it's been a while since ive posted. my life has been slightly chaotic ever since my little lucy has come into my life. she came exactly one week after fred got sick. i didnt want her at first but how can we say no to any furry creature that needs a home. shes a little terrier (or as i prefer to call her: a terror) mix and shes about 7 1/2 months old now. she was rescued from a kill shelter in LA, at about 4 months, and then the new owner decided that it was too much for him so he released her into the streets. her foster family found her laying by the side of the road as she'd been hit by a car. they rushed her to er and paid for all her medical/surgical bills. when she was finally ok to go home, her foster family found her owner. i guess he felt remorse and posted missing signs everywhere. they met with him and asked him to help with half of the payments and he refused and in fact rejected her again, saying he was single and didnt have time to care for her. her foster parents took her in but unfortunately could not keep her. my fred sent her my way and now shes found her forever home. it wasnt easy. the first day i cried and cried because i missed my fred so much. and i was angry! how could i take in a dog so soon afer my little cat had died? but this was all part of freds master plan. it came to a point where i called some friends and confessed that i would not be able to keep her. that was the pivotal moment: because i remember lucy looking at me with her beautiful sad eyes begging me not to give her away again. at that exact moment, i knew that i couldnt do that to her and i would have to make it work. it didnt take long for me to fall absolutely head over heels in love with her. missing fred? its still not easy. i come to work and turn on my computer to freds sweet little face and i will just lose it. or i listen to one of his songs and i sob. i dont know when that pain will go away. but i do know that as the clock tics daily, i look forward to getting home because i know my little lucy goosey is waiting for me. she loves to go on her walks, just me and her. and she loves coming back home and turning into what i call "lucy-fur" where her eyeballs start spinning and she goes a little crazy. then she settles down right next to me, hopefully i will have treats for her, and falls asleep. i have to wake her in order to go outside one last time and then she runs into her crate for the night. well, she runs because she always has a little cookie in there waiting for her. i love waking up in the middle of the night to hear her little snoring. and in the morning? well its hard for me no to open her crate door immediately. i think im more excited to see her than she is to see me. shes my little monkey. people tell me that little rescue animals know they are rescued and are doubly grateful to be with us. but i say, im the one thats grateful…to have her in my life. she makes me laugh again, and smile and when she wraps her little paws around my neck and lays her little head on my shoulder, or tries to eat my earring, well, i couldnt ask for more. my wonderful fred: i love you so much and i will never never never forget you. thank you for giving me lucy. she will never replace you but she makes me happy again just like you always did my little sweet. momma loves you forever!

They don't come any cuter than that! I know Fred approves. God Bless you for your good heart!

Hugs,
Dayna

No wonder you kept her!!!! What a darling little dog. Both of you are so lucky that Fred made arrangements for you to meet!

I'd take her in a minute myself.....................

i think im more excited to see her than she is to see me. shes my little monkey. people tell me that little rescue animals know they are rescued and are doubly grateful to be with us. but i say, im the one thats grateful…to have her in my life. she makes me laugh again, and smile and when she wraps her little paws around my neck and lays her little head on my shoulder, or tries to eat my earring, well, i couldnt ask for more. my wonderful fred: i love you so much and i will never never never forget you. thank you for giving me lucy. she will never replace you but she makes me happy again just like you always did my little sweet. momma loves you forever!


Patricia,

You have just said it all so beautifully. This is how New Beginnings do help. Giving Lucy a forever home...just gave you some forever love again. My new boy, Lucky, was rescued from a kill shelter and like Lucy was dumped in the streets by the new owners but a neighbor took him to the local SPCA here and that's where we found each other. Maybe it is as you say about rescue animals being doubly grateful.....I know Lucky absolutely loves people. We had a handyman come to the house one day and Lucky tried to climb up his pant leg to be held. I never saw such behavior in a cat. So maybe..there is something about "rescue" babies. You and Lucy have your own special connection now. And I am sure Fred approves...because these babies love us so very much....our happiness is what makes them happy. (And some people wonder why we think of these beautiful ones as special ).

Her picture is so sweet. Her eyes say it all, don't they? Give her a special hug just for being her.

Judy

How sweet.

I have a similar story. We lost Lily, 8 years-old last June 24 suddenly and totally unexpectedly. It was extremely devastating. We rescued her April of 2001. She had been found on the streets of Winnipeg. No one seemed to know her past, only that no one had come looking for her. We adopted her and like you said it's like they know. She was the sweetest thing ever. So loving. All she wanted was for someone to love her and in return she gave back tenfold. She knew what love was, so I've always wondered since her death if she had had the love of an older person who had passed away. And poor Lily got lost in the aftermath of that death. I like to believe sometimes that she is reunited with that person, because I'm sure that they loved her too.

Anyway, Lily flew to heaven June 24, 2008. On that very same day, a puppy mill owner had surrended his beagles and spaniels to the local humane societies, over 90 dogs, a couple were pregnant. We ended up adopting Izzy just 11 days later. She was one of the puppy mill rescues. She was estimated to be 4 years old. She was so terribly afraid of absolutely everything. She had no idea what to do with love or affection. She was scared of her own shadow. She bolted on us several times and there were a couple where we thought we might never see her again. She found her way home an hour or so later. Thank goodness. And I have to admit there were times in the first month or two where I doubted if we'd made the right decision in adopting her. I would never have given up on her, but it did cross my mind a few times.

She certainly has come a long way since then. She still has her days, but thankfully they are becoming fewer and fewer. I know she may never be 100% but I think she'll come pretty close. Hunny, our other dog when we adopted Izzy took her under her wing. Unfortunately, Hunny had just been diagnosed with cancer at that time, and she wasn't able to get around like she would have wanted to. But Hunny, a golden retriever, looked out for her. She showed her it was ok when someone wanted to hug and kiss her. Hunny taught her a lot about love. And then in November, we got a 10 week old beagle boy, Barney. He proved to be priceless in helping Izzy. He showed her how to handle affection and how to give it back too.

Izzy certainly has made great improvements. She comes looking for love and affection. Like I said she still has off days, but we're getting there. Unfortunately, we just said "so long" to Hunny April 4th and all of us, including the pups, and Casey, another beagle we got just two weeks before Hunny left (another dog someone didn't want!) are missing her so, so much. But we all know she's in a better place with Lily.

I think Izzy is happy to have found us. I know we are glad she came to us.

Maybe Lily thought it was time for us to share our love with another precious baby. Lily had a wonderful life with us and I knew she knew how much she was loved by all of us. Maybe she wanted to share that with Izzy. Lily was such a good, kind-hearted little angel. I hope she and Hunny are happy and healthy up there at the Rainbow Bridge. I just wish Lily had met Izzy, because I think they would have been great friends too.

i must confess that i havent logged on to this part of the site in a while. today for some reason i decide to write about lucy's adventures and saw there were other responses:
judy, im so so glad you have lucky. he sounds like such a little sweetheart. what a "lucky" little boy. you have such a big heart for rescuing him and he knows it. big hugs to you and everyone who rescues our little ones and give them a second chance! and thank you for your kind words. i will give lucy a big hug. she actually gets tons of them from me, to a point where she has to put her little paws on my face to stop me
and lynette, what a sweet sweet story. im so sorry about lily and hunny. we all know how hard it is to lose them. but big hugs to you as well for bringing izzy into your life. what a wonderful story. it gave me chills. i know that izzy is so happy and she loves you so much more for taking her in and loving her for who she is. she WILL get there. and i choose to believe that lilly does know izzy. i like to think that lilly is looking out for izzy.

