The Dogs Above

[Quick Steel]

Prompted by Tom's recent loss of his beloved Angel, I decided to share this incident which I assert is factually true.

It was in the late 1980s. I was living in Hawaii at the time on the North Shore of Ohau. The highest mountain near the shore is Mt. Ka'ala. In fact it is the highest mountain on the entire island.

My house was on the slopes about a quarter of a way up the mountain. At the time, I had a white German Shepherd named Micah. He had some health issues and, truth be told, his intelligence was undistinguished. But like all good dogs, he was loveable.

I happened to glance out a window and saw two young men hiking past. They were either Marines or Army, moving upwards quite briskly. Rarely did anyone climb Ka'ala by this route; they would have to first negotiate the sugar cane fields below. A little later I went outside and called for Micah but he did not respond. A search around the property failed to locate him. It was obvious to me that he had fallen in with the hikers and was now blissfully assaulting the increasingly steep slopes of the mountain. Being a sociable animal Micah no doubt felt he had found two new friends. Events would indicate the hikers had no interest at all in the dog who had attached himself to them.

My first concern was that Micah's health and strength were not robust. I decided to plant myself on a lawn chair to be sure to catch him on his way back down. The morning passed.

It dawned on me that my tactics were faulty; I eventually realized that it was possible, even likely, the hikers would choose to descend by another route not even passing by me. Now a little desperate I grabbed some binoculars and drove down the hill through the sugar cane fields and onto the highway. There I got out and started scanning the mountainside quickly realizing the futility of this. The lush vegetation of the mountain made it impossible to see anything. Only when they got to the sugar cane road would I be able to see them. Frustrated I drove back to my house and planted myself in the chair trying to figure out my best move. There was none. I drove back down to the highway. Nothing visible. Back to the lawn chair. The problem was that there were many ways for the hikers to come off the mountain without every using the sugar cane road.

I was certain enough time had passed for the the hikers and Micah to come down. The last time Micah had wandered off it took a couple of days to recover him. He had wandered into a barbershop! But he was younger and stronger then and now he needed his medicine. While contemplating these bleak facts something startling happened: strange, certainly peculiar, and has remained memorable throughout the rest of my life. I suddenly heard the double bark of a dog. First, there were no dogs on the mountain other than Micah. Second, this bark was definitely not the bark of Micah which was quite distinctive. Third, and strangest of all, the bark came from above the house, in the sky but only a little above the house. And 4th, upon hearing the bark, I instantly knew...absolutely knew... that I would now find Micah if I made another trip which I rapidly did.

As I came off the slope and turned onto the cane road I saw the two hikers far away, almost at the highway. I eventually noticed a dog about half way between me and the distant hikers. But the dog was black, not white. I slowly closed the distance between me and the dog. Suddenly the dog turned off into the cane and disappeared. When I drew up next to that point everything became clear. The dog was indeed Micah. He had become black by jumping in the mud of a reservoir to cool off and no doubt drink. He stood knee deep in the mud and wanter looking at me sheepishly. I dried him off as best I could with some rags. Had to help into the truck for he was exhausted.

Back home he would have drunk gallons of water if I had let him. Once washed, fed a little, and medicated Micah slept for 24 hours.

As to that bark from the sky above my house, I have my own ideas. You probably have yours as well.

[TPK]

Great & interesting story Garry!
And with a happy end.

[treefarmer]

Great & interesting story Garry!
And with a happy end.

Garry,
I'll agree with Tom and we might have room for another theological discussion.
Treefarmer

[Steve Warden]

Wonderful story!
Thanks for sharing that Garry.
I have no doubt our Father watches over and loves all His creations.

[Madmarco]

Teriffic heart-warming story Garry, thank you! So glad Micah got home safe and sound. Definitely man's best friend. And I have absolutely NO doubt that the bark you heard was divine intervention!

[TPK]

Great & interesting story Garry!
And with a happy end.

Garry,
I'll agree with Tom and we might have room for another theological discussion.
Treefarmer

Ok Philip I'm in.

Our dog Cookie had 7 puppies. Then several hours passed. 3 maybe 4 hours. All at once, I had this strange feeling I was no longer alone with Cookie & her 7 puppies. There was a "presence". I say it was the presence of Angels. But that's my opinion. And then Cookie gave birth to an 8th puppy. The "presence" was very strong at this time. Shortly after the birth of the 8th puppy there was a feeling of peace & joy before the "presence" slowly faded away. The 8th puppy had a patch of white hair (inside of a patch of black hair) that looked just like a capital A. We named her Angel. And she was one.

