We think more dogs should have obits, and our Lucy deserves one of the grandest order. Here’s saying goodbye to Lucy. ~BB
I remember like it was yesterday, our youngest son (whom I call “Baby Boy” in this blog) and his intense look as he told his friends about his new puppy. He said, “We just had to get her because she was going to get ‘gassed’ at the pound.” To this day, I do not know where Baby Boy heard that animals were exterminated in this manner at the local pet society. Gassed or euthanized by injection – it didn’t really matter. Her time was limited, and so we brought her home. Because we fell in love with her on the spot. She came to us while in the pen and her siblings ran around like crazy puppies. But, she wanted us.
We were told she was a Dalmatian and Blue heeler mix. I always thought she looked like an English setter with something else, and once, I think I saw her on point.
She lived with us for more than 15 years. Baby Boy left home five years ago, and of course, as children do, or don’t, he didn’t take her with him. So, let’s just say, we’ve taken a lot of walks together.
Lucy – the only dog I ever knew that picked – or maybe I should say, licked – blackberries right off the bush. Now, that’s talent. We’d go blackberry picking along country roads where the berries grew in the ditches wild, and she’d work the bottom parts, while I collected berries in a bucket. She never shared.
But, we still loved her, because she was a good dog. She never bit anyone. She always wagged her tail, and even at the end, when her joints started creaking and she started leaking and a bit of dementia set in and she could not hear any more, she still wagged her tail. On her last day, last Monday, she was wagging her tail as she took her final walk into the woods with my husband. And we didn’t gas her, but we didn’t take her to the vet either. She would shake so terribly on annual trips to the vet that we could not do that to her one more time.
Let’s just say she had a good afternoon, with wieners and good drugs and sunshine and her human caretakers spending time with her.
At one time, our home was filled with four children and three dogs. Here’s our daughter, the Designer, with Lucy in the middle, P.J. on the left and Arnie on the right.
And now, she lies in the little pet cemetery in Possum Holler, along with P.J. and Prissy – our other kid pets. I don’t know if it’s the fact that we’ll miss her terribly, or that whole empty nest syndrome thing that I thought I’d beat is now hitting me again. She was the last “kid pet.”
Will we get another? Not so soon. You can never replace people or pets. Maybe another dog will find us someday.
Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
Yes, and you just wrote an excellent blogpost about your love for your Lucy! Thanks, Beth.
That was a good read.
My oldest dog just turned 12yrs old in February, and while he’s still in very good health, I dread the day when I will have to say good bye. He was born at my house and we’ve shared a lot of hunts together and we did some darn impressive winning also. He’s a true sweetheart to me and a fine friend.
Not sure if it worked or not, but I tried to include his picture in the ‘website’ box. 🙂
Thanks, Laura B. Old dogs … they are just sweet as all get-out and we hate for them to leave us. If you want your dog’s pic in the box, you’ll need to add him as your Gravatar pic! Would like to meet him!
Very nice tribute, thanks for sharing your Lucy with us. I have had 2 Labs that are with Lucy now and Jet (my 3rd. Lab) just turned 12 this month. She is retired now from the field and I cherish each day we have. Older dogs are such great teachers and I have certainly been taking my share of notes in this transition between homes. It tears me up just thinking about her, “our’ departure from each other. Still I am already working out the details of a pup for her to start training. As painful as it is to say goodbye, I’ll have another four legged friend at my side. Hugs to you!
Thank you, Terry! It’s great to hear from you, again. Yes, older dogs are — as you aptly described — “great teachers!” Hugs back atcha.
I wouldn’t expect you to know, but Etta & I have a Lucy, too. She’s a pedigreed English, and will be 14 in July. Sorry to hear of your loss, Babsy, you know what an old softy I am for dogs. Here’s a quote I often share with friends dealing with a loss like yours: “A dog does not live as long as a man and this natural law is the fount of many tears. If boy and puppy might grow to manhood and doghood together, and together grow old, and so in due course die, full many a heartache might be avoided. But the world is not so ordered, and dogs will die and men will weep for them so long as there are dogs and men.”
-Ben Ames Williams
“Old Tantrybogus,” 1920
JR,
Thank you for the beautiful quote. Lucky you, to have a Lucy and an Etta in your life at the same time! 😉
Great post, Barb! But tearful. I remember sitting on the floor of our utility room holding our German Shorthair on his last day of suffering from lymphosarcoma cancer at the very young age of two. Although his time on earth was short, he endeared himself to our family tremendously! I promised him that day that I would never love another dog as much as I loved him. It took a long time to ever even think I wanted another dog, but now we have Bodie, whom I love dearly also. But there will always be that special place in my heart that no other dog will take away from Jim, the bird dog.
Aw. Hopefully, this post will give people pause … to think about a pet they once loved, too.
What a wonderful post and beautiful pictures of Lucy, Arnie, P.J., and Prissy (and your children too, of course.) Like you, I will especially miss Lucy. She had a great life with your family!
Thanks, Linda. You know you were important in her life, too. I believe she made a little trail from our yard to yours, didn’t she?
What a beautiful tribute to Lucy and her life with you. No matter how long we we are blessed with them, it is never long enough.
I grieve to this day for my Border Colliethat da brought home the week I was born and lived to be 21, my Airedale who toughed it out 17 years in this zoo, and most of all my beloved Dutch..a huge, massive Rottie who was the best service dog ever.
Thanks, Gretchen. Your dogs are uber lucky to have a human in their lives such as you.
That was a very thoughtful post Mom, I will miss Lucy next time I come home on leave! I am glad she had a happy final day, she was always such a good dog.
Thanks, Baby Boy. Looking forward to seeing you whenever your can make it home again. Thanks for being such a great pet owner (when you were here), because she was your side kick outside, wasn’t she? It’s OK that you left her, really!
I have a Lucy dog too, Barb! My Lucy is 5 and hopefully has many years left in her! Will post pics on my site later. Sorry about your Lucy. I know she enjoyed all the years with your family as much as your family enjoyed all the years with her.