A 24 HOUR EMOTIONAL WRINGER….:((

Well, it has been a rather emotional 24 hours for us. We have had it in the back of our minds for awhile to maybe find us a second dog, not only as a companion for Pheebe but a companion for ourselves as well. We know the joy & happiness 2 or 3 best Pals can bring. Kelly spotted a nice looking dog on Kijiji Monday morning in the nearby town of Clinton. She was a 2 year old White Shepherd. A phone call to the owner confirmed she was a mild mannered dog needing a bigger home & area to run & play. Owning a pet can be a little bit like a marriage in that a perfect match will always have a better chance of success in things working out. Some folks are well suited to smaller lap dogs while others prefer larger breeds. Matching the right dog to the right person is always the key. This dog's name was Lucy.

Monday night after supper Kelly, Pheebs, & I decided to drive over to Clinton & meet Lucy. At 65 pounds we knew she was going to be much larger than we had been thinking. And, she was. But, Lucy had one of those warm friendly temperaments that just makes it's way into your heart. We could tell right away she was warm ,affectionate, & loving. And, we could tell her & Pheebs would be fine together once they got to know each other. But, she was just so big. We could see Lucy's owner Tony, & Lucy’s 'Grandparents' loved her very much but the neighborhood was just too small for her wanderings.  Tony was working full time & had to make some changes. Took us nearly an hour to decide what to do.  We both had a feeling she might be too big & too independent for us & it was because of these doubts we agreed with the owner to just take her home with us for a couple days to see how things worked out.
I sincerely wished I could tell you things worked out perfectly, but unfortunately they did not. Kelly & I have been dog owners now for the past 17 years. Every single day for all of those years our lives have revolved around our best Pals. Our dog's have always been priority for us & we like to see them free of leashes & chains.  We have a fenced in backyard  but we made the mistake of thinking our 4' high fence would be adequate for Lucy, but it was not. Max & Checkers, also big dogs had never attempted to jump over it but within 10 minutes of bringing Lucy home she was over the gate like a deer,bounding through the neighbor's yards. She would not come to us despite our repeated calls. We had a hard time getting her back but Kelly finally lured her in close enough with some doggy treats to grab her collar. That little incident told us we had a very major problem. We could not just leave our back door open as we are accustomed to & let her have access to our yard at any time. When I took her out Monday night & Tuesday morning I had to tightly hang on to her leash as she made a second attempt at jumping over the gate. Because we have had a lot of experience with dogs I knew it wasn't first night jitters. Our neighbour's have cats & Lucy made a bee-line right for their place & gobbled up all the cat food they had left on their porch.  She then bounded off into another neighbor’s yard who we knew had a big dog.  From there it was into a third yard.  We knew right away this was going to be an on-going problem.

Lucy was totally at home with us & comfortable while inside. She loved playing with all Pheebe's toys & the two of them were getting along fine despite each one playfully shoving the other one out of the way rivalling for our attention. While at the computer Lucy would come sit beside me for snuzzles. Same thing in my recliner. She was not anxious & did not show any signs of separation anxiety. She felt at home with us, & while inside we felt at home with her. However, Kelly & I had ourselves a restless night because we both understood that despite this beautiful dog's nature we were probably not going to be able to keep her.  We just had a feeling she was going to be too much dog for us to handle outside.  And, she was.

Our morning walk did not go well. Had Lucy on a leash & seeing Pheebe out front running free it was a constant strain to hold her back because she has never been leash trained. We reached a wide clearing area & decided to try walking her 'off leash'.  As readers well know, we are not leash people. She was fine walking along the bush trail for about 5 minutes but she would not come when called despite our best efforts. Even a small bit of recognition would have been helpful but she was too independent & had never really been trained well to voice commands.  Pheebs took after a Squirrel in the woods with Lucy right behind her. A minute later Pheebs was back on the trail but Lucy was not. I headed off into the wood's calling for her, but nothing. Couldn't see her & couldn't hear anything. My heart sank as I kept calling & calling. Then, from way behind me I heard Kelly shout. She had spotted Lucy near the trail & got her to come with a treat. Hurried back & quickly put the leash on her but in my worried haste I made a mistake. I unknowingly clipped the leash onto her dog tag ring instead of the heavier collar ring. About 10 minutes later on the way home Pheebe spotted a bunny. With one lurch Lucy was free & headed off into the underbrush right behind Pheebs. Again we could not get her to come back despite repeated calling & offers of more treats. She headed down an embankment into a muddy creek & came back up muddy & full of burrs.  And, then she spotted the big pond. 
Did I mention she had long white fur:((

