Eresh wrote:

I love how we all have expressed our different beliefs (or non beliefs) about afterlife and still get along just fine. Is that a husky owner thing, or is this forum just cool like that.    


Anyway, whether there's a heaven or not, any place without dogs would be hell to me personally.

LOL. It's a dog people thing. I've posted this question on my GSD forums and we still all get along despite the diverging responses...Dogs bring people together. Religion separates us...

^ well said.

That's because, unlike religion, having one type of dog doesn't alienate you from or hold you in contradiction to other types of dogs. It's not exclusionary

Liz I know what you mean. I can't watch the movie "Micheal" with John Travoltra because the little dog gets run over by the truck. My wife says, "but he brings him back to life," doesn't help. He was still running to the road and I still get that helpless feeling that I know what is going to happen and can't do anything to stop it.

As a fundamentalist Christian (Apostolic/Pentecostal), my understanding of the Bible is that mankind was created in the image of God while other living entities were not. I believe that we are eternal beings because we were created in the image of God. I do not believe that animals have eternal souls.

I love my animals but I believe that once they are gone...they are simply gone.

I believe that all animals have souls and that they all go to a place where there is no hunting, no pain, no hunger, basically a part of heaven where all animals roam freely and where only human souls who have treated animals properly have access to.

The concept is beautiful. It brings peace and smiles to my heart to think that I have a good chance of someday having the chance to meet and mingle with the best friends I ever had.

Oblio
Levi
Mylo

It's interesting that this thread has resurfaced. It's something I've been struggling with recently after the loss of our Myles kitty.

I have never been religious. Scientifically, my mind cannot rationalize that there is any sort of "afterlife". To me, once you have passed, you're gone. I've been struggling with this belief lately because it means that there is no comfort factor. Everyone says "he's in a better place now" but I have a hard time with that. To me, the best place for him was with us, getting as much love as possible. However, this has made it much harder for me to come to terms with loss. In the end though, I just don't think I will ever rationally be able to 'believe' in anything.

Hughie wrote:

Liz I know what you mean.  I can't watch the movie "Micheal" with John Travoltra because the little dog gets run over by the truck.  My wife says, "but he brings him back to life," doesn't help.  He was still running to the road and I still get that helpless feeling that I know what is going to happen and can't do anything to stop it.

Hughie - we understand from the bottom of our soul.  Kids have been at us to see House of Cards.  Last month, showed up from our Netflix queue.  We didn't get past the first scene...Husband was enormously upset "click" you're outta here.  And it is never to be put on the queue again.

The only other movie to have such an abrupt ends was Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct.  The knife went up, the remote came out..."click - you're outta here"

Sara - I don't know if there is an afterlife but for me, after the initial pain, the loss eases, the good memories come more and more to the forefront and afterlife or not, they live on in our memories, our life. Takes a while to get there, though, you have my sympathies.

Resurrection of a long dead thread ... there has to be another life?  

Like many here, I was raised Catholic but in my teen years just couldn't accept many of the absolutes.  Then came Vatican II and a lot of those absolutes weren't so absolute anymore and I had to question how they could believe something one day and say it didn't matter the next.  (( am I off topic yet?? ))

I've wandered all over the religious landscape, Jewish, Buddhist, Shinto, various Christian denominations and find myself a diest.  I believe in a being who is more than we are but who or what that being is - beats me; like many I call him the creator, but accept that creation may have been the long process of evolution.  

I've looked at the question of an afterlife and decided that I simply don't know and don't feel there's any solid evidence either way.  There is some life force - call it the soul if it pleases thee - but what happens to it when we die, again, is beyond my ken.  Maybe I'll find out someday, then again maybe I won't.  Whether it's the intelligence of the human, porpoise, great ape or that of a cat or a dog - I feel that that life force continues in some fashion.  

