Ripley

In memory of our 2009 alumnus Ripley who passed away on August 17, 2021…
Ripley was fostered by our longtime volunteers Michael and Amy.  He had epilepsy but sometimes the most challenging dogs steal your heart the fastest and sure enough, Tiffany and Blake fell in love and adopted him on May 2, 2009.
 
From Tiffany, “Ripley was found and turned into a shelter in TN twice in 2009. The woman who eventually saved him volunteered with the shelter and knew him because his owners lived next-door to her mother. She realized that he wasn't going to be taken care of and contacted rescue. I'm still in contact with her, and I call her Ripley's fairy godmother. He had uncontrolled epilepsy, and the rescue knew he would be a hard adoption. He was listed on the website and Blake saw him. He sent me an email and said, "let's go get Ripley - we know how to deal with this." We had Mabel who was an epileptic dog as well. So on May 2, 2009, my mom, Mabel, and I drove to Murfreesboro, TN and adopted him. His epilepsy was hard to get under control but eventually we did, using three different meds. He was so drugged for the first few months while adjusting his meds that he peed and pooped in my kitchen every day.
Sometimes he would just sit and stare, and I told Blake that I thought he might not be that smart.  Blake said, on the contrary, he is a genius, and Blake gave him the “Professor’s Voice” to show it.  I would walk in, and Ripley would just be staring, and I would ask “What are you doing Ripley?”  And Ripley (i.e., Blake doing the Ripley Professor Voice) would say, “Nothing much Mother.  Just contemplating the nature of the physical universe and the implications of quantum mechanics on Newtonian physics.  You know, just running through some mathematical equations in my head.”  “Oh, that sounds interesting, please tell me more” I would say.  And Ripley would say, “Mother, I’m afraid this is well beyond your understanding. But I love you.”
 
After we got his meds calibrated, he stopped using the kitchen as his personal bathroom, but he continued to be a genius and a handful as well. We had to move the trash can and the dog food outside because he never stopped breaking into either at any chance. He was a master counter surfer, and he perfected the standing-up-sideways-neck turn to reach into the bottom of the sink and grab anything remotely edible. That was nothing, though, compared to the love he gave. I've always said he was my soul mate. How we got lucky enough to have this dog in our lives, I'll never know. He turned out to be the sweetest, most mellow boy you could meet. He loved all people, all dogs, and all cats. He went on every vacation with me because he was so easy and he loved traveling. He was the best snuggler and the best lap dog. He had to be touching one of his humans at all times and we welcomed it. He snored a lot but no one cared. That dog was the best sleeping partner ever. He loved his doggie and kitty brothers and sisters and loved lounging in the sun. In fact, I never saw his tail wag for his humans, but if he saw a dog, his tiny tail wagged nonstop. He loved the outdoors, but if you took him on a walk, he would stop after about a mile, and you might end up carrying him back home. He was such an odd ball because of the meds but also such a typical crazy GSP. We'll never meet another weirdo like my boy. He is one of a kind.”
 
“I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy. I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.”  Art Williams