A DEDICATION TO MY DEAREST FRIEND. (BARNEY )

Oh Irene ,my heart goes out to you. So sorry about Barney. It's eight years since Sam my golden retriever left me, it's heartbreaking. You never forget the love they gave you, but at least you had that love. Just remember the good times. Best regards Carole.

My sympathy. I lost Quali last week too. My heart is so empty. http://www.painters-online.co.uk/gallery/picture.asp?id=1433

Thankyou so very much,i'm sorry Carol,the heartbreake never leaves you does it? i surpose you just learn to live with the pain and all your lovely memories. for what else can we do!! Oh Diana i am so sorry, my heart goes out to you you feel as though you will never breathe out again, its the grieving procese that we must go through, but it's so hard.but it has helped me to talk to you both as you understand. chin up girls,we shall cope together. if you need to talk about the way you feel, because it helps, i can give you my e-mail address if needed. best regards ..... irene

Irene you shouldn't be getting any messages from your email programme. When you click on the link to reply to a comment it should take you straight to that comment. NO ideas except to say do compact your email messages (File/compact folders); you probably have too many for it to cope with. Then shut down your computer completely and reboot. That often fixes things when you get odd things happening. I had problems with this website last week when it allowed me to add portfolios to anybody's gallery. I shut down and restarted and it worked properly. If you search for my name under galleries (On the left of the gallery page) Quali's picture is in the folder called pencil sketches or evenbrowse all portfolios and search for for pencil sketches.

I'm so sorry this is the first time you are going through this. I've had the same breed for 43 years but it never gets any easier. Quali (short for quality) was almost 14 . She was such a gentle soul.I have two others still including her great granddaughter Sky- also in my portfolio. I shouldn't really ask on here but can I beg you not to get another from a website. Please, please go to a breed rescue organisation. Ring the kennel club or search google for whatever breed you fancy and rescue. There are so many dogs in rescue, abandoned by their owners.

That's okay Diana i do agree with you about that. there are so many unwanted dogs that need a loving home, and when i'm ready that's what i shall do.it's never the pups that are rarely abanoned is it? we don't know how old barney was it was estimated about 7 years, but i think he was nearer 10 when we first had him, he looked very gray around his muzzle and allmost all of him really. he had a heart murmer-a disscal prolapse-collitis-and lots of age related problems.he had been on anti-inflamatory steroids for a long time, which gave him a better quality of life, but in turn can cause thier own side effects.you have been a comfort to talk to today thankyou for your support . best wishes irene.

hi Irene,i am so sorry about your loss ,itoo know what its like , just keep thinking about all the good and happy times it helped me ,anyway i'm glad you had a little giggle at my wonky pics , i will let you off (this time ha ha ) apart from the giggles , thank you so much for your lovely comments, god bless best regards , lol alan

hi alan, thankyou for your concern, i do hope you were not offended by my silly remarkes, for to upset you would be the very last thing i would do to anyone, least of all you as you sound such a kind man. its just that you reminded me ..... of ..myself and the trouble iv'e had in getting pics straight. its strange but they all look ok on the camera don't they untill you put them on your computer. ( lets blame the computer!!!! ) i promise not to giggle again--- but i cannot promise not to smile. ( just a teeny weeny one ) at least we know how beautifully you frame and mount your lovely pics. kind and best regards... irene.

Hi Irene, just catching up on what I've missed this week and I'm sitting at the computer with tears rolling down my cheeks. What a lovely poem and dedication to Barney. It's four years since we lost one of our dogs, an older rescue dog who had had a really hard time. We only had her two years before she passed away but were glad that at least those years were the happiest in her life. We still miss her, and the previous three dogs we have loved and lost. It's all part of loving and keeping dogs but it never gets any easier. My husband and I were only saying this morning that our collie Fly was showing his age, 13, his back end is very stiff and he suffers after his hill walks these days so soon the day will come when he has to stay at home while the younger dog goes on her adventures. He certainly won't like that! Chin up, I'm thinking of you, regards Val.