I would like to meet my family and friends - two and four legged - again someday, but they do still live on for me in my memories of them.  Some pleasant, some not so - those memories of my four legged friends are all pleasant; possibly at the end they weren't quite so but as Amy says, in time the good memories come to the fore.

Edit: @Sheba&Kennedy, I just watched the movie Fluke that has to be one of the sweetest tear jerkers I've seen in a long time. Think I"m done with the movies for tonight ... that one's going to take some time to settle.

I was raised christian/pentecostal. I like the idea of Rainbow Bridge..it made my girlfriend feel a little better when her lab horribly passed away at 13 yrs old (he was attacked). I never knew of this idea until that happened a few months ago. Now to continue on the religion thing…being the son of a minister, I never questioned anything or thought outside the box…it wasn't until 9th grade. I started to really think about things that I've been brought up in. Today, while I may not feel the same way about christianity, I do believe that there is some sort of master behind all of this and life cannot just be over after our hearts stop. Now I see that religion keeps you stuck in a box. Church is a club and a business. I disagree with the Tithe, it was an old law that doesn't apply to the church but today this is enforced to secure money. No one ever questions it's purpose.
Being a hired church musician, I know having these thoughts is troubling but, I still enjoy doing it very much and in the end..it's work in a positive environment.

When I start thinking about death/life it freaks me out a little bit because just imagine when our heart stops we die, what will it be, will we just see a black void of nothing, do we forget who we are, all this time we lived wasted, was nothing???
What if we die and then get transported to another galaxy?
What if our life is just a dream and we are all asleep?

Ahh it feels good to type these thoughts here. I've only ever talked with my girlfriend about this topic.
Oh and in the end, I would love to one day reunite with my boy Mylo in the next life. Just thinking about losing him makes my eyes watery. He is so much more than just a dog. I always like to blabber and say that hes gonna live 30 yrs but I know thats not possible. Sigh.

I'm glad these opinons and thoughts can be expressed here without being slammed and everyone respects each other.. This is what it's all about. Sharing opinions gives you perspective.

Coming from the Messianic Jewish perspective I'd say yes there are animals in Heaven and in the New Jerusalem. The bible says it's so in several places. Whether these are new animals or our old friends is never clarified though Psalms 104 gives me the hope that I'll get to see Anushka and Hannah again. The same word to describe animals spirits in that passage is the same as that used to describe the spirit of humans back in Genesis. That gives me peace. I can't imagine Heaven without Anushka and Hannah being there to while away eternity with.

I don't know what happens when we die.  If I was to take a guess; the afterlife would be much the same as the time before we were conceived.

I do know that my sweet girl that recently passed will live a long time in the hearts, minds, and memories of her pack.  I hope to see grandchildren one day; where I will pass stories of the incredible  Siberian Husky girl named Dani, that showed us that life is beautiful in ways we didn't know as well as in ways we had forgotten.



Dani

Very well said.
Dani was/is a beautiful dog.

I've been the human companion to three huskies.
It sounds strange, but I've always felt that the ones that passed on imparted some knowledge or "sense" to the one with me in the present.

jalepeno wrote:

Very well said.
Dani was/is a beautiful dog.

I've been the human companion to three huskies.
It sounds strange, but I've always felt that the ones that passed on imparted some knowledge or "sense" to the one with me in the present.

It doesn't sound strange to me, Michael. I've thought that for a very long time. For me, it's not so much the "knowledge" as it is the "sense". I read a sentiment once that I can't remember word for word but it went something like this...that the dog that left us, chooses the dog that comes next to us in our life. I wish I could remember exactly how it was worded, it is a truly beautiful sentiment, but I always wondered if somehow, there is some kind of truth to it, I swear, each and every husky I've had, possesses some kind of quality that was in my previous husky. Of course some can be chalked up to the breed itself, but some things I notice are ...unexplainable. Kohdi and Mishka for example, are my first two huskies that have had zero contact with my previous huskies, yet I "see" Malukhai and Anuschka in them at times. Could be "wishful thinking" (for lack of a better term) but, I don't know, I think there is some truth to it, somehow.

