about "Poppy". I didn't like that one. I don't know where the name came from but I said, "how about Cleo". We called her Cleo a few times and she seemed to respond to it so that was it....she was Cleo. She didn't realize there were "monsters" in the area but we introduced her quickly to all three of them. Marmaduke, the orange cat. Spike, the grey and white cat. And Fozzy the huge black cat. All three were allowed in the house but were mostly outside mousers. On the first meeting with Spike she quickly received a combination left right cross but with no claws out. Cleo stopped in shock and Spike turned around and walked off in disdain. Her meeting with Fozzy was only better in respect to only getting smacked once. Fozzy then sat and looked down at the tiny puppy as if saying, "go ahead, sniff me again and see what happens". Cleo must have decided she got off lucky and walked away. Later she approached Marmaduke slowly but must have been surprised to see this big orange monster simply lie down on its side and purr. Marmaduke liked Cleo and they played by rolling around together. So it was final, she had been either initiated or accepted by the entire family. Her potty papers were placed in front of the large sliding glass door that every single wide mobile has. She was quick to learn to go to the paper when she had to go. It wasn't long before we were able to remove the papers and she would still go to the door and with no papers there she would whine. One of us would open the door and lift or gently push her out the door onto the deck. Then she would be carried down the 3 steps to the ground where she could go potty. Then it wasn't long before we only needed to open the door and she would go out by herself. Well, she'd go out onto the deck anyway, she was afraid of the steps and would not go down by herself. She was also afraid to be outside by herself and would just sit at the bottom of the steps and cry. She didn't know it but one of us would watch her from the door because we had coyote, mountain lion, bobcat and possibly other predators that would just love to make a meal of a little "baby girl dog". Everything turned out ok though and she got used to the outside and would act like a normal dog and started exploring the outside area in no time. The years passed and she was so very smart, not so much in doing tricks but just in knowing what we were talking about when we spoke to her. She understood English very well. I think she was about 5 years old when one day I went outside and there was a very small male dog running away from our property. I knew Cleo must be in heat. Well, we tried to watch her but let her out once and forgot about him....but he didn't forget about her. And she was pregnant. The kids were really excited as her time came closer and closer. I think she had 5 puppies but I only remember the names of two, yes we named each one of them before giving them away. There was Brutus who was the largest and Toby who was the smallest and the perfect image of his father who was actually a Minpin (miniature pincher). Carmen decided she wanted to keep Toby so all the others went to homes in the area and Toby stayed with us. One day while I was at work Carmen needed to go to town for something and left Cleo and Toby outside. Toby was about 3 or 4 months old and stayed close to his Mom when they were outside. Carmen got home and Cleo was there but not Toby. Cleo was very muddy and frightened about something. We theorized that a coyote had come around and taken Toby, Cleo probably tried to defend her baby to no avail. Carmen was very sad. We moved to Weaverville and now Cleo had a large fenced backyard to roam safely in. In 1997 Carmen and I divorced and Cleo went with me. I rented a one bedroom house in Weaverville that had a very small backyard area. I paid the rent and a deposit and moved in and then went over to the owners house to sign the rental papers. The rental papers said, "NO PETS". I was shocked!! I told them I had a well behaved ten year old small dog and would gladly pay even a three hundred dollar pet deposit I was so sure of her behavior. They said that their daughter and grandson lived next door to me and they would not even let them have a dog. Dogs poop and pee all over and they scratch the doors when no one is home. Evidently this is what happened to them once and I could not change their minds. They said I would just have to get rid of her. I said I would. I was paying three hundred a month for the place and it had a one car garage. One of my satellite business customers had a small trailer on his property and I asked him how much he would rent it to me for. He said if I helped him around his ranch I could have it for 100 a month. It was outside the main small town area of Douglas City and with no neighbors close by, just the right kind of place for Cleo and me. They had a small dog that they never let outside so Cleo was the boss of the whole 5 acres and she LOVED it. She would sit on a hillside above our trailer and survey her domain. Nothing moved in that 5 acres without her letting us know. She particularly enjoyed catching a few gophers and was very proud of herself. After living there for about a year I had lived in Trinity County for 28 years and was tired of the snow and short summers so I moved 50 miles south east to Redding, California I got an apartment at Pepper Tree Apartments on Hilltop Drive and of course the rule was "NO PETS" and of course I smuggled her in. As in the other place she knew she was only to go outside after dark and waited till