Good night Friends,
Tom

[Quick Steel]

Thank you for all your inputs.

[XX Case XX]

___________
Mike

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Garry, I have had those moments of “knowing” when I had no logical reason to know. I have too many to count. Some really stand out, like yours.
Glad to read of a good ending to that story.

[Stanwade]

Hallelujah!.. that's all I can muster right now.. good night all.... Our pets truly are a gift from above...

[rea1eye]

They are all good: Knives, wives, and tails. NOT in any particular order.



Bob

[Doc B]

Enjoyed the story QS!!!

[carrmillus]

Prompted by Tom's recent loss of his beloved Angel, I decided to share this incident which I assert is factually true.

It was in the late 1980s. I was living in Hawaii at the time on the North Shore of Ohau. The highest mountain near the shore is Mt. Ka'ala. In fact it is the highest mountain on the entire island.

My house was on the slopes about a quarter of a way up the mountain. At the time, I had a white German Shepherd named Micah. He had some health issues and, truth be told, his intelligence was undistinguished. But like all good dogs, he was loveable.

I happened to glance out a window and saw two young men hiking past. They were either Marines or Army, moving upwards quite briskly. Rarely did anyone climb Ka'ala by this route; they would have to first negotiate the sugar cane fields below. A little later I went outside and called for Micah but he did not respond. A search around the property failed to locate him. It was obvious to me that he had fallen in with the hikers and was now blissfully assaulting the increasingly steep slopes of the mountain. Being a sociable animal Micah no doubt felt he had found two new friends. Events would indicate the hikers had no interest at all in the dog who had attached himself to them.

My first concern was that Micah's health and strength were not robust. I decided to plant myself on a lawn chair to be sure to catch him on his way back down. The morning passed.

It dawned on me that my tactics were faulty; I eventually realized that it was possible, even likely, the hikers would choose to descend by another route not even passing by me. Now a little desperate I grabbed some binoculars and drove down the hill through the sugar cane fields and onto the highway. There I got out and started scanning the mountainside quickly realizing the futility of this. The lush vegetation of the mountain made it impossible to see anything. Only when they got to the sugar cane road would I be able to see them. Frustrated I drove back to my house and planted myself in the chair trying to figure out my best move. There was none. I drove back down to the highway. Nothing visible. Back to the lawn chair. The problem was that there were many ways for the hikers to come off the mountain without every using the sugar cane road.

I was certain enough time had passed for the the hikers and Micah to come down. The last time Micah had wandered off it took a couple of days to recover him. He had wandered into a barbershop! But he was younger and stronger then and now he needed his medicine. While contemplating these bleak facts something startling happened: strange, certainly peculiar, and has remained memorable throughout the rest of my life. I suddenly heard the double bark of a dog. First, there were no dogs on the mountain other than Micah. Second, this bark was definitely not the bark of Micah which was quite distinctive. Third, and strangest of all, the bark came from above the house, in the sky but only a little above the house. And 4th, upon hearing the bark, I instantly knew...absolutely knew... that I would now find Micah if I made another trip which I rapidly did.

As I came off the slope and turned onto the cane road I saw the two hikers far away, almost at the highway. I eventually noticed a dog about half way between me and the distant hikers. But the dog was black, not white. I slowly closed the distance between me and the dog. Suddenly the dog turned off into the cane and disappeared. When I drew up next to that point everything became clear. The dog was indeed Micah. He had become black by jumping in the mud of a reservoir to cool off and no doubt drink. He stood knee deep in the mud and wanter looking at me sheepishly. I dried him off as best I could with some rags. Had to help into the truck for he was exhausted.

Back home he would have drunk gallons of water if I had let him. Once washed, fed a little, and medicated Micah slept for 24 hours.

As to that bark from the sky above my house, I have my own ideas. You probably have yours as well.

..........great story!!...my chihauhau is barking at me for food right now!!!!......... ........................

[KLJ77]

An awesome story, Garry. There is no doubt for me that the Good Lord was watching out for Micah and provided a way of bringing you to him.

And Tom...another great story about our beloved K-9's. The 'presence' of which you spoke of is hard to explain...it's something that one has to experience themselves to fully understand. And I'm sure there are many here who do.

[KLJ77]

I'll add a short story of a dog I once had. It's not as enlightening as those above, but nevertheless, a faithful dog story.

