BEADED HERON

With a very heavy heart I am here to report that Ruby has passed away tonight.  I will mourn this special little girl for a very long time.  I have had quite a few special dogs in my lifetime but Ruby is one of those stand outs.  When she was younger and a show dog in training we would go down to the lakewalk in Duluth and do double duty on training.  We were never able to make it further than a few feet at a time because absolutley everyone that saw her had to stop and gush about how she was the cutest little dog they had ever seen.  We were able to work on gait and socializing.  I remember walking on Lake Avenue down in Canal park and often her cuteness would stop cars.  I wouldn't be paying too much attention to the people in the cars though, as I myself would get the biggest kick from watching the little dynamo Ruby toss those front legs of hers in Hackney Pony style and strut her little 5 pound stuff. But I would constantly hear..."look at that CUTE little dog!!!" coming from cars that had stopped or slowed down to a crawl.  Her personality showed through in just the way she carried herself. 

Ruby was a very funny girl & she had a great life.  She was a great traveling partner and no matter where she was, she would let you know whether she liked her surroundings or not, and if she didn't, well...there was always a good reason so it was time to move on.  I took a trip with my good friend Val a few years ago to the Miniature Pinscher Club of America National Specialty show in Aneheim California.  Ruby was our accomplice on that trip, and she definitely let us know what she thought everywhere we went.  Ruby had this bright yellow stuffed banana that she just loved.  I took it with us on the vacation and she had it in her crate to cuddle with.  When we would stop at a motel along the way, funny Ruby would run around the room for a look see and then go unpack her banana & jump on the bed with it.  Little did we know the significance of her ritual until we ended up in less than desireable accomadations on one end of the Las Vegas Strip one night.  We arrived in town after 11pm.  At the time there was a Best Western right across from Luxor where Ruby was welcomed with open arms the previous spring, so when we went to check in and saw they had a new  "no dog" rule we had to do something in a hurry for the night and found a small motel a few blocks up the street. 

Let's just say the place was less than desireable.  But we figured we could hack it for one night and find a real room in the morning.  The room was gaudy and shabby, I remember a pink phone and I think Val took a video of it.  There was no dial on the phone and the hotel operators didn't connect outgoing calls after 11pm.  This was bad for Val as she needed to call home at check in each night and let everyone know we had arrived somewhere safe.  That's why she took the video of the non-phone.   I think we discussed putting the dresser up against the door after Ruby came out of her crate, toured the room and went back in her crate to stay.  She did NOT unpack her banana and jump on the bed with it.  Even she knew it was a dump!

Another funny Ruby story (there are so many) was the time I snuck her into the Sahara Hotel on another trip.  I used to go to Las Vegas every spring to visit my beloved Godfather, my favorite person in the world.  He lived north of the downtown area so I liked being that much closer to him for visiting.  The first night I snuck her into the Fremont hotel.  Ruby is small at only 10 inches tall and 5 lbs so it was simple just to throw a hanger bag over her.  It worked miraculously on the way in, she was still as can be.  Unfortunately, I saw some food crumbs under the dresser and I was grossed out after that about the cleanliness of the room so after one night we moved to Sahara. On the way to checkout, there was one wiggly garmet bag on my arms, Ruby was far from still!  I've stayed at Sahara quite a few times now and I guess it is as good a place as any if you want to be north.  

Sneaking Ruby into the Sahara was going to prove to be a bit more difficult, however. They had manned a security station on every floor at the elevators.  (This was probably 1994 or so).  It would prove to be a bit more difficult to sneak a dog past this.  First we rented the room.  I parked the car in the ramp in a lower level that was cool.  It was April so although it was warm it wasn't blazing hot yet.  Once we were in our room I emptied my video camera bag and went out to the car to fetch Ruby.  When I introduced her to the camera bag she was not a happy vacationer!  Oh....she put up a fight while I slowly pushed her inside the camera case while carefully zippering the top and I had one panicked dog on my hands!  WHAT one earth was I doing to her!  She was NOT happy!  Her unhappy entrance to the hotel went without a hitch though, and boy did she ever shoot out of the camera bag like a shot when I unzipped it in the room!  We stayed about 4 nights I think, and left just before the weekend.  Ruby only made one peep in the beginning and that was when I told her that she had to be VERY QUIET and not make a sound or we would be homeless.  I kept the 'do not disturb' sign on the door the whole time and Ruby used newspapers on the tile bathroom floor for potty.  She was such a good little traveling partner.  Ruby was my girl, my baby, and the one dog out of the whole bunch that I woud grab when I needed comforting, every time. 

When Ruby went blind I was the basket case.  Ruby took it in stride once the healing took place.   Was Ruby a Saint among canines?  Hardly.  She had a LOT of attitude, I called her "Queen Ruby" a lot.  Ruby had a way of being quite nasty sometimes to the other girls.  Many times I had to forgive her and tell myself "she is a dog doing dog things" because she could get particularly nasty with them sometimes.  But it was just her way, she was a DIVA, QUEEN among bitches.  The leader of the pack.  (well, besides me that is, but we shared the duty for the most part!)

Even blind, Ruby was the pack leader around the place and it will be interesting to see who will fill that spot.   Sapphire is beside herself with grief right now but she is being consoled by Diamond.  I knew it would play out this way.  Sapphire is the worlds best seeing eye daughter.  

Sapphire watching over her mom

The family gathered around her on her last night 

Young Ruby used to stop traffic because she was so cute!

Ruby during her show career

Rest in peace my little baby girl.  I'll be there looking for you at Rainbow Bridge!