Michael and Jimmy, it doesn't sound strange at all.   I think Huskies have an innate ability to decipher what you need from them and your relationship with them.  In a sense, these dogs pass this ability down the line.  It can be genetic or some higher order connection.

My wife used to describe my relationship with Dani as simpatico.  Dani and I communicated on a plane that I never thought possible.  On the day she fell ill, when she was last her true self, she saw my pain, she came to me, licked me several times and nuzzled her head against mine.  In that moment, I knew this was her way to say thank you and goodbye because her time had come.

I miss her so much.  I couldn't of wished for a better companion. I have a fear that, in time if we decide to adopt another Husky, I would unfairly judge that dog against the bar she set.  Thank you for your comments because they made me think and quell that fear to a certain extent.

Jerry - I got my first husky (actually, she was my second, the first was a young pup from what I now know to be a bad breeder and died from distemper and a multitude of parasites)...my girl, Sasha - I was 22. She was my best friend, my confidant, my companion. After she died, my mom tried to replace her with one of her Tibetan Terrier pups. I never could bond with that dog and after a month or two, my mom took her back and found her another home (not hard, these were champion line puppies in a breed that was rare in those days.) It was more than a year after she died before I stopped "seeing" Sasha down the street, coming around the corner, hearing her in the next room. Didn't get another dog until Ami, 4 years ago. Partly life, partly husband's preference, partly...I wasn't ready. I did, however, maintain a steady stream of feral cats that wandered onto the property over the years..."they'll keep the rabbits out my garden..."

Jerry, I had that worry too. Malukhai was to me, what Dani is to you. I didn't even have to say anything, I knew what he was thinking, he knew what I was thinking. He was a dog like no other. In my entire life, I had never been without a husky. Malukhai and Anuschka died two weeks apart, for the first time ever, I was without a dog. It was hell. The quiet was unbearable. I had put down a deposit on a husky puppy, I think, too soon, and that fell through (in many ways I feel that happened for a reason). As my birthday approached, I thought to myself this would be my first birthday ever without a husky by my side. The day before my birthday, at 5:00 in the morning, I found myself looking at breeders and puppy pictures...and then I saw a pic of the cutest little girl husky puppy ever, and at 6:30 in the morning I was calling this breeder to see if she was available (she sounded sleepy when she answered the phone,haha) unfortunately the little girl was taken. However, she had a boy available, for whatever reason the person who had a hold on him wasn't able to take a puppy at that time. She sent me pics, and then a video. I don't know exactly what it was, but I knew he was the one, instantly, and without even meeting him in person. I told the breeder I'd take him, and sent my deposit by PayPal. I would now be spending my birthday driving 9 hours to meet, and hopefully take home my puppy. And that's what happened, I went there, and the breeder led me to where he was, he saw me, did a woo woo and came bouncing over to me. My friend was with me and told me later he was glad I took him cuz he saw little things that made him know this puppy was "the one" . I had this puppy in my arms and we got in the car, as I sat down I realized that this new being was about to be in the house that Malukhai and Anuschka called home. Tears just started pouring out of my eyes and my eyes settled on the console where I had two pictures, one of Malukhai and one of Anuschka (before I left home, I took the two pics with me cuz I wanted them "with" me for this) and Kohdi, my new puppy, laid down on my lap, and put his head on my chest. We rode like that for awhile, til I fell asleep, and my friend told me Kohdi did the same, waking up every once in awhile to bite on my hat, lol. Anyways, when we got home, and I let him explore, I too worried I would compare him too much to Malukhai. It never happened. In fact, Kohdi actually reminds me more of Anuschka if I had to compare them, and even then I don't. Should you one day get another dog, another husky, I think you will find that he or she share the same breed of dog, but that's it. He or she will be their own little being who once in awhile will give you little flashbacks to Dani...and I think you'll find comfort in that.