In the late 70's, I became the owner of a pure black lab puppy of about 12 weeks old. At that time, I was an avid pheasant / grouse hunter in the Midwest parts of Nebraska where I grew up. So I wanted to train my puppy (I named him Pepper) to fetch my kills. I would bury pheasant & bird wings in the leaves and grass and trained him to 'sniff' them out. After weeks and weeks of working with him, I realized he was a natural at 'finding' the wings, but this was just basic stuff. How would he do in the real world of getting the downed pheasant? I then tied the wings to a fishing pole to simulate a downed pheasant, but was only wounded and could still run. I would swing the fishing pole around in a circle on the ground and Pepper would run after the wing on the end and catch it. There were other various techniques I used for his training, but won't go into all that.

Soon, it was November and hunting season was starting. Pepper was now about 7 months old and my brother and I decided to give him some 'real world' experience, but of course, not really expecting too much at his age and it being his first time out. We went to my uncle's farm and began traipsing through the grasslands hoping to stir up a rooster or grouse. About three quarters of the way up a hill, we had two roosters fly up and we downed one, but it was a runner. All of a sudden, Pepper TOOK OFF running and disappeared over the rim of the hill. I didn't even give him a command to fetch...he just took off running, no barking, just running up the hill. My brother and I continued to climb the rest of the hill, got to the top and...NOTHING. No pheasant, no Pepper...nothing. We turned a full 360* looking for Pepper. We began calling for Pepper, but no response from him. It was a long five minutes of silence standing at the top of that hill, still calling for Pepper. I started getting worried that he had decided to just run off and be a 'free spirit'. My brother and I just looked at each other, dismayed and anxious. And then, all of a sudden, a little black spot came running out of a thicket of briars down the slope of the hill about 50 yards away. And I'll be darned...I began whooping and hollering, praising Pepper with an over joyed heart...for in his mouth was the downed pheasant he had chased into the briar patch and was bringing it back to me. He ran up to me and allowed me to take the pheasant from his mouth, and then he sat down and stared at me. I gave him much love, praise and hugs for his loyalty. And the best part of this is; as young as he was for his first fetch, there was not one tooth puncture in the pheasant. And there were no briars sticking into him, which to me, was amazing.

Pepper turned out to be a natural and he went on many more hunts with me. Sadly, I had to find him a new home due to extenuating circumstances at the time. But he went to a very good home...a farmer who was also a hunter of the winged game, so I knew he would be very well taken care of. I've never forgotten that first 'hunt' with him and how well he performed.

And there you go...

[Quick Steel]

A very fine story LJ and well told. Pepper must have been beautiful to watch.

[carrmillus]

.........great story!!!................ .................

[KLJ77]

Thanks, Garry, for your kind words. And yes, it was great to watch Pepper in action. While he was with me, he never lost a bird.

Carrmillus...Thank You.

[carrmillus]

........my first dog was given to my dad by the guy who picked up our trash during ww2(1942), he died when I was in service in 1960.(18+ yrs.) the day he died my wife went to the dog pound at scott afb and got snoopy #2. he died in 1978.(18+ yrs.) when you have pets that are with you that long, it's the same as losing a family member!!!................ ..............

[Quick Steel]

Absolutely. And it can also reflect the excellent care they received.

[KLJ77]

........my first dog was given to my dad by the guy who picked up our trash during ww2(1942), he died when I was in service in 1960.(18+ yrs.) the day he died my wife went to the dog pound at scott afb and got snoopy #2. he died in 1978.(18+ yrs.) when you have pets that are with you that long, it's the same as losing a family member!!!................ ..............

You're absolutely right about our pets...no matter how long we have them, they are such a blessing to us and provide a companionship that is so much different than on the human level.

Here's my Shadow Boy I had the most awesome pleasure and honor to have with me for a bit over 7 years. I had a friend who worked at a boarding kennel who called me up on a Thursday, knowing that I had always wanted a GSD, and said...if you want this one, come and get him, for they are turning him over to Animal Control in the morning, Friday. They are going to euthanize him. Within the hour, I was bringing him home. Shadow was a mess. He had been at this boarding kennel for over 4 months due to an Officer in the Navy was deployed and had not paid the boarding fees in over three months. The owner of the kennel contacted him, and the guy said..."do what you have to do." This guy had paid $700.00 for this dog, and was willing to forego his wellbeing and life. He was approximately 4 years old already and was way underweight at 63 lbs, ribs showing, pads of his feet raw due to the concrete flooring of the kennel and was very anxious. I couldn't touch his feet or his tail due to sensitivity. It took 6 months for me to 'earn his trust'...after that, I could wrestle with him, comb his fur, including his tail and trim his nails. We became the best of buds.

