will we see them again? - Golden Retrievers : Golden Retriever Dog Forums

ssacres · #1 (**permalink**) 10-23-2012, 07:30 AM

I have read comments that we will and that it is guaranteed. I want to believe that my girls will be waiting for me when I go home. Please tell me why you believe they will be there.

Pixie · #2 (**permalink**) 10-23-2012, 07:45 AM

Pixie is my first puppy so I have never had ot say goodbye to a fured friend.

But when I read your thread, the first thing that came to my mind is how happy and tail wagging Pixie is when I arrive home! And I know with all my heart that everytime I leave home (for whatever reason) she will greet me like that when I come back.

That will be no diferent, since they are in our new home waiting for us to arrive...

ssacres · #3 (**permalink**) 10-23-2012, 07:50 AM

I see them in my dreams sitting beside Jesus. They look so beautiful and happy.

Megora · #4 (**permalink**) 10-23-2012, 07:58 AM

I don't necessarily believe in a rainbow bridge for animals... but I think what I believe may be of more comfort than that.

I think that when you've lost a dog that you love very much, then he will stay close to you, and you will find him again. May not be right away, and you might not recognize him immediately, but you will see bits and pieces of him in dogs you love and cherish afterwards.

Back in December of 2007, we lost our almost 14 year old little golden to cancer of the spleen. That dog had more character and clownish attitude in him than most dogs. There were little things he'd do like KNOWING where all his tennis balls were and coming to find you to get them out of a difficult place for him, and then trotting into our livingroom TRIUMPHANTLY with that ball in his mouth to physically THROW himself down on his back and balance the balls between his front paws while he mouthed them or whatnot.

And Sammy was also one of those leaners, who would come up and lean on you or sit on your feet or use his nose to nudge your arm up so you would pet him....

And he was one of those creatures of comfort dogs whose favorite sleeping spot was curled up on the same pillow as one of his people.

There are various other things he would do like the full out prancings and strutting, the sideways looks, the random winduphisbutt zoomies, the I'm-crazy-and-love-the-world attitude...

Jacks grew up with our docile-sweet-gentleman-unassuming-faithful Danny and there are many times where I see him sleeping or sitting quietly looking out windows or over the distance that I see my Danny in him, but there is a lot of Sammy in him as well, even though Jacks was born 3 weeks after Sammy passed.

After Sammy passed, my oldest sister (he was her heartdog) was heartbroken. We adopted a collie shortly before bringing Jacks home, because I felt that it was very important that she have a dog to bond with and love to help her heal. And he did. Arthur is one of those special collies who "recognized" her when she went to the foster home to see him the first time. The foster lets the dogs choose their owners, because a lot of them are naturally reserved and suspicious of people. Sometimes if a match isn't a match, the foster can see it right away. With Arthur, he immediately went up and jumped up on my sister, touching her face with his long pointy nose. I think my sister's heart started to heal right from that point.

At the same time and in the years since then, I can't tell you how many times she's stopped and looked at me when Jacks has done a "Sammy thing" like sitting on her foot and giving her the sideway look. Or rolled his head back smiling.

Sammy - for what its worth, already had a lot of traits from his brother (our first golden) who helped raise him. When Charmy passed away, within a few months Sammy's strawberry blond coat really started turning red. It probably would have happened anyway (he always had a pinkish color), but it was really weird how quickly he darkened after Charmy passed. We joked that it was the one way that Charmy chose to remind us that he was still with us or something.

Comfort will come if you open up to it. Don't bury your heart.

**Capt Jack** · #5 (**permalink**) 10-23-2012, 08:07 AM

I've always said if God will grant me one gift when I leave this place it would be to be the keeper of the rainbow bridge.We all have our ways of thinking but some of my past pups had too much personality & spirit not to carry on.

**goldensrbest** · #6 (**permalink**) 10-23-2012, 08:08 AM

I sure hope so, but don't know if we will, we don't know what we may see,feel upon our death, except what the bible tells us, we stand before god. I feel our live here on earth is very different, than our live in heaven, not sure how much of our earhly life will matter,upon being in heaven.

**Karen519** · #7 (**permalink**) 10-23-2012, 09:19 AM

I believe we will see our animals, again!!

Megora: I have seen Munchkin and Gizmo's traits in Smooch and Snobear and when we lost Smooch and Snobear, now I see their traits in Tucker and Tonka!

There must be something to this!!

Penny & Maggie's Mom · #8 (**permalink**) 10-23-2012, 09:25 AM

I'll try to see if I can find the paper an Episcopal priest friend of mine wrote on why he believes our pets will be in heaven.