as for my lucy it will be two months soon that ive had her and boy has she created havoc. funny havoc, or i should call it i-can-laugh-about-it-now havoc two months and two trips to the er. (sigh) this last one was a little night mare. i had taken lucy on a hike this past sunday (she requires more exercise than richard simmons). we have a wonderful hiking trail right where i live. being the worry wart that i am, i made sure i reminded myself to be on the lookout for snakes, spiders and any other creepy crawler that lucy might consider "treat's". the only thing i didnt even consider? a bee. we had just finished the hour and a half trek and she dragged me into a lawn so she could lay down in the shade. the next thing i know is she's pawing her little face and i knew something was wrong. as i yelled "leave it" she spit out a little honey bee. who knew a tiny little bug could cause such misery? my little lucy did not cry however but i knew she was not ok. thank goodness her doctor is just down the street and openn on sundays. so i rushed her in and lucky for her, she was seen immediately. in the meantime, this mom was hysterical as i had to leave her at the hospital for a few hours while she was being observed. so it was mother's day and my mom, her gramma, had come to visit her (not me mind you). instead, lucy was in the hospital and mom and gramma were sitting on the couch crying because we missed her already. oh my goodness, it hadnt even been an hour. how pathetic. she came home a few hours later and mom and gramma were beaming. its amazing how our little ones make us so happy. i couldnt imagine my life without her, even though shes (to date) seen the inside of er twice now, chewed up the door trim, my shoes, my cellphone, attempts to protect me by barking at dogs 10 times bigger than her, dragged me down the street and almost requiring surgery to sew my arm back in place, jumped on her grammas face while she was asleep and pretty much the biggest little trouble maker ive ever had. and i love her to pieces well im happy to report, she starts basic training in a couple of weeks. phew! im just hoping that its not turned around and its her telling me to sit and lay down i miss my fred every, every day but lucy is my new little angel. heck i may be able to retire soon as i was informed that she looks like rod stewart! (yep! you heard that right. this from her new teacher.) she may be my angel and my retirement fund. watch out for tour dates coming your way soon i just have to teach her to hold a mike... (kidding of course) thanks for letting me share. she makes me so happy. more adventure stories to come, im sure of it!

excerpt taken from "the lucy chronicles" by patricia well if you can believe this, lucy ended up in er again the following week. my weekends are for her and she runs me ragged. it so happened that on saturday, i took her to the dog park in the am (a rest from the wicked bees) and then drove around running errands. she loves car rides as she sits behind me, literally she becomes my head rest. when we got home in the late afternoon, i thought she would poop out but no. no rest. i was the one that pooped out. she was bright and alert as they come, wondering why i wasnt continuing to play with her. 15 minutes i said just a 15 minute power nap. after all what could happen in 15 minutes? a lot, i know now. i set my alarm and passed out even though i really wasnt. although i was asleep i was still wondering why it was so quiet out there. quiet = trouble! before my alarm could ring lucy was right next to me waking me up. she wanted to show me the little mountain of vomit. oh no big deal i told her. ill clean it up. you must have eaten too fast... as i groggily walked out to the kitchen, i was startled and immediately awake as i saw the cause of the "hurling". she had managed too bring down a bottle of medication, that i kept out of her reach, that i kept as a memory to my fred that had recently passed away. it was there with his little bowl and other items to remember him by.
i dont know how. i believe she has flying powers when im not looking. she brought it down and chewed it open and drank half of the contents. hence the silence. i immediately called the dr and he asked me what the medication was. i replied that i didnt know because she ate the label too. the only thing i could tell him was i think it was to help stop fred's vomiting. my only consoliation at the time was that i knew it wasnt harmful, although could it be harmful to a dog? he asked me to rush her in. i love this hospital because they love all my pets and i must admit i chuckled (thru the fear and tears) when the receptionist picked up the phone and talked thru the intercom, exclaiming "Lucy's here" and all the techs came running to say hi and to quickly take her back. that was the worst five minutes of my life. im such a bad mom, what if shes not ok. well you know the drill. no one else could make me feel any worse. but then her dr came out and he had tears in his eyes. my heart sank. oh my god. what have i done? i must have gone pale because he smiled and said dont worry, (as he wiped his eyes). i then realized they were tears from laughing so hard. turns out the medicaiton WAS harmless. it was a liquid laxitive. and the only side effect would be... well i think you know. SO RELIEVED, i took her to visit gramma and even though i was careful about taking her out every 10 minutes or so... needless to say, it wasnt pretty. i spent the next two hours steam cleaning her carpet. my little lucy! gramma and momma love you very much i went home and started putting things away in boxes. im going to end up living out of boxes again...but thats ok at least lucy's ok

this past weekend took lucy to huntington dog beach (CA). i will admit i was worried! the day had started with pulling her back a second before her little mouth clamped down on a bumble bee that was sitting in front of the door. that dog is quick! and now we were going to the beach? what was i thinking? should i have bought her little floaties? would she get stung by a jelly fish? is there an er nearby? happy to report that she only tried to eat the seaweed twice, and swallowed a small sea shell but otherwise no trip to the er this weekend! hip hip hooray! she loved the water when it was going away from her and not coming towards her. but unbelievably she didnt swallow any. she of course had to say hi to every single dog that was there. but thats ok, she's very friendly and outgoing, even with the great dane that towered over me. her tail never stopped wagging, until we got home that is and she pooped out for three hours straight. (and so did i:) an earthquake wouldnt wake her up. we love that! peace and quiet now thats progress. if only the beach wasnt an hour and a half away....

She certainly keeps you on your toes!!! She is very cute and could fool you into thinking she would be "no trouble". I don't know where they learn that skill, but it seems the cuter the animal, the more havoc they can create.

boy you're not kidding. it didnt help that the foster family kept repeating what a good little girl she was. that should have been my first clue! i keep threatening to pack up all her toys, buy her a one-way ticket to fresno and drop her off at the bus station. kidding of course. she truly is the little light of my life and is this crazy? but she has changed my life! i used to be such a workaholic. i could stay in the office till 1,2 or 3 in the am but since i got lucy, i cant wait to get home to her. i miss her all the time when im at work and am constantly looking at the time. so strange. im currently reading another dog training book (any new tips will help:)
i forget what this ones called but this am i wish i had had my camera handy as it was classic! although i do not condone dogs or anyone ripping library books i was taken aback that of all the books i had brought home, she chose THAT one to start into. i heard the commotion but thought she was ripping the label off my water bottle so i let it go a little bit longer. but the noise didnt stop so i walked out and sure enough i thought her little head would fall off she was shaking the book so hard. for all you book lovers like myself, please dont worry! the book is safe and sound! she was just enjoying shaking the life out of it. how ironic. i guess she doesnt like the idea of behaving ok so now the books arent safe anymore. i guess i will have to keep them in my car along with the other items that arent safe around lucy. interesting how she has so many toys. a dog could be so lucky... and she loves them but if she can get a hold of mommas toys, better. her eyes start swirling.... well, just another day in the life... and that was just in the am... and i havent even told you the challenges of getting dressed in the morning

Hi, Patricia

Thank you for the laughter today. At first when you mentioned ER..I thought..how frightening...but when I got to the part about the laxative...then I started laughing. Your girl sure keeps you busy. There really is something special about a "special relationship". (I'm sure Fred was laughing about it all also ).

Hugs to all our babies...they are a part of us always and that's the way it will always be.

I'll bet your vet's place is all smiles when they see Lucy.....she should have her book of adventures printed.

Sounds like maybe you might have to look into getting a second car...to hold Lucy's "no-nos"

You mention about Lucy being "lucky" and you know I named my new cat, Lucky, cause he too seemed to have some "luck". Everytime I start to type "Lucy" here, my fingers type Lucky...so your girl is definitely a "Lucky" Lucy.