amymeme wrote:

Jerry - I got my first husky (actually, she was my second, the first was a young pup from what I now know to be a bad breeder and died from distemper and a multitude of parasites)...my girl, Sasha - I was 22.  She was my best friend, my confidant, my companion.  After she died, my mom tried to replace her with one of her Tibetan Terrier pups.  I never could bond with that dog and after a month or two, my mom took her back and found her another home (not hard, these were champion line puppies in a breed that was rare in those days.)  It was more than a year after she died before I stopped "seeing" Sasha down the street, coming around the corner, hearing her in the next room.  Didn't get another dog until Ami, 4 years ago.  Partly life, partly husband's preference, partly...I wasn't ready.  I did, however, maintain a steady stream of feral cats that wandered onto the property over the years..."they'll keep the rabbits out my garden..."

Amy - I see Dani everywhere, and like you with Sasha, I think it will be a long time before I stop expecting her to be somewhere she no longer isn't. Today was a particularly tough day. It was a rainy day and my wife and I spent a lot of time in the house. With a son off in college and Dani not with us anymore, it no longer felt like a home. It was very emotional.

Artic_Wind wrote:

Jerry, I had that worry too. Malukhai was to me, what Dani is to you. I didn't even have to say anything, I knew what he was thinking, he knew what I was thinking. He was a dog like no other. In my entire life, I had never been without a husky. Malukhai and Anuschka died two weeks apart, for the first time ever, I was without a dog. It was hell. The quiet was unbearable. I had put down a deposit on a husky puppy, I think, too soon, and that fell through (in many ways I feel that happened for a reason). As my birthday approached, I thought to myself this would be my first birthday ever without a husky by my side. The day before my birthday, at 5:00 in the morning, I found myself looking at breeders and puppy pictures...and then I saw a pic of the cutest little girl husky puppy ever, and at 6:30 in the morning I was calling this breeder to see if she was available (she sounded sleepy when she answered the phone,haha) unfortunately the little girl was taken. However, she had a boy available, for whatever reason the person who had a hold on him wasn't able to take a puppy at that time. She sent me pics, and then a video. I don't know exactly what it was, but I knew he was the one, instantly, and without even meeting him in person. I told the breeder I'd take him, and sent my deposit by PayPal. I would now be spending my birthday driving 9 hours to meet, and hopefully take home my puppy. And that's what happened, I went there, and the breeder led me to where he was, he saw me, did a woo woo and came bouncing over to me. My friend was with me and told me later he was glad I took him cuz he saw little things that made him know this puppy was "the one" . I had this puppy in my arms and we got in the car, as I sat down I realized that this new being was about to be in the house that Malukhai and Anuschka called home. Tears just started pouring out of my eyes and my eyes settled on the console where I had two pictures, one of Malukhai and one of Anuschka (before I left home, I took the two pics with me cuz I wanted them "with" me for this) and Kohdi, my new puppy, laid down on my lap, and put his head on my chest. We rode like that for awhile, til I fell asleep, and my friend told me Kohdi did the same, waking up every once in awhile to bite on my hat, lol. Anyways, when we got home, and I let him explore, I too worried I would compare him too much to Malukhai. It never happened. In fact, Kohdi actually reminds me more of Anuschka if I had to compare them, and even then I don't. Should you one day get another dog, another husky, I think you will find that he or she share the same breed of dog, but that's it. He or she will be their own little being who once in awhile will give you little flashbacks to Dani...and I think you'll find comfort in that.

Jimmy - Thank you for sharing this story. I'm so sorry you lost two Huskies in such a short period of time. I know the pain must have been unbearable. I am also happy that you found peace and the love of Kohdi and Mishka. I hope in time that I have a similar tale to tell.

