A Tribute to Our Beloved Ranger on his First Birthday in Heaven February 2, 2004 Ranger was the most beautiful tri color Sheltie we have ever seen. His hair was like silk and his eyes were gorgeous, so big and beautiful. Rangers Vet Dr. Jenny always said he had honest eyes and he truly did. He was always happy and his tail was always up and wagging. He was on the large side for a Sheltie, weighing in at about 40lbs. He was lean and taller than most shelties. Ranger was very healthy all of his life, up until about one month before he left for Rainbow Bridge. Daddy has a very special and unique love for Rangerwhatever Daddy hadRangie hadhe always shared whatever food he had with Ranger (and our other boys too). We could always count on Daddy to clean you when you were sick or dirty. He would always give you a lick of his ice cream cone. (Im sorry Rangie..I just could not bring myself to do that). Daddy would always give Rangie some of his snack or meal right off of his fork. Anytime he went in the car Daddy always took his boys with him (weather permitting). When Daddy would get up in the middle of the night we would all get up for a special family run. Daddy would give his boys a small piece of cheese. DADDY ALWAYS SHARED WHATEVER HE HAD WITH YOU.HE LOVED YOU SO MUCH. I love all of my family but there was a special love between Rangie and I. I know my husband loves me and my family loves mebut I truly believe that Rangie loved me more deeply than any other spirit on this earth. His love for me was so unconditionalon days that I doubted my own self worth I could always count on Rangie to make me feel better about myself. He would run to me with such love and joy in his eyes as if to sayMommy you are the best in the whole world. I loved him so much in return. He would sit on the couch with me and sit on my feet to make sure if I moved he would know it so he could follow me. I think he was afraid to be alone without me, he was my shadow and I think were each others favorite in the whole world. He didnt care if I had a dime in my pocket of not, if I was having a bad hair day or if I was fat or thinner. HE LOVED ME FOR WHO I AM AND I LOVED HIM FOR WHO HE WAS! NO STRINGS ATTACHED.. The day Rangie was born Daddy held him in the palm of his hand. We waited anxiously for the 8 weeks to pass so we could bring him home to meet his older brother Bear who was three years old at the time. We have a picture of Rangie the first night we brought him home, standing underneath Bear. We took Rangie on his first weekend trip the very first weekend we had him. We went to Uncle Alans house in the country where there was a lot of property and the boys could run till their hearts content. Ranger loved the many weekends we would spend at Uncle Alans during his life. Bear was hesitant to accept Rangie at first but within weeks Rangie won him over with his loving way and also by dive bombing his body into Bear when he wanted to play. Bear finally accepted him and their love for each other grew so over the years that they became inseparable. Rangie was Bears pet! Bears demeanor is somewhat reserved and aloof but he really loved Rangie as much (if not more) than we did. When Rangie was about 4 months old he broke his rear left leg while trying to jump up on a chair where Bear was sitting. Daddy and I would put a different color kids sock on his cast every day. It only took him several days to get used to the cast and he was back to his old selfrunning after Bear and diving bombing him with his body. It was like he didnt have a cast onthat was the way Ranger would be the rest of his life...always running and jumping a free spiritalways with his beautiful bright eyes, tail up and going back and forth and his mouth open as if to be smiling and telling us he was a really healthy and happy boy! Ranger was very smart, however, he was not very good at doing some tricks. He knew the basics....sit and speak but would get confused when told to lay down or do an attack mumble. Rangers older brother Bear was very adept at the attack mumble trick Daddy taught him. An attack mumble (when done correctly) is a very low bark combined with a low growl. Ranger could never seem to get the hang of this..he would simply stick out his tongue. After a few years of trying we just accepted this as Rangies version of the attack mumble. He was very proud after completing this trick and of course was always rewarded with a small piece of cheese. Our extended family treated our boys as if they were our human children. Rangies cousins, Meaghan and Bobby came to visit him often. Rangie loved them very much and he loved when they would take him for walks and play with him in the yard. Traci and Willie are older now but when they were younger, they too loved to play with him. Rangie loved all of his cousins. Pop-Pop took good care of him when Mommy and Daddy went away to someplace we could not take him. He also loved the trips to the country to visit Uncle Alan. Our wonderful neighbors, Bill and Carol would always have a special treat when they came out of the house. Ranger would run across the lawn and greet them whenever they came out. He was very happy to see them but he was also hopeful for a T Bone dog treat. I think his favorite time of year was the wintertime. He loved the snow and would jump into snow mounds and come leaping out with a burst and be covered with snow. He also loved to eat the snow. I would always tell him to stop eating the snow and he would look at me as if to say Mommy, Im not eating the snow with the tip of his nose covered in white. Rangie loved to go on trips with us. Daddy and I tried to take our boys with us every where we went. He loved the trips to the country house in Caroga Lake..