Well, give her another hug from me...we never have enough of those.
Judy

thnx judy i will give her an extra big hug from you today and youre right, i know fred is truly enjoying watching all of this unfold. he just laughs at all the running after and chasing down i have to do now and probably thinks "see? i didnt give you any trouble at all. ha!"

im am now so 110% positive that fred sent her to me because everyday when i see her funny cute face, i laugh. she has helped me so so much with the healing process and if she can make anyone on this site laugh amidst the tears, then she is truly a little godsend or i should say fredsend. omgoodness, the entire little wonderful hospital loves her to death. in fact yesterday while we went for a walk, we ran into one of our favorite people from there. i of course didnt recognize her, especially out of uniform but lucy just ran right up to her and her tail was wagging so hard i thought it was going to fall off. of course she recognized lucy right away. it was so funny, just like in the movies, you know the slo-motion part? where the guy and the girl are running towards each other in the beach? only it was a little dog and her technician . ( ive been begging them to let me squirrel away some $$ with them so that next time were there it wont hurt my pocket book so much

actually i think i am the lucky one and so are we all dont you think? im so glad you have a new little one lucky. i want to hear all about him. what new and wonderful adventures you will have! how privileged we are to have our babies with us for as long as we do (although some a shorter time than others), but they are with us for a reason. they teach us so much!

im sure i will have more stories over the weekend, so please keep reading and laughing cuz that is the best medicine!!!
patricia

imagine a two inch thick slice of bread, covered with mayonnaise, covered with lots and lots of swiss cheese and topped with a little bit of chicken, covered in more cheese and topped off by another two inch slice of sour dough, just baked bread. that was the lunch i prepared this morning that lucy jumped on the table for, opened it and ate it, all of it. she was just getting to the bread when i caught her. funny thing she opened up the dessert too. i had fresh strawberries in a little ziplock that were calling out my name. she managed to sink her teeth into one and thought she should finish off the sandwich first. how do you punish a little dog that you love so much? and what should i do, take her bowl away? well i hope she enjoyed it as much as i would have i guess im buying lunch today!

well, its been awhile since lucy has caused any real damage. my apartment building is still standing. i suppose i should be grateful for that. yes she continues to chew the door molding. the bitter apple spray doesnt seem to make a bit of difference. in fact im convinced she likes it. but thats ok right? everything can be fixed. well except for my pair of oliver peoples glasses. my pride and joy. id finally saved up to get my favorite pair of frames. they were a beautiful chestnut brown on the outside and a gorgeous mint gree on the inside. well, i suppose i can always save up for another pair... this past saturday, lucy's gramma got a real whiff of what a tornado lucy can be. the three of us were camping out on my bed chatting, well lucy was chewing her favorite bone. all we could her was "crk crk crkchk crk". basically all was good. then she jumped off the bed like she remembered something. she remembered something all right. she remembered that mom and gramma didnt push their chairs in after having lunch. it was merely a matter of minutes. all was eerily quiet. so i decided to check on her. to my dismay, the pair of prized frames that i had left on the table were now on the floor, plastic chewed off exposing only the wire. she only made it midway on both sides. lucy was sitting proudly beside them, tail wagging so hard i thought it was going to fall off. i put them in my hands lovingly (the glasses, not the dog and wondered unrealistically if they were salvagable or not. NOT. well lesson learned. always push in the chairs and materialistic things dont bring me the joy that my lucy does.

here is lucy during the laker playoffs, sporting her laker jersey. i promise its the only clothing i make her wear. although her "closet" wil be acquiring a Los angeles dodger uniform soon too. but thats it. i dont think shell be very happy

what a wonderful pic of Lucy, I'm certain I can see the cheekiness in her eyes.........what a character......amazing how we can realise what's important & what's not when we loose our fur companions.
I hve a big grin from ear to ear hearing about Lucy's antics.......incredible to think such destruction can give us a sort of good feeling.......
elaine

Patricia,

I am sitting at my desk crying from laughter. I just read all of your postings about Lucy's antics. What a pistol that one is!!!! When you look at her she looks so innocent and angelic like she would be the most docile little furcreature. And then, as you described, a tornado. That just cracks me up. It is a good thing you love her or else you might have to string her up by her ears, that little devil LOL. PLEASE keep posting it is so fun to read. You could call it "Lucy's Great Adventures".. Thank you for brightening my day. Too too funny. Hug that little rascal for me. Have a great day.
Melanie

dear elaine and melanie. im so glad you you had a good laugh. thats what its all about isnt it? after all laughter is the best medicine. i thank whoemever is upstairs taking care of all of us for my lucy every day. at the same time and in the same breathe i beg "her" to take care of her and keep her in her crate so that mom doesnt come back home and find her in the back of police car, in handcuffs while the firemen are putting out the flames
believe it or not, writing about my newfound happiness is so wonderfully healing. if i had time to write all day about her i would. (oh yes! she creates that much trouble) but she makes my heart sing. and when i see her, i see my little fred. and w hen i hug her and kiss her, i hug and kiss my fred too.

im so thankful and overjoyed that you two have your "lucy's" too. I cant wait to hear how much fun they are. please continue to write and fill me and everyone on how your new babies are doing and what they are doing. and melanie i gotta see pix of your sweethearts.

well 6 weeks after lucy graduated from basic training, ummm, weve kind of taken a step, or more than a step back. last nite's walk and this morning was a fabulous disaster. she is on a training collar which by the way, i feel like writing the collar company a letter and getting my money back because i believe i own the only dog in the world that it doesnt help. she doesnt mind it at all. lovely. this morning, out to greet us was a neighborhood cat. (no worries everyone, she does belong to someone. she had a little bell collar) and of course since it was ringing lucy has to know what that is. i of course knew that it was the cat but secretly hoping there was an ice cream man somewhere close. but as soon as lucy saw the cat, well it was over. i dont know what she thinks is going to happen but she practically pulled my arm completely off trying to go after the cat. i had to pick her up so she wouldnt choke and as her little heart slows down its beating, she happens to see a squirrel and she jumps out of my arms and trys to pursue that. i picked her up again. in an agitated state, she licked my entire face and i held her tight while she calmed down. (yeah right) i told her this was not working because to carry her all throughout our walk, well we were missing the point here. certainly i like the excercise, but not that much. id rather be sleeping the minute i put her down, she saw a bird. well to make a long story short, she chased down every single furry creature, or feathery i might add. she had to sniff out every single leaf on the floor not to mention all the flowers she came close too. she forgot that shes supposed to be on my left side and pulled me, yanked me, almost made-me fall me all over the place. oh and anytime someone pulls out of their driveway, she has to see who it is. what the??? i had to cut the walk a little short because i was afraid she would push me onto oncoming traffic. her tail never stopped waggin'. at least someone was having fun oh and the latest stunt that she pulls? she learned sit very well and she knows to sit at every corner but now she only sits halfway. yep! if i dont correct her, she pretends to sit and thinks mom wont notice the big 5inch gap between the concrete and her little butt! silly monkey! when we got home, i sat her down and asked her how in the world were we ever going to make it to therapy dog if she didnt listen? and as i proceeded to lecture her, she quietly got up, walked to the kitchen and got in her crate. i guess i was boring her lucy's adventures! fred! momma loves you and misses you every day. please watch over our little lucy and make sure she doesnt get into any trouble.
have a great day everyone. and remember that tomorrow will be a little brighter for all of us.

Patricia,
I've spent 2 hours trying to upload photos of my babies. I even tried to use the software recommended by the site administrator and I can edit pictures down to the size required but it won't allow me to save them. I've emailed the site admin. Any thoughts???
Melanie

hmmm. are they converted to jpg? if not try that and actaully i had a problem with trying to upload as well because the size must be 400k when its opn in the application itself (a jpg will compress the image and make the file smaller but when you open it it can be as big as you want. does that make sense?) so it has to be reduced to 400k while open in the application. also i f you can convert to rgb and not cmyk. also check your email thru this site. i have another idea...
patricia

laughter is the best medicine indeed, thank you for my dose of medicine, LOL
elaine

