Lucy
Lucy came to our family in early summer, 2017 after the death of her beloved human companion. She was 12, and in good health with the exception of a red lump on her right front paw, which could be fixed or just left, according to the vet. I chose the latter, as the former included the use of the heinous Elizabethan collar and carried no guarantee of success anyway. For all her days with us, she needed no collar, Elizabethan or otherwise, or leash; she was a simple soul who wanted nothing but to be accepted and loved, and to reciprocate both qualities.
She fit into the scheduled life of the others in the family – 45 minute walk from about 6:30 am – 7:15 am. – on leash for the beagle and off leash for Lucy, a German Shepherd X, and a faux-Border Collie who turned out to be a Poodle/Beagle/Dalmatian/”other” mutt – followed by low-key snoozing and hanging out and a half-hour afternoon walk, dinner and early bed.
The lump was somehow lost during those walks, and Lucy thrived. She became a spokesperson for ElderDog Canada, as she was an easy subject whose good looks as a cross between a Rotti and a Husky made her a perfect advertisement for the companionship which loving older dogs offer to people, especially seniors. Lucy was quite a celebrity, featured in a CBC TV, radio, and web story in August, 2017.
I looked forward to her being the dog who could safely stay in the unfenced portion of the garden with me once Spring arrived. It was not to be as Lucy developed – seemingly overnight in mid-March, 2018 – a mysterious neurological difficulty. How this happened to one so youthful in her outlook on the serene life she had cultivated I do not know, nor could a visit to the veterinarian clarify this oddity. Lucy had become disoriented, unwilling to eat, and unhappy with herself.
She spoke clearly to the family. And so, to follow her desire to find a better place, Lucy moved on, on May 2, 2018, to live in memory, with me in the garden.