Ruby Speaks ...

Rrf!  Hello Folks ... Ruby here!
Thank you for waiting so patiently for me to speak. Now that I have your attention, I hardly know where to begin :)  Look at my close-up picture for a few moments and you may think you see my lips moving :)

Yes, I have my service vest, after having visited doctors' offices and businesses around town for a while, I took the plunge and am service dog for Clara in a supportive way ... and also, in a general sense, for Gerald, who for some time now has not been able to walk more than a few steps even with his walker, but cannot use a wheelchair because it would be difficult to get someone to transfer him in and out of the chair due to his weight (a hefty medical person needs to bring a chair out to the car each time). So we have a car now in addition to Clara's truck. The car was originally bought to be a Rubymobile because it's hard for me to climb up and safely get down the step of the truck. But the Rubymobile also transports Gerald whenever he has an appointment. He requires considerable help in getting in and out of the car. Once at the appointment, he needs additional help and that's majorly where I come in. Everyone oohs and aahs and sort of reverently moves out of the way of our entourage as Clara, doctors, aides, and I help him to his destination.

Stepping back in time a few months, I was blessed at the Blessing Of The Animals service at Westside UU Church during October. It was a lovely service and Rev. Carol obviously enjoyed planning and conducting it.  

I'm now ten years old (January 1st) with a sketchy background and I look like the jet black German Shepherd that I am with some wolfy possibilities and colorations between my toes. I understand many words even when they are spelled (even spelled backwards) and when I growl it is the most fearsome, gutteral, baritone lyrical semi-howl sound. I only growl when I hear other dogs barking or yapping.

Recently I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Rev. Jenny at Borderland Tees in south Knoxville. Folks, if your organization wants awesome tee shirts at great prices, Borderland is the place to go. Rev. Jenny is a community pastor; she and her partner Bob have employed and assisted, with ongoing success, members of society who are on the fringes (borders) of society. I had a great time there being welcomed and petted :)

Now, I've held back this post until I could tell you something definite about Clara's new music video.  I love music and will stop whatever I'm doing, even if I'm napping, to come into Clara's music studio and sit right next to the amplifier.  She recently recorded two songs at Songwriters Recording Studio in Knoxville, with multi-talented William (Sandy) Garrett at the helm. One of the songs is a re-make of her original "Conversation". The other is an amazing, spellbinding (see I told you I know a lot of words) arrangement of the song from the '50s, "Only You"; it is featured on the video. There are special reasons that Clara chose to do this song and I am inwardly smiling as I think of what a beautiful, romantic song it is. HP Video of Knoxville is preparing the video and the YouTube link will be posted on this blog soon!

I am so enjoying this opportunity to write this guest post here and would like to remind everybody to please adopt a shelter animal. I was a shelter animal and so lucky that Clara walked in and saw me (I was depressed and wouldn't even look at her that day). She took a leap of faith and filled out the papers ... and here we are, the perfect match of human and canine :)    

Thank you for reading my guest post.
Ruby Dog
Rrf!

"They Say Ruby You're Like A Dream" (song title from movie)

As I look around my house, I see the photographs of my pre-Dixie dogs ... some of whom resided in Connecticut with me, one that bravely traveled in my truck with me and a bunch of household items during my move from Connecticut to Knoxville in October of 1986, and several other wonderful dogs that I acquired after I got settled in at my first Knoxville house. Their framed pictures were carefully preserved in moving boxes in 2004 when I moved from one side of Knoxville to another, twice. In the days and weeks after Dixie passed into spirit, I took comfort in getting the dog photos out and putting them where others and I can see them. Faith Rose "Rosie" is looking down at me right now from the wall above my computer ... she's in a reddish brown frame (to match her poodle hair color).  I'll have to get the picture scanned so I can put it in the computer (she's sitting in the 1974 Ford Courier pickup truck that made the move).  

I had some multi-faceted talks with myself about whether to have another dog ... and "when" the time might be right. I found myself sitting on the benches in the park Dixie and I had frequented ... and I would sort of "borrow" people's dogs as they walked by. Petting a dog is such a soothing, spiritual experience.   

During the second week of May I saw an ad in the Bargain Mart featuring some of the dogs at Young-Williams Animal Center (Knoxville and Knox County's animal shelter). One of the faces peered out at me and I went to the main facility to see if she was still there. Yes, and the staff told me the sad story about her past.  No wonder she hardly would look at me in the "get acquainted room".  I kept talking to her in soft tones and petting her. She was at the shelter for a second lengthy time, after being confiscated from her first owner and then brought back in by her next owner. She was suffering from heartworm. Some kind soul had paid the money for her treatment (expensive) and her adoption.  God bless the person or persons who saved her! Her fur was growing back in at the two shaved sites of the medicine injections. The Shelter staff was fond of this 90 or so-pound dog and coddled her, though no adopter was choosing her. Probably it was a combination of her size, age (8 years), color (black dogs are the last ones to be adopted for some nutty reason), her heartworm recovery process, and what seemed to me to be her trust issues.  I took a leap of faith and filled out the adoption papers.

A trip to the pet supply store yielded toys, leash, collar, and dog food. Next day I went back and got her. She was  happy to get into my truck and seemed right at home lounging in the back seat. The first several weeks were rigorous for me because I had to leash-walk her around my hilly yard to keep her physical activity minimal (until the safe-date had been reached regarding her heartworm treatment recovery). Once June arrived, this sweet dog could safely walk and run off-leash in our fenced-in backyard and everything got much easier for me. Her personality has blossomed and bloomed!  She is very affectionate, very smart, and IMO very beautiful.   

I would like to introduce to my readers my awesome, wonderful girl -- her name is Ruby.