We once had a certain dog. He was officially dubbed with the name, Teddy Baron. Later, he earned the nickname, Bear Dog. Eventually, he became the Goodbye Dog.
He was such a cute, mostly black dog with long fur. His tail was constantly wagging, especially when our kids would be playing with him out in the yard.
My husband’s favorite activity after I’d finished mowing the lawn was to currycomb Bear Dog. Since our dog’s hair was so long, the pile of loose hairs resembled another whole dog in the midst of our freshly manicured lawn!
Not only could our dog be a play companion and a pampered pet, but he could also be a beast. One time, I witnessed him tackling and killing a raccoon. Needless to say, that was a harrowing sight to behold.
The Goodbye Moniker
I bet you wonder how in the world a dog could earn the moniker, the Goodbye Dog. This is how it happened. One fine Mother’s Day, my husband and I had my parents over for Sunday dinner. When they left, we were sitting on our front steps with Bear Dog. The two of us were waving goodbye. Since sometimes our pets think they’re human, too, he raised a front paw and joined us in waving goodbye!
After that point, he would wave on command if we did the motion or if we told him, “Wavy Gravy”!
Bear Dog lived a good happy life. However, toward the end of his life, he went missing. We eventually discovered his body. However, that wasn’t the end of his story.
Our daughter lived halfway across the country at that time. She felt bad that she couldn’t be with him for one last farewell.
One night, shortly after our dog’s passing, our daughter was gifted a beautiful dream with Bear Dog. She was so thrilled he came to her. Each of them got to love on one another, one final time. Before her dream ended, a large, fluffy white dog came to escort our dog to the afterlife.
The White Dog
For a time, all of us puzzled who the white dog was. We found out a short time later. One of my aunts had passed, so we were gifted some old family photos. There was a snapshot that took my breath away. It was an image of my grandparents, my aunt and my dad. Dad was petting a large, long-haired white dog! This picture was taken when my dad was roughly upper high school age. When I spoke to Dad about his canine, he told me his name was Hoppy, short for Hop-Along-Cassidy!
Fascinatingly, we live on the same property now. I could only imagine Hoppy in spirit form, frolicking in the yard when our Bear Dog was playing during his earthly life.
How could it be that two dogs roughly six decades distant could have their stories intersect? What are the chances that a dog named Hoppy could jump into the life of a dog who could wave goodbye when he was bidding farewell?
Isn’t this greet and escort into the afterlife fascinating? I’m certain our Goodbye Dog, Teddy Baron, AKA Bear Dog, was grateful and comforted. Our family, our friends and now you may feel reassurance from this story. May you find solace that someone will be there for you, for our loved ones, whether two or four legged, when the time comes.
Here is a beautiful story of another sign from the other side: My Mother’s Day Guest. It is important as well as healing to tell your stories during the grieving process. Here is a resource: https://sightlife.org/the-healing-power-of-storytelling/.