(thanks so much for those wonderful memories Pop-Pop)...Ranger especially liked the long weekend we would spend at the Best Western in Lake George every February for Presidents weekend. Since this weekend coincided with Rangies Birthday (well sort of), we would call this our Ranger Birthday celebration weekend and he would get special treats. Amongst many other treats, Daddy would order a larger than usual steak at the Log Jam and would bring back the leftovers for Rangie, Bear and our latest addition Murphy. (Rangie got the most because it was his birthday). Rangie was somewhat hesitant when we introduced a new brother. We all drove to Binghamton and picked up brother Murphy last February 1st. Murphy immediately took to Ranger. It took Ranger a few weeks to accept Murphy but soon Rangie would take on the role of big brother. He was a protector and nurturer to Murphy, never forgetting to spread his love to Bear, Mommy and Daddy too! Murphy would always lie next to Rangie, always having to have some body contact with him...they would play together so well. When they would both run after the ball, if Rangie got to it first he would grab it with his mouth but could not hold onto it since he would bark and bark with glee so happy with his accomplishmentMurphy would invariably take it and run..Rangie would stand there and look at us as if to say What happened.duh and he would continue to bark for joy! Murphy and Rangie had a very special bondthey would become great friends. Sleeping arrangements in our house were tight. We have two extra bedrooms but we would all sleep together at night. Bear and Murphy prefer sleeping on the bed with Daddy and me, but Rangie loved to sleep under the bed for some reason. I think because the space was tight it gave him a feeling of security somehow. He would have to crouch very low to get under the bed and invariably we would hear a thud every night as he hit his head trying to move around under there. I loved knowing he was there so safe and sound. I have not been able to vacuum under the bed since some of his hair remains on the rug. I feel as if a piece of him is still there. Rangie was sick for about a month before he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. We thought it was geriatric vestibular disease and that he would get better. This disease made him very dizzy and he was always falling over and falling down the stairs. I slept with him on the floor and held him so he would not get up and fall. Daddy carried him up and down the stairs. After a few weeks he was having difficulty drinking and eating. Daddy and I soaked his dog food in broth to soften it up and squirted water in his mouth with the sports cap water bottles. When his health seemed to deteriorate even more, we prayed he would get past this soon and back to his old healthy self. We finally faced the fact that he was worse and took him to a Veterinary Neurologist and he had an MRI.We hoped for good news but it was not to be......On the way home from the Animal Hospital after we got the bad news, Rangie rode on my lap all the way homeI whispered in his ear that anytime he got too tired to fight this he could stop fighting and we would help him find peace and help him get to Rainbow Bridge where he could be healthy again. He had a very hard time trying to sleep that night.he would lie down for a while....get back upfall over....lay down again.almost in search of a place where he could feel better. Finally about 3AM he fell asleep in my arms in bed with me and we both slept until about 6AM. When we got out of bed he could hardly stand up. I tried to give him his food and water but he was no longer able to swallow his food or use his tongue to drink. He looked at me almost pleading to help him. We called the Vet and made arrangements to go there in a few hours. Rangie laid on our couch for the last time. He was so tired and sleepy. We rested his head on a pillow and covered him with a blanket while we all held him and said our last goodbyes in the house. Aunt Peg and cousins Meagan and Bobby came over to say good bye alsohe felt their love as they each gave them one last hug and kiss. As we left the house Rangie stood for a moment at the head of our driveway and looked around as if to take one last glance at this familiar territory he called home for his entire life. Rangie sat on my lap on the car ride to the Vets..Daddy and I smothered him with kisses and hugs all the way there. I especially remember feeling the soft velvet of his ears on my lips realizing that in a very short while I would be losing my loving boy. We arrived at the Vets and Dr. Wallace and his staff were very good to all of us. Rangie went to Rainbow Bridge very peacefully held tightly in Daddys armsBear and Murphy were there when Rangie left for Rainbow Bridge, we wanted them to understand that Rangie was not coming back so it would save them the pain of looking for him for the rest of their lives. Ranger was a special gift from God on loan to us for just short of nine years. Words cannot fully express the depth of love he had for us and we for him. We will always be grateful to God for the time we had with him and we know he is back in the loving arms of God. Daddy held you in the palm of his hand the day you were born and held you tightly in his arms the day we helped you out of your pain and you reached Rainbow Bridge. We will always love you as much as we do today and we will never forget you and your beautiful smile. We have your ashes home now on Mommys dresser along with your collar, medals and some beautiful pictures of our beautiful boy Ranger. You will always be Mommy and Daddys special boy Rangie. We know you are happy at Rainbow Bridgewait for us there...we will all meet you there and have a great big family hugjust like old times.