Heart O'Gold · #9 (**permalink**) 10-23-2012, 09:37 AM

I believe that we will see them again for certain because I truly believe that there is a Heaven and that all good and innocent souls go there when they die. I lost my Mom to cancer when I was 5. She suffered for a long time before her death. She was a woman of deep faith and ensured that I went to a Catholic school. Even though I was only in kindergarten, I knew for sure that she was in Heaven and free of pain when she died. As devastating as losing her was to me, I was at least able to take comfort in that certainty, and I know she watches over my siblings and I to this day. As for dog souls, there could not be purer more innocent beings. Their beautiful spirits and golden hearts must live on in the afterlife. Some one once asked me while petting my beautiful Maddie, "How do you know there are dogs in Heaven? Because it wouldn't be Heaven without dogs."
After we lost Maddie, which was definitely one of the worst losses of my life, I read several great books about dogs. The very best of these was "A Big Little Life" by Dean Koontz. It is a nonfiction work about his relationship with his own golden and the most beautiful illustration of the golden/human bond. It should be required reading for all humanity. I wish you peace and comfort as you struggle with your grief.

Penny & Maggie's Mom · #10 (**permalink**) 10-23-2012, 09:48 AM

Hope this shows up. With permission from my friend Fr. Randy Melton:

Quote:

WILL PETS HAVE HEAVENLY HOMES?

Animals, especially our pets, are very special and blessed gifts of God's creation to many of us. When I first arrived here almost 2 years ago, I got well acquainted with Millie, our church dog. Millie was a poodle who belonged to Esther Bell, our volunteer secretary. She was pretty much an extension of Esther, and so Millie became an integrowl, I mean integral, part of the office staff. Being a huge dog lover, that was fine with me.

One day a few months later, I got a call from Esther from her veterinarian's office in Austin. Millie had died and she was too shaken to drive home. My wife and I picked up Esther and brought Millie home in a box. Esther called some of her friends to come over to her back yard, where my son Michael had dug a deep grave. I had never done a doggy funeral before so I quickly came up with some appropriate readings and prayers. It was a beautiful and very meaningful way to say goodbye to a very beloved member of the family and office staff.

Esther now has another poodle, Jenny, who is the newest church dog, sometimes sharing time with Riley, my beloved Maltese, as the welcome committee. Jenny is Esther's fifth consecutive poodle, whose collective lives have been shared with Esther for some 45 years. So it should be no surprise that I was very moved by Dave Mundy's article a couple of weeks ago about his aging Chihuahua named Itty Bit, as well as the other Chihuahuas in his life. He acknowledged that he'll likely be saying goodbye to his precious Itty Bit before long. I hope what follows will help him and others when the time comes that a beloved pets die.

Children often ask me when they lose a pet, “Will my pet go to heaven?” This controversial question, debated by Christians for centuries, is still relevant to folks of all ages. Admittedly, my initial response is simply that I really don't know for sure! Since the Bible doesn't specifically address it, we have to draw inferences based on what it says about other things.

The Lord promises that nothing can compare to what awaits us in heaven. We can't even begin to imagine the wonder and magnificence of it all (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17). God is there, loving us, taking away all of our hurts and sadness, and filling us with joy and peace. There the Lord heals, transforms, perfects and completes his people with his merciful love. Clearly Jesus loves animals and all the rest of creation as much as he loves us humans, so it seems strangely incomplete for them to be left out of God's Kingdom. Dare we believe that his grace will exclude our beloved pets, who bring such joy and love into our lives? Here they teach us love for our own sake, but in heaven we learn love for God's sake.

I'm not aware of anything in the Bible that specifically states that animals will not or cannot enjoy eternal life in heaven, but there are a few texts that imply that they might. I only have room to cite a couple. Psalm 36:6 says “Your justice is like the great deep; you save both man and beasts, O Lord.” Biblical images of life after life-after-death, include many animal images, the most famous being Isaiah 11:6-9 and the peaceful coexistence of wolf/lamb, leopard/goat, calf/lion, cow/bear, children/snakes, where the animals belong in the “new earth” as much as the trees, rivers and mountains do in Revelation 21-22.

It's commonly objected that animals have no souls and so cannot go to heaven. But some theologians believe that animals do indeed possess souls, as perhaps do plants, though not rational souls. Only human beings, created in the Image of God, possess rational souls, with a capacity for abstract thought and the ability to reason from premise to conclusion. These powers are present in animals, if at all, only to a very limited degree. Animals act by instinct whereas people are capable of making free and conscious decisions, both virtuous and sinful.

Others object that Christ came to save us, not animals. Truthfully, Jesus came to save the whole world (see John 3:16), and that happens through the salvation of humankind, the crown of God's creation (Psalm 8:5), which has fallen from its intended state of grace. This objection presupposes that animals need salvation. If it's true that they don't have rational souls and cannot make moral choices, but rather act on instinct, then they are incapable of sin. They do, however, require redemption in that they live under the God-given dominion of humanity, which is sinful and fallen.

We humans are designed to be caretakers and mediators of Creation. As such, our own salvation involves also the reconciliation and transfiguration of the whole animate and inanimate created order around us...i.e. its deliverance “from the bondage of corruption” and entry “into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (see Romans 8:21). In the “new earth” of the Age to Come, there is surely a place not only for humans, but also animals. In and through our redeemed humanity, I believe they too will share in God's re-creation, and so perhaps will rocks, trees, plants, fire and water (see Romans 8:18-25)! It's at least possible methinks...even likely!

(By Fr. Randy Melton, Priest of the Episcopal Church of the Messiah, Gonzales, Texas)

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