A Tribute to Lucy

It’s been a bittersweet holiday season for us so far this year. While we had a wonderful Thanksgiving that we were lucky enough to share with friends, we also got bad news. Our 12 year old goldendoodle Lucy was diagnosed in September with stage 1 kidney disease. Unexpectedly, it progressed at such a rapid pace that we were forced to help her across the rainbow bridge shortly after the holiday.

Lucy was (no offense to any other dogs) the best dog. As a personal project and tribute to her, she now is in her final resting place with Max, our first blue heeler. Max was our “diamond in the rough/ruff”, and Lucy of course, our heart.

We take comfort in knowing she had a happy life, and that she loved us as much as we loved (and still do love) her.

Not to be all sadness, I would like to share one of my favorite Lucy stories with you all. So during the pandemic, Rocket was still a little teeny tiny baby who spent more time in our arms than walking. We decided one day to pick up some food from a local restaurant and have a picnic with Lucy and Rocket at Memorial Park. After we ate, we walked around the park with them a bit (on leash, obviously). Well one of the houses across the street had a large pit bull. That pit bull saw us from at least 1000 yards away and made a beeline right at us. Crossed the street and came racing across the grass field. Now I don’t believe any breeds are bad, but you also never know a dog’s temperament until you meet it right? And we were about to meet this huge, muscular dog who was running at full speed right toward us. The wife picked up Rocket, but Lucy was a good 62 pounds and picking her up wasn’t feasible. So we just stood there. Waiting. Well that pit bull saw Lucy, who just stood calmly staring at it, and he pulled up to a full stop about 15 feet away. And she just stared. And he looked a bit confused. She just kept staring. I had a pocketknife out…still not sure what I would’ve done with it…a man nearby noticed the pit bull and started heading toward us. I’m sure he wanted to help but not sure what he and I could have done. And meanwhile Lucy is just staring at this dog. Suddenly the dog jumps, turns around, and runs back home. At this point its owner noticed and started yelling at it to come home, but that wasn’t really necessary. Something magical in Lucy’s stare had already sent it running. And what did Lucy do? The dog version of a shrug, and we went back to our walk. And that was the day our pretty princess goldendoodle may…or may not have saved us all from some trauma.