hmmm. well where do i begin? its been a while since ive posted any of lucy's newest (ehem) adventures and believe me there have been plenty of them
well in june i began to plan lucy's first camping trip. yes my mother, myself and our little heroe would be taking a road trip up north to yosemeti. as a child my parents would take us there every summer for a week. and now that my dad is coming up on 8years of him being gone, i thought it would be a nice walk down memory lane.
september 10 could not come fast enough. of course lucy had the most things to pack, her crate, toys, food, snacks, toys, snacks, toys, snacks she even got a pair of doggles for the trip. well the 7 hour trip was pretty good. we made several stops to make sure lucy stretched out and drank water and all that good stuff and finally we entered the windy road that leads us into the beautiful park. five minutes in, yes i had relented to letting her sit on grammas lap, out came her first load of snacks. right on grammas lap. nice and orangy. lucy loves her carrots. but i prefer they stay in and not all over grammas summer dress.
we stayed at a luvely lodge about 2 miles outside the park, because it was dog friendly. lucy was in awe. she couldnt believe that she was going to spend the night in this wonderful place. the river merced runs right next to the lodge so we we took a little walk the first night. her nose was seriously twitching as im sure the smells were overwhelming. every morning we would drive into the park and spend the day, where it was hike, hike, hike. by the end of every day, she would attempt to play with her toys but collapse on the bed. she was out even before momma and gramma were. when she'd poop out, i would pick her up and carry her. she didnt seem to mind it at all.
her first encounter with the river was hilarious. i didnt understand what was going on as she hates baths but jumped in the ice-cold water and immediately was thrashing around playing with…tiny little transparent fish. needless to say she didnt want to leave. the day before leaving, we attempted the walk to happy aisles. its a long walk and i was a bit worried about my mom. but she made it as did little lucy. on returning, we looked for our car (parked a few miles away) and noticed a beautiful family of deer. did lucy think they were a large dog breed? because she started barking and lunging. so embarassed. the three babies stopped, turned around and began to head her way. i quickly shoved her in the car. of course lucy though she was protecting us somehow but it was funny to see the deer approach her (behind the glass) and come up to within a few feet of her as she wildly lost her little mind. i drove away quickly, pretending that this dog had somehow just jumped into my car and i had no idea who she was. that night as i took her for her final walk: we admired the beautiful night sky with stars you can reach out and touch, breathed in the wonderful piney air and were in general having a sweet moment between owner and dog when i was violently jerked into reality. here goes my looney dog again barking and going bezerk. about 50 feet away from her, in a confrontational stance is a family of 3 raccoons. oh yeah there was major eye contact. if it had been a movie, lucy would have one hand on the gun as a tumbleweed rolled around in between them. we all just stood frozen, well except for lucy of course. when i snapped back into reality, i quickly turned around and started walking towards the room. she of course was still going nuts. as we got further away, the sweet little raccoons continued on their way, walked thru the lobby of the lodge and proceeded to go the river and mountains. i dont think lucy slept that whole night. shes never seen "dogs" that look like that my little monkey!
sunday, our last day there, we drove thru the park one more time where she said goodbye to some of her new found doggie friends and we hit the road back to los angeles. she wanted to sit with gramma and for 7 long hours she slept, yes slept in grammas arms. when i finally dropped my mom off, she was as stiff as a board (my mom not the dog). she had not moved an inch so lucy wouldnt wake up thats true love i say.
i must say im glad we didnt encounter any bears. i dont even want to think what would have happened. i like to think that the poor bear would have thought "crazy dog" and walked away...

oh and i didnt even mention the squirrels! she did great though, everytime she saw one, she sat and watched them like a little movie. very very cute, although i happen to know she would rather chase them up the tree...

more to come

Hi Patricia,

It sounds like you and Lucy are having a great time! That's the way it should be. Fred would have it no other way.

You see that Fred's legacy lives on thru sharing the love you have within you with another furbaby. Fred's bright light shines on you each and every day as you share that precious love all around you.

My Browser LOVES the water. He's the only chihuahua I know of that actually loves swimming. He often jumps into the shower with my hubby. We live on a lake and often go out in our boat with Browser and his big sister, Gidget. He'll sit at the bow of the boat and just watch the fish forever, occasionally looking up into the sky to watch the birds too.

My 12 year old, Gidget, looks like a minature deer. She barks at the deer here all the time and when we walk the paths over at the recreational center the horses tiptoe around her. It's hillarious to watch.

Keep enjoying Lucy and loving her with all you have. Each day is such a precious gift. These beauties fell straight out of Heaven for us to have and to hold for whatever time we have with them........one day at a time. Though we shall never forget what pain brought us to LS, it was no mistake that these new babies bring joy and happiness back into our lives again and we all need that.

Hugs of love from my heart to yours,
Beth

thank you beth!!!!! oh gosh! lucy and i are having the time of our lives. i miss her every second im away from her. this weekend she and i did a 5k for homeless animals and i was so proud of her. she walked right next to me and nothing distracted her. i couldnt believe it. we were among hundreds of other dogs, of all sizes and breeds, but she focused on the finish line. my sweet angel. then she sat still as i took pictures of her with the laker girls and finally slept in my arms as i had breakfast with a friend and didnt attempt to gobble everything down herself. then again she was exhausted. we got home at around 1 and she slept till 5. my little girl. i tell you, i cannot imagine my life without her. she is so special and you are so right: i know fred is smiling as he watches us. there is not one day that goes by that i dont remember my sweet, most wonderful little fred. (i love you my angel and momma never never forgets. you were my special little furry one and you live in my heart forever and ever, until the day we will be reunited)

i couldnt help but laugh at the thought of little browser jumping in the shower and at gidget looking like a little deer! omg!!! arent they the most special little creatures? we are so lucky to have them in our lives.
i will continue to enjoy my time with my special little crazy dog that i adore, thank you! not a day goes by that i dont tell her how much i adore her. (she hates it and give her tons of kisses and hugs. and youre right. we can never forget the pain but the new babies bring back the laughter and the smiles, the two-pawed hugs and the kisses-up-the nose. everyday that she is with me i thank my maker and my fred for sending her to me.
what would we do without our precious one?

thank you beth for your lovely words. lucy and i send you a big giant hug(((((((((((((((((((((())))))))))))))))))))))
patricia

Hi Patricia,

I had to laugh so hard at your expression of kisses up the nose. That sweet tiny tongue up my nose just sends shivers all over me. I just love that feeling! My older chihuahua, Gidget, does the same thing too. What a blessing Browser is to all of us. He brought out the very best in Gidget and put some pep in her step in her ripening age.

It sounds like you and Lucy are having a great time together. I'm so happy for both of you. Indeed those precious babies bring back the love and laughter into our hearts and homes once again. There's plenty of love to share around for sure. Your Fred and my Goliath will always remain a permanent part of our hearts. There's no doubt about that and for sure we will reunite with them one day, never to be separated again. My heart is at peace knowing this and I pray you know it too.

Take care Patricia.

Huggers,
Beth

thank you beth! i do believe that we will be together again. i have visions of our loved ones jumping in our arms again as we call out their names. it will be so wonderful. i hope that day comes soon. yesterday i had such a sad and lovely revelation. i had gone to the bookstore down the street (first time id ever been to that one) and they were having a dog adoption right at the entrance. in my mind i though, please o god, let me find a parking spot in the back so i can go in thru the back and not have to see all those sweet little ones that dont have a home. i found the parking spot in the back and also found that there wasnt a back entrance. so i took a deep breath and walked thru the cages and into the bookstore. i made my purchases and took another deep breath so i could walk right thru. this time it didnt work. i found myself stopping at every little cage and before i knew it i was sobbing. i wanted to take them all into my arms and bring them home with me. my heart sank as i saw this one precious little boy with sad eyes and i had to inquire about him. she told me his little jaw was broken but was such a sweet little one. she opened the cage and let me hold him. i cried as i held him and gave him little kisses. and as i pet him and hugged him i realized how grateful and blessed we are to have our beautiful little fuzzy friends. and i also wondered if our maker had purposefully given them a shorter life span: so that we could love others that werent loved. as much as i would love to have all my pets for a lifetime, then i wouldnt be able to love any more and i wouldnt have my crazy lucy that i love so much. it was so hard! i am going to try and adopt him or perhaps take one out of the shelter soon and give lucy a little brother or sister.

well on to lucy's adventures. this morning she wore her halloween costome for her morning walk. she was a hotdog. i figure i love her, feed her, and love her some more, the least she can give me is one day out of the year in which i can embarrass her and have a good laugh. hey! isnt that what parents do? embarrass their kids so she hated getting it fitted around her (the buns hung on either side of the ketchup strip in the middle) but once it was on, she stopped fighting and decided to embrace it. it was the best walk weve ever had. i think ill put it on her everyday just kidding. lucy has also graduated and now has free range of the apartment. last week was her first week, although her gramma came to stay with her for a few days so those days dont count. (prior to that she was solely in the kitchen area.). i think she is so much happier now that she can peek out the windows, bark at all the passerbys and sleep on the couch. i purposefully left her for a few hours over the weekend so she wont get sad and cry on monday. although i was sad and crying when i walk in the door, she is curled up on her big bed and her little tail just thumps up and down.

i have just recently learned how to crochet. love it!!! and so does lucy!. the other day as i stepped out of the shower i heard her running all over the place. uh oh! i knew something was wrong. i could just tell! nervously i opened the door. and as i did, she stopped running and sat right in front, proud as could be! Look mom, look what ive done! yeah (sigh) she managed to pull out my new yarn, found the starting point and just ran. when she finally stopped the room was covered in purple yarn…and so was she. no point in getting annoyed, she thought she had done a great job redecorating although i wish i had had my camera handy to take a pix of her handiwork. yes it took me a few hours to roll it back up. and now i cant crochet untill 930 at night when she goes to bed. little lucy! what would i do without her?!?

stay tuned for more lucy "tails"
patricia

Patricia,

I love hearing about Lucy's "tails". I know she is a joy to have even though all her adventures keep you on your toes!