Jerry, it was very weird at first after my lady child left for college. Which was before we got Ami, our big red fluffy. We dropped him off at school, went out to dinner on the way home...when I out the key in the front door, had a momentary urge to cry that soon passed. The next day, we went hiking " one of the local rails to trails trail. Before we started we stopped for ice cream 'cause it was on the way. What we didn't know was there was another ice cream shop at the end of the trail. We looked at each other, started laughing and said we don't have too set an example for children anymore, we can have ice cream twice in one day if we want. I had been parenting for over 30 years at that point Ann's the freedom was intoxicating. But somehow, started a free years, there was Ami, dog one...then son got a dog though b he was a field engineer and away from home most of the time so grand puppy became dog 2...now we have a foster, dog 3. And son had too toddler daughter. The house filled up.fast.

Our vet sent us a condolence card with the Rainbow Bridge legend on it after our Shiba Inu, Kiki, passed away. The card certainly helped my 9-year-old daughter cope with the loss of her doggy. Me, I'm still having a little bit of difficulty. I've had several dogs and loved all of them, but I was closer to Kiki than to any other dog. We rescued her when she was seven years old, so I knew we weren't going to be able to have her long, compared to starting out with a puppy. I told Kiki every day that she was the greatest dog in the world, and I believed it. She really was the greatest dog in the world to me.

I've never been able to go for long periods of time without a dog in the house, though. Dogs in my life have always been family members but have also had an additional purpose. Most of the dogs I've had were completely lousy watchdogs, but I've always believed that the mere presence of any kind of dog is a good deterrent against potential home break-ins. Big or small, having a dog around just makes me feel safer. We found Misty only slightly over a month after losing Kiki, and even though we missed Kiki, we were more than willing to bring Misty home. Misty NEEDED a home, and we had a home, and we were willing to put in the work and time required for an untrained stray/shelter Husky, so that was that. And with Misty being a Husky rather than a Shiba Inu, it's easier to keep myself from comparing her unfairly to Kiki.

I've had several dogs, all different breeds but all Spitz/Nordic breeds, and they've all had a great deal in common in spite of differences in size, coat, personality, etc. I do believe that previous dogs do pass on knowledge, experience, expectations, etc., on future dogs, in a way. At the very least, our past dogs certainly gave us useful training on how to handle a big, hairy, boisterous Husky.

The worst thing about it is looking back at my past dogs and acknowledging, "If I'd only known then what I know now" -- and yet those were the dogs that taught me what I know now. It's still a huge help to the dog I have now AND to the dogs I'll have in the future.

@Jerry. Thank you for that. I don't think I'll ever have "peace", I lost them much earlier than I should have, and Malukhai passed away, unexpectedly, fine one minute, gone the next minute, right in front of my eyes at home. I don't think I'll ever get over that. BUT, I have stopped letting it consume me. I  have Kohdi and Mishka now and they have helped and are helping me immensely. They are two characters for sure

@Misty Mia Husky, I love your very last paragraph. It's so very true. My two now have the benefit of all I have learned from my past Huskies and especially my last two. The biggest thing I learned from Malukhai is to let them be themselves, I so enjoyed just watching him be himself, he was such a character, and also to  make as much time for them, and with them, as possible because you never know what tomorrow might bring. I have two of the happiest, most well adjusted Huskies, because of my past Huskies.

@Jimmy -  Sorry, I used the wrong word.  Understandably peace might never come, but I think you have found some comfort in opening your heart to Kohdi and Mishka.

Here is a little more to my girl's story.

Dani got gravely ill and we lost her unexpectedly like Malukhai.  I will never get over this.  Until the day she got ill, she was flying up and down 3 flights of stairs and had the energy of a young Husky on her walks and adventures.  No one believed she was an old gal.  Her age was estimated to be at around 9.5 years when she passed due to hemangiosarcoma - a silent killer. Possibly the worst cancer a dog can have.  It doesn't show up on diagnostic scans until it is too late.