then to tell me she wanted out. It only took me two times to teach her to walk out the front door and immediately turn right and walk behind some large bushes, that were against my front window, and continue a few more feet to a small grassy area to go potty. This worked perfect for the year and a half I lived there and even neighbors had no idea that I had a dog. Sometimes I would take her for a ride with me in the truck, which she loved, and I would carry her out during the day in a clothes hamper to keep her unseen. She slept every night on my bed with me and always started out with her head resting against my neck or cheek until I fell asleep. She guarded me and protected me many times all her life. She loved to swim in the lake and fetch sticks that I threw into the water. Going for a ride in the truck with me was Heaven for her. She watched out the window and made sure those other cars didn't get too close to us. She would growl sometimes at other dogs in other cars but always got along with all animals when she was face to face with them. Kittens made their way into our family once in a while and Cleo enjoyed playing with them. Her favorite thing was to put her nose under their belly and flip them into the air. Only one scratched her nose badly once and Cleo never liked that cat again and totally ignored her for the years the cat lived with us. We had another name we called her sometimes and that was "Pooky". She responded to either name. I was working for a company as a satellite TV dish system installer but they went out of business. I was lucky to find a job as night security guard at an Animal Shelter that included an apartment on the premises. FINALLY Cleo was welcome to live someplace. Now she was about fourteen and a half years old though and really starting to slow down although she remained healthy. She was now deaf and her eyesight going. She could only tell it was me if I was about ten feet or closer to her. But he nose NEVER failed her. She slept almost all day now and all night but if I laid down next to her and blew my breath lightly on her face her tail would wag a little and she would wake up knowing I was there. Whenever I came home she would be asleep either on my bed or a bed I made for her on the floor because she couldn't jump up to my bed anymore. I could stand a few feet away from her and in about a minute her nose would twitch a few times as she smelled me in her sleep. She would awaken and get up slowly and wobble over to greet me. I could see that her joints were getting very stiff but she didn't appear to be in any pain. I would hug her and give her nose kisses and she would go back and lay down and be asleep almost immediately. My little Cleo always knew when I wasn't feeling well either physically or emotionally and would always come to lean against me or snuggle on the bed, she knew.........she always knew. On the evening of May 21, 2003 I let her outside at 11 PM and at 11:10 I went to the door expecting to see her waiting to come back in. She wasn't there so I went outside and she was nowhere in sight. I searched for two hours in a field of tall weeds and grass next to where I lived with no luck. I was panicked and yelled her name as I ran all over the large field behind the Shelter even though I knew she couldn't hear me. I decided to drive down the road even though I was sure she wouldn't have gone out there. About a half mile from the Shelter I saw her lieing on her side in the road. She had been run over and was still alive but was in bad shape. There was no one at the Shelter to help me with her so I called my boss and he told me to take her to the Veterinarian that we deal with. The compassionate people at VCA Asher examined her quickly and then made ready the solution. As I held her head in my hands the injection was made that took all her pain away. As when I touched her for the very first time in that garage so many years ago with her small head under my chin, she stopped wrigling and seemed content.
I put my mouth against her nose and breathed into her so she would know I was with her and I released her to cross the Rainbow Bridge. I'm sure she's playing with kittens there right now and when it's my time to go we'll see each other and go swimming and walking together again.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....
I picked her up and she squirmed and seemed terrified of falling, so I cuddled her against my chest with her small head under my chin. She stopped wrigling and seemed content.
Yeah RIGHT!!!! I knew Cleo would cause no problems and I could hide her from them....even though their daughter lived in the house next door. I would let Cleo out after dark and every single morning for the year I lived there I would go out and pick up after her. When I wasn't home she slept in the bedroom on my bed under the covers and I would leave the radio on slightly loud so if anyone knocked on the door she wouldn't hear it and bark and that worked perfectly.
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 the animals who had been ill and 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 days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one 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 of them suddenly stops and looks into the distance. Her bright eyes are intent, her nose twitches with a familiar scent, her eager body quivers. She yelps happily and suddenly she begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, her legs carrying her faster and 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.