I am getting very close to Flossie's 1 year bridge crossing and though I am really struggling this week I am grateful every day for Mr. Jingles and WeeBee.

Just yesterday Mr. Jingles jumped on the counter and began to lick the beaters on my mixer. I was baking cookies and all children like to lick the beaters if I remember correctly. On Friday evening we hit a deer on the road and we were more worried about WeeBee than ourselves or even the car (which was totaled by the way). She was on my lap & the air bags deployed which scared her to pieces I'm sure. For a long time she just sat perfectly still, staring at my hubby and not moving a muscle. We feared internal injuries since we had no idea if she was hit by the air bag as she appeared to be in shock for about 30 minutes. Back to normal and riding in the other car fine so all is good.... except my car of course!

You are so kind to everyone here that experiences a loss and have such wise comforting words for all of us. Fred must have had something to do with your ability to help the rest of us. Lucy no doubt had a hand in it also!

Thanks for being here for us.....

Ginger

oh ginger you are so kind thank you! but thats what were ALL here for right? to comfort each other. i love reading everyones reponses, including yours. they bring such comfort and peace to my heart. i know that thru this site, we are all helping each other.
i must admit i havent been on this site for a number of weeks now. and its been weighing very heavily. its so hard even 7 months later to get past my freds passing and i wonder how i can comfort another when im still in pieces but it bothers me because i made a solemn promise to my fred that i would help another who has lost their baby, because i know how much we all love love love our furbabies. so im taking it slow again, one day at at a time. like we all should. we must all remember that our furbabies are in a wonderful place now and they are smiling as they watch over us. i miss you so much my little fred! not a day goes by that i dont think of you my little love.
as for you ginger, hang in there my friend. the one year anniversary is certainly very hard isnt it? all the memories come flooding back like a tidal wave. not that theyve ever gone away. but it just feels very raw, the wound is reopened. lucy and i send you a big big hug! and im so glad to hear that you, your husband and little weebee are fine after the accident. cars? it may hurt financially but whats most important is that you are all ok! i would say flossie was watching over you.

as for lucy tails (sigh) well shes back in the kitchen, the little devil. one night i came home and as i sang her praises for being such a good little girl, i noticed something that looked like a wig, sitting in a corner of my bedroom. as i got closer i realized she had pulled up the carpet, tons of it and left it all in a little corner for me. oh my sweet little girl. the praises stopped. i taped it up and the next day (stupid me, i left her out again) i found a much smaller wig in the living room. ayayayay! yes! i quickly made a mental note of the damage that she has caused since shes been with me and i almost passed out but i too learned a valuable lesson. material things? well theyre here today, gone tomorrow but my little lulus is my little ray of sunshine (well most of the time anyway:). i would live in a cardboard box as long as she was with me. although she'd probably chew that up too
today the lesson came into play as my instincts were tried. this morning as we were taking our morning walk, lunge, crazy run, whatever you may want to call it, we saw a little dog that appeared to be lost. as we approached her very cautiously (as we didnt want her to run into the street) she would back off and evenutally ended up in someones driveway. holy cow! another dog was also in the fenced in yard and it began to bark and before i knew it, the dog jumped the fence and was right beside me. it was a pitbull. even though i scold people now because we need to give them a fair chance, i must admit i was scared to death. the dog was barking rather aggresively and my first thought was for lucy. without even thinking i scooped her up in my arms and told the dog to come after me and not little lucy. this has a happy ending, trust me. as i was shaking, and holding lucy very tightly, thd dog continued to bark and not let me go anywhere. i thought what the heck and reached out to stroke her. goodness gracious. thats all it took and i almost got licked to death i grabbed her collar and she walked with me so we could find her owner. he was forever grateful. turns out the little dog was his too and he had no idea they were getting out. thru all this squirmy lucy just wanted down so i set her down and the pitbull named gina gave her a huge lick in the face lucy and i looked at each other as if to say "all in a days work" and continued on our crazy run, walk, whatever:) yes when we got home, she went crazy like she always does, chewed up the left boot this time and kept pulling at my right pant leg:) all in a days work. i love you lucy!!!

well the crazy lucy tails continue. stay tuned. and hang in there ginger. give weebee and mr. jingles hugs kisses and a million treats (and cookie batter) from lucy and me!
patricia

todays "tail" is not so bad. it is actually very sweet and i thought i wanted to share it. it seems that little lucy has learned to give hugs to other dogs. she loves the bigger dogs. in fact, she's IN LOVE with a huge neighbor dog. actually ive never seen one that looks like bentley so i couldnt tell you what kind of dog it was except that when i first "met" him he looked like a hippopotamus and is as big as one too. when bentley walks outside of our door, she cries and when they have a chance encounter outside, well, i can see the hearts flying. bentley gets his huge head, down to her level as she stands on her back feet, gently places her two front paws on either side of his gi-nourmous head and butts foreheads. it is perhaps one of the sweetest things ive ever seen. more recently, she has run into other big dog friends who get very frenetic and my looney little dog does the same thing with them. although i dont see the sparks flying, she does it in a manner that says, calm down, im here and i wuv you too. wow, it makes me want to cry when i think about it. what a wonderful lesson to us all. if only we could love and tolerate each other as human beings as our beautiful little four-legged friends do. they dont see color, race, weight, height anything at all. they just love each other. Lucy has been dying to meet a couple of bull dogs that although gentle, their owner prefers to keep them apart and i certainly wont argue but i liken it to when i see someone that just doesnt seem like they belong or looks a bit scary,i will quickly move to the other side of the street or whatever. Lucy doesnt see that she only sees two beautfiul dogs that look at her with gorgeous eyes and she wants to share the love. i dont know maybe im wrong about the bulldogs and maybe they look at lucy as dinner, but whatever the case may be, she would love to put her two little paws around them and share the love.
what would we do without our furbabies? if i think about it for too long, the tears well up. i cant imagine my life without her. but i slowly realize that they all have a purpose in our lives. we just have to find it.
love you my little lucy and im coming home in half an hour.
we are all so very lucky to have loved and to continue loving.
patricia

