Payton | Change Is Hard

November 18, 2024
by dawnkinster 29 Comments

Fly high,Tally

Penny here.

I’m afraid I have some sad news to share with all of you. My friend, sheltie Lance’s big sister Tally, a Gordon Setter, crossed the rainbow bridge last Friday. Tally lived with Lance and Katie’s half sister Payton and their mom and dad. As you know Peyton crossed the bridge in September, so the loss of Tally is doubly hard on her mom and dad.

My mom learned about Tally crossing the bridge on Sunday morning, shortly after she finished doing the Wordle puzzle. Sunday’s Wordle solution was “tally” and mom, of course, thought about Payton’s sister and smiled. And then she got the news and she wondered if anything in the world is truly a coincidence.

Anyway, I can’t say that I knew Tally well, I only met her once, and I have to admit I was something of a chicken then, cause she was a lot bigger than me!

She was nothing but polite though, and it was silly of me to be scared of her. She was such a friendly girl.

You might remember that Katie got to show Payton and Tally around her park in May of 2022. Tally had the best sniffing nose and just loved exploring new parks.

She was less thrilled to pose for my mom who is always taking pictures. But she did it anyway, cause she was a very good and polite girl.

Katie got to visit Payton and Tally at their house too. One time Katie and Payton were busy getting treats on the deck and Payton’s mom went in the house. Katie thought she was getting more treats, so she waited by the door. She sure was surprised when Payton’s mom didn’t bring more treats, but brought out Tally instead!

Tally got along with everybody, and was such a good girl that she didn’t even steal treats off the table! Katie was sort of jealous that Tally was tall enough to even think about doing that.

Tally and her mom were competing in obedience and she had already won lots of ribbons when she had to retire because she got sick with leukemia.

She fought hard to stay with her family as long as she could, but last week she was just too tired.

Her mom and dad and Lance are missing her terribly.

*Lance and Tally playing, photo be Tally’s mom.*

Our only consolation is that she’s with her angel sister Payton, her angel mother Flair and of course my angel sister Katie. We know they’re exploring a new park every day with lots of things to sniff and the best treats ever!

If you’re of a mind to send positive thoughts, or prayers, or suportive vibes to Tally and Payton’s parents I know they would appreciate it. And poor little Lance, who has never been an only dog, needs support too.

I hope that I get to see him soon. When I do I will remind him how much all you nice people and your fur babies care about him and his folks.

Thanks everybody,

Your sad girl, Penny.

September 23, 2024
by dawnkinster 39 Comments

Saying goodbye to Payton

Angel Katie here.

You know I keep track of my mama and daddy even though I’m across the bridge, right? So I know when they’re upset. Thursday night I noticed mama had wet eyes so I paid extra special attention and wasn’t surprised when she started talking to me.

*Don’t we look alike? That’s Payton on the right.*

I’m a very good listener.

She said that Payton, my half sister, was going to be crossing the Rainbow Bridge on Friday, the very next day, and she wanted to make sure I’d be waiting for her so that Payton would have someone there right away to show her around.

She didn’t want Payton to be alone as she arrived.

Well of course I told mama not to worry, I’d be right there, first in line to greet her as soon as she arrived, cause after all, she’s my little sister!

Payton and I met a couple years ago when our moms got us together to go for a walk, way back in July of 2021. It was pretty warm and we were both mature so there wasn’t a lot of playing between us. But we did sniff hello and go on a congenial walk around Payton’s large estate.

*She enjoyed sharing her home with me. She lived in a beautiful place.*

Most of the time while the folks were sitting around talking we were hanging around snoozing.

*A nap on the deck is always a good thing.*

Or sneaking treats from the other’s mom or dad. Sometimes mama said she couldn’t tell us apart, especially from the back.

We knew how to work it, that’s for sure!

*We were good about taking turns getting treats.*

Then in May of 2022 Payton and her folks came over to my house and I showed her and her sister Tally around my park.

*The two of us and our dads. We were already discussing how to thwart the moms taking pictures.*

We had so much fun together, we even conspired to give the moms a hard time getting pictures of us, just for fun. But you know how moms are, they’re pretty stubborn, and they got a few good images of us.

*She looked so beautiful in the afternoon sun.*

Secretly I’m glad they did. Now that we’re both gone I think the pictures will give our parents some comfort, you know?

