Rudy was born on April 11, 1991. She was the runt of the litter. She came to live with us in Pendleton, Oregon in June, 1991. She lived
with us for the rest of her life.
Rudy loved to go camping, ride the motorcycle and the ATV with my husband, Rudy enjoyed bird hunting. She loved to go riding in the car and all you had to do was open the car door and she was ready.
Rudy learned the usual dog tricks, But her best one was giving us the Dalmatian smarl which is a cross between a smile and a snarl
as only a Dal can do.
At Christmas time Rudy would lay by our tree and beg to open her gifts. We would then let her open them on Christmas Eve and in the morning she would dig into her Christmas stocking. She was included in all of our family photos taken for our Christmas cards.
We always had a birthday party for Rudy complete with a treat and a gift.
She loved to chase cats but she didn’t really get along with other Dals. Although she did get along great with other types of dogs.
Rudy slept in the garage on a mat with our other dog, Brandy who was blind. After Brandy died in 1995 Rudy came to sleep in our queen size bed with us. Or I should say she shared the bed with us. She had her own little wicker basket to sleep in but loved the bed. She always had to be covered up by a blanket.
Rudy had developed a skin problem which the vets could never really pinpoint the cause of. But they did say it was not Dal Crud. Sometimes she would lose all her hair on her one front leg and on half of her face. Several other vets and a vet school ran tests on her. This lasted the last few years of her life.
One of her favorite things to eat for breakfast was hotcakes.
When she shook, her hair would fly and you would swear her spots could fall off as she shook so hard.
On February 10th of 2003, Rudy went for a vet visit and we were told she had to have surgery or be put down as she had pyrometra, which is a female dogs disease. So they operated that night. Even though she had a heart problem that we had been treating with medication for several years. The vet called and she came through the surgery great. The next morning I went to pick her up and she was so happy to go home.She was standing in her pen wiggling that long tail of hers. I stayed at home with her all that day and the next day when I had to go to work, our daughter came and stayed with her all day.
I got home from work at 5:15 Pm she was in the chair but raised her head up to great me, Our daughter said Rudy had eaten and drank water for her during the day. She left with her little boy and went home. I ask Rudy if she wanted to go out and my husband and I took her to the backyard. Where she had a sudden heart attack and dropped dead. It was 5:30 PM and all over for her.
The hardest phone calls that night were to our daughters to tell them that Rudy had gone to be at the Rainbow Bridge.
The Rainbow Bridge poem really helped me with my feelings of grief. I am so thankful that I found out about them.
The vet called the next morning after our daughter had called him and told him what happened. He said she went quick and did not feel any pain. The vet sent a beautiful bouquet that day to our house. I put the bouquet, Rudy’s best picture and her collar on the table.
We buried her in our garden under the bird bath and I have kept pansies planted there every since. I put a little fence around that area of the garden, along side the bird bath we have a life size Dalmatian made out of cement. We had a lot of friends call and extend their sympathy when she died. And I made a huge life photo and poem book of her life, in which I included the cards from friends.
I can’t begin to express our deep sorrow upon losing Rudy. She was a member of our family and we treated her better than some people do their own children.
I swore there and then we would have no more dogs in our home and have to go through that grief again.
But one year and 2 days later my husband took me to look at a litter of Dalmatians and of course we brought one home. We have named her Josie. She can never take Rudy’s place but it is nice
to have another Dal around.
Rudy truely left her Paw Prints on our Hearts. She will be remembered forever in our hearts and on our minds.
With all my love,
| Rudy |
| Sharon Maness |