well, today was a rough day. not only did i have a rough weekend with lucy, my crazy beautiful dog but this morning i found out that one of her buddies, jack, passed away over the weekend. my heart is broken. jack was a very special dog. he was a gentle beast and he will be missed by his momma and daddy, zoe, his little jack russell sister and of course all of his friends and family. he was loved very much and now i know he has crossed and is looking after his momma and daddy.
well to ease the pain, i decided to record "lucy's first thanksgiving tails" cuz it makes me laugh. and laughing is better than crying. lucy's gramma came over on wednesday nite to spend the entire weekend with us. lucy couldnt stop wiggling and wagging that tail of hers. sometimes i think she loves her more than she does me. when my mother comes over, i give her my bed and i sleep on the couch. lucy, then, sleeps with gramma, but in her crate. oh was she ever happy to see her in the morning. as i walk her at 730 in the morning (and ive never been a morning person), i tiptoed in so as not to wake up my mother, yeah right! as i quietly opened her crate i was received with a bolt as she jumped out, knocked me down and jumped on the bed and proceeded not only to wake my mom up but to smother her with kisses. well thats the nice part. she also got excited and started eating her hair as she jumped up and down…on my mother. then she ended it with a giant bite of the nose. yes sireeee. thats my dog. i finally smothered her a bit so i could put her little coat on and leash and i dragged her away from my poor mother who has bald spots all over her head now. as she walked-ran away from the bed, she kept looking back at my mother, who was seeing stars at this point, as if to say, dont go anywhere, im coming back. although she didnt say it, i could see my mother thinking how she could get a ride back to her precious home, away from this little crazy one. we walked an extra 15 minutes to give her time to recover.
thanskgiving morning, i was very grateful to have my mother and my little furry love with me. lucy however had other thoughts. she was just grateful her gramma was with her. she shadowed my mother the entire day, well actually for the next three days. not only did she shadow her, she had to touch her leg at all time. try making thanksgiving dinner in a tiny kitchen that barely fit two people at once and now we had to watch out for a furry body that watched my moms every move and prayed that something would fall from the countertop. we managed to finish dinner without moving an inch. i strategically placed myself next to the refrigerator so i could pass things to my mother, she would throw stuff in a bowl and pass it back to me so i could stir. i would then pass it back to her to put on the stove or the oven. it only took us 5 hours and very stiff and sore legs (ours not lucy's) to make dinner. lucy meanwhile just sat next to my mom on the little rug and enjoyed the warmth of the oven and the yummy smells. at 4 we sat down, yes lucy too. she decided that sitting next to my mother would get her treats easier than if she sat with mom, or like i said before, maybe she just loves her more. not one dish was passed, one bite eaten that she didnt note. it was like a tennis match. her head bobbed back and forth and her eyes got bigger and bigger and then she took a deep breathe and walked away. she finally realized that she wasnt get anything from momma or gramma. ok i must interject and let you know that i dont give her people food for the simple reason that i love her so much and i am mortified that she could eat something that makes her sick. BUT, she looked so sad and my mom was beggin me to give her a little something so i gave in. when we finished i made her a little plate of chicken dinner (i dont eat turkey anymore). she got a bit of mashed potatoes and greenbeans. i decided against the cranberry sauce. when she finished licking her chops, i picked her up, gave her a big hug and said happy thanksgiving lucy. but before i could finish saying it, she wiggled herself out of my arms, ran to find my mother, who was groaning in agony over the overeating, lay down next to her and fell asleep. my mother rubbed her little belly. i think it made her feel like someone was doing that to HER. i dont know but i think lucy was smiling as she was sleeping. her belly was full but more importantly she won the battle. she finally got to eat people food. im still not sure which one of the two made her happiest…but im glad she was happy. momma went back to groaning while i washed the dishes and cleaned up, gramma rubbed her granddog's belly and lucy? well lucy dreamt of mashpotatoes and more pumpkin pie. (sigh) she has a good life that little one i miss you fred and riley and love you so so much. and lucy, i love you too my little pumpkin but just know that thanksgiving only comes round once a year. dont get used to this.
up next: lucy isnt coughing anymore.... stay tuned.

Hi Patricia, I have just read your post for the first time and send my deepest sympathies for your loss of Fred. 7 months is not that long, mine is almost that long too and I'm coping but still miss my baby heaps, always will. Lucy is just gorgeous, I couldn't have resisted her either, what an awful life she had before you took her in, I'm so glad she got such a loving home in the end. Your mum sounds great and very "tolerant" My mum was like that too, all my animals loved her, she was a very kind and loving person. I found it really difficult to put my love into another animal too when ulriich died, I just wanted him and only him, but that seems to be the norm I think. I have my grand daughter's cat with me and gradually I have transfered a lot of my love toward her, but I was like you at first, just wished she was Ulriich and not her. She has turned out to be a really beautiful cat and I love her heaps now. Have a great Christmas.

madi xx

its been very hard. ive been absent from this site for a very long time and im so sorry. i realize now that i was almost faking my healing but it wanst really working. my grief for the loss of fred was bigger than i was and i just didnt know how to cope. but im back and so happy to be back amongst this wonderful group of people.
im happy to report that lucy is doing well. she is still as crazy as ever and still my heart! not too long ago, she went to get her annual vaccination and as her wonderful doctor was giving her the routine checkup, discovered that she had a heart murmur. of course this mom went to "that" place immediately and completely lost composure. he took her to see his other partners and they all concurred. that night i also took her to see my neigbors (who are married vets) and they also agreed. may i just stop here and say how grateful i am for everyone who loves my little lucy and will do anything to help her. i was given a name of a doggie cardiologist (who knew) and although i didnt want to hear whatever it was that he was going to tell me, by the end of the week i was coming apart at the seams so i took a deep breath and made the appointment for the following day. i dragged lucy's gramma with me because two crying women are better than one. the cardiologist was a wonderful man who was taking over for a female doctor on maternity leave. as it turns out he was headed back home to canada the following day and lucy was his very last patient. he lovingly checked her out and then proceeded to give her her first doggie ultrasound. while gramma and i took our tears to lunch. two very long hours later i called the hospital to find out when i could pick up my little girl and the woman at the front desk came back and said "you know, we are not normally allowed to say anything, but the doctor has informed me that i can give you good news and that you can pick her up now". tears of joy!!!! i think i ran a coupla red lights and drove so fast and when that little dog saw me, she smiled so so big and jumped in my arms. ive never been so happy! i was told she was born with this condition and that she would have it till she went to heaven, but whe more than likely, would never need medication for it. i squeezed her so hard, she yelped. we drove to maxwell dog (her favorite doggie store) and filled a big bag with her favorite treats and brand new toys that she really didnt need
i am so blessed to have her in my life!
and now: INTRODUCING ETHEL MAE POTTER MERTZ. The GOOD NEWS: ive been wanting to give her a little sister for the longest time and yet my fears of adopting another crazy one kept me from doing it. but one day, i just did it (more on that later). i drove to the south central shelter and was actually on route to bringing home another one, when ethel found me. The BAD NEWS: I thought she was all chihuahua (mix) and was so pleased with myself at bringing home a sweet, docile little dog that would help calm lucy down, but when her doctor met her, he shook his head at me and said "Nope, she's ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL (it still echoes in my head) terrior. in fact shes half jack russell". ANother one???? what happened. in my delirium, i asked the doctor if i could go outside and come back in and if he could just tell me something else, anything just not that she was a jack russell. puleeeeeeze! he laughed till tears came out. however, this momma wasnt laughing was it too late to trade her in? just kidding of course. well i took a big sigh and here we are. i not only have lucy the crazy dog, i have lucy and ethel: TWO CRAZY DOGS. i call them my beastie girls. last saturday was ethel's two month anniversary. has it been easy? no! have i wanted to return her many times? yes and drop both of them off (kidding but when we go on our morning walks just the three of us (reminds me of that song: just the two (three) of us, we can make it if we try, just the three of us, you and you and i and ethels tail never stops wagging, well, it bring tears of joy to my eyes. she was a little stray (shes two) that has already had a litter. her eyes are so deep and sad. i know shes had a rough start in life but now she has a momma that loves her to death and a little sister that adores her, as long as stays in check ethel mae potter mertz found her forever home and i promise to love them, take care of them and love them some more forever and ever! fred and riley, i love you so so so so so much. i know you are both enjoying watching all of this. and could you, and would you please do something to calm both of these little nuts down please!
more of lucy and ethels adventures coming soon. picture of both my girls are posted.

Patricia,

I am so glad to see you back! You've been on my mind several times this past week & I was thinking I needed to send you a pm to see how you were doing. You were such a good mentor for many and I loved the Lucy stories. Now we will have Lucy & Ethel stories.

Really glad to hear Lucy's heart murmer is not serious.

You really have a couple of cuties there................ I hope you have lots of energy as it looks like you have really got your hands full. I can see in those pictures why you were chosen to be their Mom. They look so happy.

Welcome back and such good news for all three of you.