*We were giggling because the moms couldn’t get us to sit together for a picture!*

Payton was a very smart little girl, she even earned her UDX title in Obedience and she did rally and agility too!

*Payton and I were not impressed with mom wanting a yellow flower shot.*

Payton loved her mom and her dad very much, but she was definitely a daddy’s girl, helping him do the yardwork and enjoying a daily golf cart ride with him to inspect her estate.

She lived to be 15 years old, just like me, and just like me she was tired at the end, but she had a very wonderful life, and she lived every minute of it to the fullest.

She was a feisty little girl that managed her household and she will be missed so much by her family and friends.

But don’t worry everybody, we’re together now and healthy and happy. There’s so much to do here, so many things to sniff, and we have so many friends with us, why there’s always a game of ball to play, and walks to take and soft beds to nap on.

*“Come on Katie, let’s mess with the moms again!”*

And don’t get us started about the treats! My oh my, there’s any flavor we might want, and we can have as many as we want! It’s crazy!

Anyway, I know those of you that knew Payton will miss her terribly, but I wanted to reassure you that she’s just fine and when it’s time we’ll both be right here, along with all your doggie friends and fur babies, waiting to show you around.

*“We’ll wait for you guys to get here!”*

Well, Payton and I have a nice walk scheduled next, we’re going to explore that meadow of wildflowers over there, so we have to go for now. But we’ll be watching you, and if you get sad again know that we’ll be right there.

Promise.

*Payton. Never forgotten, loved forever.*

Shelties are always loyal and we love you all very much.

Talk later,

Your Sheltie girls, Payton and Katie

May 25, 2023
by dawnkinster 21 Comments

I met a boy and I liked it!

Hey there, Peeps!

Penny here. Mom says she has more star pictures and camping pictures and barn pictures to show you, but I told her you’d rather see me! Cause I have to tell you about my date with Lance!

Yep, my mom and Lance’s mom arranged a play date on Tuesday. Lance turns 1 year old tomorrow, so he’s about 6 months older than me. Isn’t he handsome?

I was smitten as soon as I met him. We hit it off right away because we both love to run! All four of our folks sat in chairs in the shade and talked and watched us play.

Of course they made us take breaks pretty often, but we still played a lot!

And Lance told me lots of secrets about how to get what you want from your parents. After all he has six more months of experience than me. I appreciated the intel.

But mostly we were just two crazy dogs having a wonderful time.

And in between runs we got treats! What a wonderful day!

*An excellent break from all that running!*

Neither of us could believe our luck, to have a nice sunny day and a big yard to play in and four people to pay attention to us and provide drinks and treats!

*Lance has the biggest water dish ever!*

I’ll tell you a secret. I think Lance sort of likes me.

And I sort of like him too.

Then of course the moms decide they should get a picture of the two of us sitting together.

*Hey Lance! Let’s make them work for it!*

Why do moms always do this? Does it seem like a good idea? I haven’t even graduated from puppy school yet, why would I want to sit and stay?

*What is this stay thing you keep asking for?*

Yep, it went about as well as you could expect.

*OK, get the shot quick, cause I’m not sitting here one more second!*

And just to add another little wrinkle to this photo shoot idea, they brought out Payton, Katie’s half sister, and decided they wanted a picture with all three of us!

Well. Payton is an old pro and sat stoically while all sorts of shenanigans went on beside her. It helps, I guess, that she’s deaf.

I’m sure she was tired of sitting there, but finally mom got one shot of the three of us.

We weren’t exactly all sitting. Ahem. But I did the best I could.

Mom ended up just taking pictures of the other two….

*Handsome brother Lance and beautiful sister Payton.*

…and then just of Payton, because mom says she looks so much like Katie, she couldn’t help but take a bunch of pictures of her. Mom was really glad she got to see Payton again.

And I got jealous and decided maybe I did too want my picture taken with my sister’s half sister.

*Hey! Maybe I’ll pose for a picture after all!*

And then Lance and I went back to playing!

We played and played, and I started a lot of it!

I couldn’t resist jumping on him to see if he’d run with me.

And then the folks said we should go for a walk! A walk? Are you crazy? Lance and I just ran about a gazillion miles!

*This was the perfect way to end our first date!*

But their property was so pretty and shady that we all had a wonderful time exploring. Next time I expect I’ll be able to be off my leash and explore even more, just like Tally, Lance and Payton’s really big sister, and Payton.