One of his special friends, videographer and reporter Harry Lite created a powerful tribute video for Rudy. Now on YouTube, the video is a picture of the life and spirit that transformed those around him.

Thank you, Harry . . . we love you!

Senior Great Dane - beloved recipient of the 2005 Broadway Barks Hero Award for his work with children - flew to Heaven on Good Friday 2007.

At 11 1/2 years old, Rudy peacefully went to sleep in front of the fireplace and drifted away. Ancient by Great Dane standards, Rudy had gone from room to room, office to office, nuzzling his friends earlier that day. Later, it seemed so obvious . . . one last snuggle, one last special touch and his work here on earth was complete.

What a sight when Rudy’s friends gathered to celebrate his life and their shared love . . . 70 of his friends! Wow! We laughed and cried as we shared the stories about all that he taught us. We knew what he would have done after he was “planted” - if he could have - would have been to take us all back inside to drink out of the punch bowl and stick our noses in the cake.

With those thoughts, all of us - his friends from toddler to adult - vowed to move forward with our lives in our best “Rudy” style.

We knew we would never be the same. The power of his gentleness had made us kinder people.

Thank you, Big Boy!

Rudy is a rescued Great Dane who traveled from New Jersey to North Carolina to become the anchor therapy dog with abused children. So what makes that so special? Everything . . . his story of abuse and abandonment that parallels the lives of his kids . . . courage, hope, survival. Where does a dog’s real life begin? In a cold, dark deserted house in New Jersey? Or, in a school for broken hearts and fragile spirits in the mountains of North Carolina?

Purpose, love, healing . . . that’s what Rudy brings to those around him . . . everyone around him . . . everyone who meets him. Whether he is at work with his kids at their special school or at a dog training for show dogs (which he clearly is not), Rudy draws people to his side and there he deposits something into the heart of his admirers. Something that is hard to define though it is visible and powerful. A type of peace, a sense of being in the presence of a pure spirit, a sense of seeing love God defines it. People walk away from him knowing they have just had a special experience they will long remember, that something warm was deposited into their hearts. And often they look back over their shoulders as they walk away . . . with smiling faces full of light.

And remember him they do! “There’s Rudy!” a very stressed little boy said! He rushed up to Rudy like a long lost friend though he knew Rudy only through his story on a website. Once by Rudy’s side, stroking his fur, it didn’t matter how they had met . . . or when . . . the “transfusion” took place and the boy visibly calmed. But it’s more than Rudy’s unforgettable face . . . it’s the message that pours from his eyes. Everything is OK. Everything will be OK. There are beautiful and pure moments in life. There are defining moments that mark each life. Rudy creates one of those markers in the heart and people walk away changed. Maybe he’s really an angel who just looks like a big gray and white Great Dane.

So ride with us! Rudy will let us know where we are going as the trip unfolds.

Laura Hickey
Rudy’s adoptive earth-mom