The first time I took him in for a vet check up shortly after I got him, I told the techs that I needed to be in the room with him because of his physical issues and I didn't know how he was going to respond to strangers. Well, they wouldn't allow me in the room with them, and when they gave him his shots, he 'snapped' at the tech girl, and because of that, the vet logged him in under a "red flag" note as an aggressive dog. This report is filed with the city. This really irritated me and I told them I would never be back to this clinic...and I would tell others not to patronize their clinic if this is the way you treat customers. From that day forward, due to this incident, whenever I took Shadow to the vet, I had to muzzle him out of precaution because that first visit to a vet was a bad experience for him...and he didn't forget it. That is the only time I had to muzzle him, for he was NOT aggressive with me or the neighborhood kids and another dogs. Of course, he was alway on leash when out and about, and he responded to my commands very well.

Shadow went to the Rainbow Bridge in 2011 due to advanced arthritis in his spine and hips. He could no longer run, and would hop like a rabbit just to move around, albeit, his quality of life was still very good. Then, one day he just laid down on the floor and couldn't get up on his own...and I knew something serious was wrong. The emergency vet I took him to conducted x-rays and said one of his kidneys was enlarged and his liver was in bad shape and shutting down. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this was a result of the pain meds I had allowed the vet to put him on, which was Rimadyl for arthritis pain. I will NEVER put an animal on this pain med ever again. From the day I started Shadow on it, until this particular day was 18 days. That is how fast the side effects of this drug affected Shadow and damaged his internal organs. Sadly, I didn't research this medication prior to having him take it. I found out too late that there are other horror stories out there about animals being put on this pain med. I sure do miss my Shadow.

This may sound like a very sad story...which in the end, it was. But I had the most wonderful 7 years with Shadow and was one of the best dogs I'd ever had the pleasure of companionship.

[Quick Steel]

Thanks for the fine recounting of your time with Shadow. And what a beauty he was. Your photo captures the nobility of the breed.

Most people are unaware of the drug situation in the U.S. whether for humans or animals. For example, tho it varies somewhat from year to year, the 3rd to 4th leading cause of death for humans is properly prescribed medications. The classic example: Viox killed over 60 thousand people. So too with pets; drugs can be high risk.

LJ, You obviously have had the privilege of enjoying several remarkably fine canine companions.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

LJ, I feel for you about what happened w/ Shadow. As Caesar Milan says, “dogs live in the now”, which is good to know when it comes to giving a dog a second chance. A dog can be rehabilitated. My Girl Scout, her name is Scout but I call her Girl Scout, came to us a little over a year ago. In the first 2 days she bit me badly on my arm. I put myself between her and my other Golden Retriever, Kobi. She had some major toy aggression and Kobi loved his toys. She latched onto a toy while Kobi had it and I tried to get her mouth open to force her to let go. She growled and lunged at Kobi, I put myself between her and him and she nailed me. My wife was ready to send her back, but I wouldn’t hear of it. I knew she just needed more time to adjust and we didn’t know what her back story was, but suspected that she was crated all day and never walked. Most likely she was not use to other dogs either.
She is my sweet girl now. We lost Kobi in Oct of last year. He got to where he was unable to get up anymore and we knew it was time.
We lost another dog last year, Maddie. We strongly suspect that the medicine the vet prescribed for her slight bladder leakage destroyed her kidneys. We didn’t figure it out until too late, she was only 5 years old. When it comes to vets, you better ask questions and don’t trust everything they tell you. We learned that the hard way too.
Here is my Girl Scout after a bout of ball play, she has her “happy dog” pant on. That’s what I call it when a dog is tired from play or a walk.
Last photo is my pack last year before we lost Kobi, he is the old Golden Retriever in the picture.

[carrmillus]

..about the time the pandemic started we buried Ellie Mae, our oldest cat, we don't know exactly how old she was , she showed up on the woodpile in 2000, nearly full grown, so she had to be 20 years old at least!!.....

[KLJ77]

LJ, You obviously have had the privilege of enjoying several remarkably fine canine companions.

Thanks again, Garry. And yes, I've had many very fine canine companions over my years. Pepper was the only one given to me from a litter...all my other companions were rescued ones. During my time at the shipyard, I was on patrol one night and came across a young lab/chow mix, maybe about 6 months old. But that's a story for another time. I don't want to hog this thread.

You're right about the meds. Sometimes we learn the hard way about them...that's why I do my research, especially regarding the side effects. Most of the time, they're worse than the reason why a doctor wants you to be on them.