Clara was Trudy's genetic half-sister.  She came to live with us in January 1995, at the age of 8 weeks.  Clara is no longer with us, having crossed the rainbow bridge on December 23rd, 2001, due to severe pancreatitis.  After three days of thinking about what to do with Clara's Page, I'm leaving a slightly modified version of Clara's page on the internet as a memorial to a very loving, loyal, Airedale with her very own sense of humor.

On the left is a picture of me at 8 weeks old. I wouldn't say that I was small, but this picture was taken through a microscope lens. Remember, it isn't the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. This information is found on a gene that all terriers have.
Here I am, at 10 weeks, doing something I could never stand doing for more than a couple of minutes, resting in a lap.  Note that I can be seen with the naked eye now.

 

  
 

"Okay, kid.  That was how to dig holes in the lawn, now I'll teach you how to bark at the horses."

  

My big sister, Trudy, taught me to do all the naughty things a good Airedale needs to know.

Then I taught myself how to steal Trudy's toys!

 


"YEEEEEEHAH!"

 

 
Here I am just a few days after my first birthday. Not only am I the best looking one in the family, but I am the smartest too. Trudy says she is smarter, but everyone knows that Airedales all think they are the smartest.
The photo to the right was taken when Clara was six and one-half years old, shortly before she suffered her first bout of pancreatitis.

Gena wrote the following a few hours after Clara left us:

Our hearts are breaking, but we know she is better off romping on the other side than existing here with us, haunted by pain and ill health. 

I will always cherish having played the "I'm gonna get your breakfast" game with her, and smile when I think of her turbo-kissyface power tongue, the thank-you kisses she always planted on my elbow to thank me for her dinner, and her talent for Clara-voyance (she always sensed when Chuck was angry, even if he was miles away at work!) 

God bless your fuzzy little soul, Clara Bear 

You were well-loved and are already deeply missed by all of us

even Rita.. 

(and yes, I must finally admit it, you were the cutest one! )

 

  Clara
aka Babydog, Bratdog, Clara Bear

November 16, 1994 - December 23, 2001
   

LINKS

Go to the "Extraordinairedales" page

Go to my newspaper photos! I'm a celebrity. Oh yeah... there are some photos of Trudy there too.