Ginger

thank you ginger! so so much for your kind words. i truly have missed everyone here and not being able to respond to so many people that needed our comforting words was killing me. but like i said im in a much better place. time really does heal! and now i am able to think of my fred without falling apart. i miss the little one so much. i still cry but now as i think of his beautiful little face, i smile. where i am now is a place i hope everyone will get too. in time...

i was late to work today (so what else is new) but this time for a different reason. my lucy and ethel seem to enjoy gnawing and chewing on any of mommas articles of clothing. whether it be making holes, tearing at the straps, or chewing the heel as if its a bone... today is a wonderful day as its a short week for many of us. we were lucky to have been given the day off tomorrow. why am i rambling? only to explain why today is my casual day at work. i can wear sweats, jeans or pj's if i so choose. and i chose sweats. except that every pair that i put on had what i choose to call "ventilation" in it. they look like swiss cheese. what the heck? its a good thing i realized it before getting in my car as last week i quickly put on my green sweats to quickly take the beastie girls out. its LA and its spring so therefore as is common these days, it was freezing outside. as i bent over to pick up my girls "business" a car drove by and honked. i immediately realized my cheeks (and not the ones on my face) were getting a little more air than usual. yep, you guessed it. the girls put holes in both sides, the size of tortillas. just another day...

to everyone here who is suffering: i know its hard, i know it seems like the sadness will never go away, i know everything reminds us of our loved ones. focus on the wonderful times and dont rush it. grieve as long as you need to. i tried to rush it and pretend i was ok and it actually made everything worse. but the positive that came out of all of this is that i am proof that time heals all wounds and that there DOES come a day when the tears begin to dry up and are replaced with smiles and we are able to think about how much better our lives were because of them.

have a blessed day ginger and everyone here.
patricia

good morning everyone,
today, on "The adventures of Lucy and Ethel", Lucy predicts an earthquake! no lie we had a 3 pointer very early this morning. which explains why lucy was acting so funny yesterday. she was so attached to me. as we lay in bed, watching tv, she lay her little face on mine. it was very sweet except that i couldnt breathe. who knew? i may have to enroll her in CalTech and have her work with the earthquake team of experts. she doesnt require a hi-paying salary, just her favorite bones and Capt Crunch cereal from time to time.
meanwhile ethel mae potter mertz, who could care less about earthquakes, squeezed into her tiny laker t-shirt yesterday and the lakers still lost! so, she did what any angry laker fan would do: she ate her t-shirt. yep! she did! (okay, she really didnt eat it, she just chewed it up and spit it out.) time for a new one. i ordered it online. hope it gets here before the next game.
have a great day!

i must record the beginning of my life with ethel mae potter mertz: the second little love of my life.
i had been searching online for a second dog, one that would calm my crazy lucy down a bit. i had promised myself that i would get another by the end of 2010 - october to be exact. but in the meantime i kept pouring over the shelter sites. of course i found hundreds of little ones that i would love but i would convince myself that i was just looking. of course deep inside i was so afraid of ending up with another terror. well the day finally came where i saw this beautiful little terrior online and i thought to myself " what are you waiting for? it will never be a good time" and i drove myself to the south la shelter one thursday afternoon. as i pulled up to the shelter i saw this woman walking a cute little dog, its tail wagging and i remember thinking what a cute little dog (thinking that it belonged to the woman). well to make a long story short (if possible), i took a deep breathe and walked in to inquire about this dog that i had seen online. for some reason, everyone was having trouble finding this particular dog. 20 minutes later, it occured to them that this dog was getting prepped to get spayed. they told me that they were sure that this dog would get adopted soon because she was so cute therefore, they were spaying her and sending her to dog adoption events. they snuck me in to see her anyways and she was a scared little dog who almost bit my hand off when i reached in. as much as i already loved her i had to consider whether she would get along with lucy. since i couldnt do anything anyways and id been gone for two hours already, i decided to leave and come back the next day. as i was exiting, i hard a voice and turned to see the same woman i had seen walking outside. i gingerly approached her and introduced myself. she told me she was a (wonderful) volunteer. personally i dont know how they do it. by this time, my non-waterproof mascara was running down my cheeks and i looked like i was psychotic. its just so sad to walk into a shelter... anyways, i asked if she could lead me to the dog that she had been walking and she did. the rest is history. ethel worked so hard at getting my attention and i was also told that nobody wanted her. people always seemed to walk right past her little cage. i held her for the longest time and i was beyond in love. when i put her back, she cried as if i was skinning her alive. i knew then that i would have to take her home with me. i returned the next morning, right when they opened and asked for her. they immediately took her to get microchipped and getting her prepped for her spay surgery. the people at the shelter couldnt have been lovelier. they all held her and said goodbye. and i held her and gave her a big hug promising to pick her up after her surgery. i promised to take care of her, protect her from all danger (meaning lucy and love her with all my heart. saturday couldnt come any sooner and i drove over to the shelter hospital where they handed me a quiet, beautiful, docile little (what i thought) chihuahua. poor little girl. the first two weeks were heaven. of course they were. she was sedated and then her new doctor met her and gave me the news that would change my life forever! she was not a chihuahua at all. she was in fact alllllll terrior and in fact had a lot of jack russell in her. wha-a-a-a-a-a-a-t? could it be true? another half jack russell? that would mean that with lucy's half jack russell i now had a whole (jack russell). after they woke me up with smelling salts i wondered if it was to late to return her (kidding of course). aghhhhh! what had i done in this lifetime to get another crazy dog? and let me tell you, crazy she is. holy terror, when ethel mae walks down the street, everyone better watch out but im crazy too. crazy about my little ethel mae potter mertz. lucy mcgillicudy loves her to pieces, even when she is tearing her ear off. ethel is very vocal and speaks many many languages she growls, yelps, and never stops whining but she has brought more sunshine into our little apartment. i catch lucy smiling every now and then. well to sum it all: the day ethel adopted me and lucy was the second happiest day of my life

Patricia,

You are EXACTLY who these 2 terrors needed in their lives........... you have the right attitude and sense of humor to deal with them! I am so glad you are back on the forum to tell the adventures of Lucy & Ethel.

It is so amazing to find so many, many people on here who have the best dog/cat that ever was to walk the planet! My husband now has the most wonderful dog ever. When people see her and ask about her I interject "let me tell you right now: this is THE best, smartest dog in the WORLD". She bonded to him and picked him out as she was roaming the streets in a very small town (wide spot in the road actually... entering & leaving sign are on the SAME sign almost!). She has developed the leg problem in the other hind leg that she had last summer so you know I ran off to the vet immediately. She is too heavy so now I have to be the bad guy & cut down the food intake and keep her quiet for 2 weeks again..... that is about like you keeping Lucy or Ethel quiet as she also is a bundle of energy. Maybe she has Jack Russel in her too.........

Keep the stories coming...........

Ginger

hi ginger
thank you for your never-ending kind words. you know my mom says the same thing. she says "no one but you would be able to put up with these dogs". she says it in a huff but she luuuuuuuuuves her little granddogs. sometimes, when i walk inside my apartment and take a survey of all the damage, i wonder where they sell humor in a bottle. can i get a prescription for it cuz i need a lot of it but they are the loves of my life. lucy is my heart. she put a smile on my face when nothing else would. ethel just adores her bigger yet younger sister lucy and cant wait to play everyday. and by play, i mean tear each others ears off, put teeth marks in each others legs, bite each others nose off and other fun things like that. when they come back from their walk, i give them breakfast and dinner and dont bother taking their leash off. ethel, the little rascal, eats her food so quickly because she wants to play play play and she will grab lucy's leash and tug on it while poor lucy looks at me like "moooooom, please make her stop". i dont because its so funny. ahhhhh my terrors!
it IS funny how everyone thinks their dog is the absolute best/smartest/cutest dog in the world. i was just thinking that the other day because i was walking my neighbors dog and i thought, "wow my lucy is so much smarter." but i love it and it just delights me to know how much we all love our dogs. thats the way it should be! btw: weebee IS the absolute best dog in the world the best, the luckiest, the most beautiful, the smartest. i just LOVE how he came and found you. sweet weebee she doesnt understand that keeping her quiet (next to impossible if shes even a quarter of lucy and ethel are) is good for her. i will add her to my prayer list and hope that she recovers very soon. i bet you were so worried... (its so scary when these things happen). and god help you if weebee DOES have jack russel in her. holy moly!!!!
funny, you and i have the same issues. lucy and ethels vet wagged his finger at me the other day. both lucy and ethel are (and he could have softened the blow but didnt) FAT. how can i say no to my girls? but i too had to cut down on the food and treat intake, which they are not happy about. thank goodness they love carrots although they would love carrots more when they were covered in peanut butter
please give weebee and mr jingles a big big hug and sloppy kiss from lucy, ethel and myself. its so good to "talk" to you. i hope one day our paths will cross and i wll be able to meet the wonderful parents to the most amazing dog/cat that ever walked the planet
big big hugs
patricia, lucy and ethel

ps: please keep me posted on weebees progress.