She was originally rescued from down south (SC) in June 2009 by Husky House.  She was heartworm positive, nearly full grown at the estimated age of 1, had very little fur, and was emaciated -weighing only 25 pounds.  She had spent her early life chained to a tree, abused, and used to breed.  She had a litter of six (all white) pups at the time of her rescue.  She and her pups were all rescued.  In fact it may have been the litter that saved her life as the adoption fees from the pups could be used to pay for their transport and medical costs.

Here is a pic of one of her pups.  The large Husky isn't Dani; it is another white Siberian.



Her pups were all adopted out and Dani was adopted by a nice family.  Her first NJ family had small kids and they added another Husky to the pack within 2 years of adopting Dani.  Unfortunately, after five years they had difficulties (divorce) and they surrendered both dogs to Husky House. This is where I come into the picture.  I was volunteering at the time Dani and her "sister" Evi came in.  Evi was adopted out fairly quick (she was younger and a more typical size for a female husky).  Dani was much larger (about 75 pounds).  Dani had a very tough time adjusting to life at the rescue; especially after  Evi left.  Dani would break the latches on her kennel to get out; she was very stressed.  (See that brownish marking on her pretty face below?  That's from her putting her muzzle through the kennel door to try to break it open)




This is how I got to really know her and bond with her.  I would relocate Dani to a new kennel and repair the old one.  In the process I would take her out to the yard, play with her, take her on walks around the neighborhood,  and spend many hours with her.  She cried every night I would leave and became a crazed husky gal every day I came in and she saw me.  I was sad each night I left her to go home but I had comfort in knowing I would see her the following day.

It was love - pure and simple - on both sides.  

I wanted to take her home but the matter was complicated.  My wife was not a "dog person" and my son was tested to be highly allergic to dogs.

To be continued...

Jerry, no need to apologize, I didn't take offense to it or anything, if it sounded that way then I am sorry. I only meant that I don't think I'll ever have a true peace. Both Malukhai and Anuschka's deaths haunt me. I've accepted they are both gone and moved on, part of that moving on includes getting Kohdi and Mishka who I love more than anything in the world, but....it's been 4 years now and it still feels like yesterday that they passed. I still get tears in my eyes on a daily basis but I do have peace in the fact that both dogs had a really good life with me, they knew they were loved, right up til the end. I am very thankful that neither fell gravely ill before their death (I am SO sorry that Dani did) I don't think I could have handled that on top of it all. Not with two. Both mine had idiopathic epilepsy, not even very severe cases, so they were literally normal, healthy, vibrant young huskies living the life right up til the minute that last seizure hit them. Malukhai actually waited til I got home that day, to leave me. And Anuschka died in her sleep. Anuschka, somehow, seemed to know she was leaving me, and the weird thing is her "world" seemed to know too, it was pretty amazing how on her last walk with me, she saw every single one of her friends that day, one in particular was the strangest...as we were leaving, she stopped and looked back at them, then put her head down and walked slowly away, we all looked at each other like "what was that all about" because it genuinely looked like she was saying her last goodbye (incidentally, this is the same friend who drove the 9 hours with me not only to pick up Kohdi, but a year later to pick up Mishka) There were so much more little things about that day I could type but, yeah, tears are flowing so I'll stop, just wanted you to know that I didn't take offense or anything to what you said.

Your story of Dani. Wow. Pretty amazing. Of course it's sad as well, I got choked up reading it, but like I mentioned about my two, you can have the peace of knowing she had spent her last years with you and your family, feeling genuinely loved and well taken care of, so while the start of her life was a struggle to say the least, her final chapter in life was spent in the best possible of ways.  She was loved. I really do find peace in that respect with my two, I hope you can do the same. She wouldn't want you all , sad.

Jimmy and Jerry...it's been almost 40 years since Sasha died. Still tear up now and then to this day. As for Sonja...I just get really angry. The vet told me today breeder was a known problem. I was 22, knew nothing about bad breeders.

But...I'm now at the age when contemporaries are starting to die. Guess all we can do is appreciate what we have while we have it...