Tony told us she loves water & with one big splash Lucy was in the pond & ended up swimming it’s entire length. (top photo) I was on one side & Kelly was on the other. Only hope we had of catching her was to be at the water's edge where she decided to climb out & it turned out to be Kelly's side. With a treat in hand Kelly was able to secure her collar as I made my way around the pond with her leash. Noticed right away her 2 dog tags were missing so we went back to the other end of the pond where she had broken free & located one of the two missing tags. From there it was straight home to the security of 'in the house'. We both sadly knew by this time what we had to do. We could keep Lucy for another day hoping things might be better but being around dogs as much as we have our experience told us Lucy needed a lot of space to run & she also needed a very dedicated person to work with & train her.  I found it difficult a year ago at this time being patient with Pheebe’s training & I knew I didn’t have the kind of patience anymore it would take to train Lucy properly.  And, with the way Lucy’s fur had picked up that load of burrs this morning we knew the difficulties ahead in letting her run free on our walks .  And then there was her size……………….

It's Tuesday morning as I type this. Lucy is asleep beside me in a patch of sun on the floor. Pheebs is snoozing on the couch behind me. All appears well but I know it isn’t as I wait for Lucy's fur to dry out a bit from her pond swim so I can try getting some more burrs out of her. Kelly in the meantime phoned Tony saying we would have to bring her back. He was every bit as disappointed as we were this morning that things had not worked out. I have only known Lucy less than 12 hours & here I sit typing this with tears in my eyes knowing I will have to take her back shortly. I feel every bit as sad as when we lost our Max, Checkers, & little Cora. It is just the way it is & always has been with me & dogs. I just get so attached to them so fast.  But, there are times when tough decisions have to be made for the betterment of all & this morning was one of those times. As I said before, It is extremely important to match the right person with the right dog. We came very close with Lucy, but just not quite close enough for the happy ending we had all been hoping for.

{Update} Tuesday night............... It was a tearful drive for me this morning taking Lucy back home. She rode so nice in the Jeep as I petted her soft fur. Her 'Grandma & Grandpa' were there & a big thank-you goes out to them for being so understanding. Of course I was an emotional wreck & it was not easy for me to say goodbye to this beautiful dog I had known for less than 12 hours. But, one consolation, I had the distinct feeling 'Grandma & Grandpa' were happy to see her home again. With their renewed talk of building a backyard fence.....maybe Lucy is home to stay.

 

BYE LUCY & WE WISH YOU ALL THE BEST…………………

Well, that's it for my day & tomorrow I will wake up & start all over again....just like we all do. One thing may have changed though. I don't think we are going to pursue our hopes for a second dog. If it's meant to be I guess it will happen someday, but in the meantime, our days of looking are over for now.  Kelly’s Okay, but I can’t handle these kinds of emotional doggy wringers.  An extra 6 dozen hugs for the Pheebs tonight..........................10-4.

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GROANER'S CORNER:(( With today's emotionally draining doggy day I figured a little furry humor was in order.......

The Top 20 Reasons Dogs Do Not Use Computers

20. Can't stick their heads out of Windows 7.
19. Fetch command not available on all platforms.
18. Hard to read the monitor with your head cocked to one side.
17. Too difficult to "mark" every website they visit.
16. Can't help attacking the screen when they hear "You've Got Mail."
15. Fire hydrant icon is very frustrating.
14. Involuntary tail wagging is dead giveaway they're browsing www . pethouse.com instead of working.
13. Keep bruising noses trying to catch all the pop-up ads.
12. Not at all fooled by Chuckwagon Screen Saver.
11. Still trying to come up with an "emoticon" that signifies tail-wagging.
10. Oh, but they WILL... with the introduction of the Microsoft Opposable Thumb.
9. Three words: Carpal Paw Syndrome.
8. 'Cause dogs ain't GEEKS! Now, cats, on the other hand...
7. Barking in next cube keeps activating YOUR voice recognition software.
6. SmellU-SmellMe still in beta test.
5. SIT and STAY were hard enough, GREP and AWK are out of the question!
4. Saliva-coated mouse gets mighty difficult to manoeuvre.
3. Annoyed by lack of newsgroup, alt.pictures.master's.leg.
2. Butt-sniffing more direct and less deceiving than online chat rooms.
and the Number 1 Reason Dogs Do Not Use Computers...
1. TrO{gO DsA[M,bN HyAqR4tDc TgrOo TgYPmE WeIjTyH P;AzWqS,.*

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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.

- Home is where your pet is:))

- "If having a soul means being able to feel
love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals
are better off than a lot of humans."
(James Herriot)

- The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails -William Arthur Ward

- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.

- It is not so much having nothing to do as it is not having the interest to do something....AL.

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