well, lucy is at it again. permit to start from the beginning. yesterday was just another day: wake up, walk the beastie girls, feed them breakfast, last walk, get in car, go to work, and normally, come home from work, walk the ladies, feed them dinner, walk them again, put them to bed. i wasnt thinking anything would upset that routine but something did. 430 in the evening my friend and coworker comes over to let me know he now has an extra ticket to the Laker vs Boston GAME 6 playoff. this is a DO or DIE game and would i like to go. (bear with me here). at first, i thought it was a very mean joke but then i quickly realized he was serious. my first thought was i cant, my beasties are expecting me home, well actually that was my second thought. (i must admit the lakers playing for their life this year, takes precidence over my girls, but not for too long) my first was if i go, i could jinx the game and the lakers could lose (as if it took a bit of coaxing and then the second thought took over. i know lucy will be fine because there are nights where i have to work late and shes ok, but this is ethels first time not knowing where her momma is. would she be ok? would she destroy the place? (and by place, i mean the entire apartment building but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and i had to take it or i would regret it forever. so i went. (nobody cares but it was THE best time of my life. of course we won and won big we left the game at 912pm and i knew i wouldnt get home till at least 10. panic set in. are the ladies ok? have they ripped each other apart? have they set fire to the building? have they demolished any walls (and by demolished i mean chewed). i was seriously hoping that when i got home, the girls would be comfortably seated in front of the tv, orange soda in one paw, baby carrots in the other, watching Cesar Millan. i pulled in at exactly 10 and sure enough Ethel hears the car and starts in on her screaming and yowling, as if im killing her. i run to the apartment to shush her and let them out only to find lucy covered in…blood? OMG!!!!! i turn on a light and begin to examine her. she seems perky? but the "blood" seems like its dry. its covering her paws, it spots her little sausagy body and when she rolls on her back i gasp. she has cuts all over her little belly. i panic again. omg! i must rush her to the… uh wait a minute. why did a "cut" just rub off on my hands. i tug on her paw and the "blood" comes off again. hmm pesky little girl! what is this? this "bleeding" little dog is covering my face in kisses. if she was hurt, wouldnt she be a little more quiet? then i saw the answer. in the corner of the room was a little object. as i closely examined it (it took me a while to figure out what it was since it was all chewed up) i realized it was my lipliner in bright red. i have no idea where she found it since EVERYTHING is puppy proofed and she ate the whole thing. the only part she couldnt get to was the pencil's lid, although she chewed it up till it was virtually unrecognizable. two thing: i guess all little girls love playing with make up. and two: Mac makeup, you make a delicious lipliner cuz lucy's ready for another. could you send an eyeliner instead so i wont think that my beautiful dog is bleeding out? thank you so much in advance this morning i still couldnt rub it off completely so for now shes covered in red lipliner, covered. hope it tasted good lucy! i love you. and by the way, ethel looked at me like "what? i didnt do a thing. see? im the good child!" i love you too ethel mae! fred and riley i miss you both everyday. i hope you are enjoying this but i dont know how much more my old heart can take. i love you both and miss you like crazy!
have a blessed day everyone and everyone here is in my prayers.

wow! its been almost a year since ive posted on this site. this is the most wonderful site ever. and i will never forget you all. how could i? you held me up in my darkest hour, when even i didnt think i could ever get up again. thank you! i have a facebook page and i have to say i have "liked" many a dog page and between going back and forth from facebook to this site, it was waterworks every day. so i had to stop for awhile, again. gone for a bit but NEVER forgotten. it is so hard as you all know, to read about another baby's passing. you relive your own again, and your heart breaks over and over again, not just for your own loss but for everyone else's as well. everyday i strive to remind myself that our loved ones are still watching over us and they were sent here as gifts from our heavenly father. but when those gifts are gone, wow! it hurts so bad. since my last posting, i have decided to get even more involved in animal advocacy. it is my calling to help be their voice. there are so many angels out there who do the real work with our four-legged sweethearts (god bless them all!). all i do is repost and repost (dog adoption, save a dog, anything re: dogs) on my facebook page. its not much at all but its more than i was doing before. but the other day as i was driving in to work, i had the biggest smile, thinking about my crazy loonies and how their tails never stop wagging. yes, everyday i shed a few tears (im the biggest crybaby as some of you will remember) as i think about the suffering that mine have gone thru and how happy (i hope) that they are now. every time those tails wag, lucy and ethel are saying i love you momma! and that (see? here i go again) makes me cry tears of happiness. im still just as in love with my girls as ive ever been, if not more. and they are just as crazy as they ever were, if not more so i decided that i had to get back to "writing" about the laughter that my girls bring me. hopefully my fred and riley are reading this from rainbow bridge and laughing their cute little kitty faces off.

Lucy has calmed down quite a bit since ethel moved in. but when you consider that on a scale of 1-10 - 10 being super crazy, lucy was a 20, well, i think you get it. ethel is about a 9. i remember so fondly the day i picked ethel up from the hospital. the doctor and technician, handed her over to me and we gently placed her in her new bedroom - we like to think of it as their bedroom but its really just a crate. they both said to me " you picked such a sweet dog. shes so gentle and doesnt bark at any of the other dogs" i stroked her little yoda-like head gently and my heart was bursting with joy. not the joy of bringing home another doggie, but the joy of this baby dog teaching lucy how to be sweet, gentile and CALM. hurray (insert audio fx: record player needle scratch) not! as the calendar moved forward, and ethel mae got better, she began making demands of both lucy and i. huh? lucy and i kept looking at each other and scratching our heads. but but but where is the sweet gentle little dog thats supposed to teach my other dog some manners? i dont know but i think ethel left HER manners at the shelter cut to present day where she is the most vocal dog i have ever had. she growls as she lovingly wrestles lucy to the ground. she grunts when her momma makes her keep walking and doesnt allow her to sniff and eat the chicken bones someone left all over the street. she squeals when she sees a squirrel that she wants to play with and she growls and bares teeth as she and lucy play tug-of-war with momma's sock. (btw, they own every single dog toy ever made yet they prefer to destroy momma's socks) then she sits in a little heap and bats her eyes when she gets a little (and i mean little) scolding. my little girl she eats her breakfast and pretends to be doing something else and the minute lucy walks away from her dish, shes on it and grabs as much kibble as her fat cheeks can handle. she knows its wrong but she just cant help it. this takes us to two weeks ago when i took the girls in for their checkup and ethels vaccinations. i walked in with my head held high as i had been working on ethels weight for a few months now. she had come to me as a scrawny 9-10lb pup and was now a healthy, chubby little 15 pounder. doc had shook his head, no no. she must be only 13 lbs the most. no problem doc. she will shed those pounds in no time. i mean are you kidding me? we walk 45 minutes in the am and 25 in the pm, every single day! so i walked in with confidence and as usual, the whole team (like in cheers, that tv show) says "NORM" i mean "LUCY" "ETHEL". they usher me into the room and i proudly take a seat. oh how happy i will be when he tells me im the best mom in the world. lucy and ethel are at their perfect weight and are doing splendidly. well i guess i should say how quickly that smile turned upside down. ethel was whisked away to the scale and doc came back shaking his head again. WHAT? yes she had gained a pound and was now a large and lovely 16 pounder. This cannot be! but it was true! currently she is on a diet food and we have upped our walks even more.. i could have sworn she had a waist again... now its an hour in the morning and 25 min in the pm. no treats except carrots and i had her groomed. well?!? fur adds weight right? at least i hope so. im proud to say in 3 weeks she has lost 1/2 an inch. yes this momma took her home and measured her curves! although our journey is pretty amusing, i must say there is a serious side to this as i am terrified of heart disease, diabetes or any other disease that will take my booboo away from me. so thats where we are at. i also have to add that during halloween last year, her weight contributed to her winning top costume prize at her doggie halloween party. (see attachments). ethel and lucy went as thanksgiving dinner: ethel was the turkey and lucy was corn on the cob. hope the pictures make you smile. this year, this momma has decided that ethel doesnt need to be plump and juicy
well, thats it for lucy and ethel's tails for today believe me there are so many stories to tell but to everyone here who is grieving, i never forgot you. i prayed and still pray for all of you (whether i "spoke" to you or not), every single day. may god heal all of the broken hearts. may he bring peace to your lives and may he bring smiles to your faces. fred and riley i love you both so much. have you noticed im getting better though? i dont think i will ever stop crying but thats just because i miss you so much.
until next time, we send you hugs and kisses up the nose. patricia, lucy and ethel.

ps: please say a prayer for all the rescue dogs that are in japan doing wonderful work in helping to find survivors. also a prayer for all the animals that are now homeless or suffering because of this devastation. may god be with them all.