Lucy and the Beast-May 2018

When we arrived at our amazing vacation home we found a huge yard with a pond the kids and Beast could swim in, but we also found whole lot more! On our first day, the kids and Beast headed out to the pond to swim. As they all jumped in the water, Beast ran around hoping in and out. He then jumped the creek behind the pond and ran toward a field. I was a little worried so I walked to the creek and saw him running with another dog. It was brown, short haired and full of energy. When I called Beast he came running and the other dog followed. This was the beginning of a new friendship.

Beast, and Lucy, we learned her name later, ran and played, swam and then ran and played some more. Lucy is such a sweet dog and she would come up to the kids and us and just beg to be petted. She would then take off with Beast and play some more. One of the funniest things was Lucy trying to catch Beast’s leash. We leave Beast’s leash on when he is running like this because he doesn’t always want to stop and catching him can be a challenge. It is easier to dive for his leash than for his collar. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see Lucy caught Beast’s leash several times. Once she got it, she led Beast around like a puppy. It was so funny. I think we solved the dog walking problem. Just let them walk each other. Lucy and Beast ran for hours and hours.

We finally had to go in for the evening and Lucy looked heartbroken. She sat at the door watching us and following Beast with her eyes. I fed her some dinner and she laid down in the back yard. We figured she would be gone home the next morning. She had a collar and tags on so we knew she had a home.

We didn’t see her when we went out on the porch to sit for a few minutes before bed, but as we sat there, another dog walked up to the porch. She was a sweet, older border collie and she just wanted to be petted too. Beast was in bed, so she was calm. We gave her some treats and petted her and after a while she turned and went back home across the street. We found out later that her name, oddly enough, was Lucy also! What are the odds.

Over the next few days, both Lucys showed up every time we were at the house. The young, brown Lucy could keep up with Beast and they ran, swam and played for hours on end. The older Lucy would just try to get through the younger dogs to get some petting. When they got too close or jumped on her, she set back on her hind legs and let her teeth show! She growled like a wild dog and Beast and the other Lucy would back off and run the other way. Just as quick, Old Lucy would go back to a sweet little dog and come over to one of us to be petted! She would play with the younger dogs some, but usually they were too much for her and if we didn’t pet her, she would go back home.

For the first 3 days, when we went out on the porch, Young Lucy was laying in one of the chairs sleeping! She could eat everything we fed her and we started to get worried that someone had to be looking for her. One night we even heard someone calling out the name Lucy, however at that time we did not know Young Lucy’s name, but we did know Old Lucy’s! We just thought they were calling Old Lucy so we didn’t respond and Young Lucy was having too much fun running away from home and playing with all the kids and dogs!

On the third morning that Lucy was visiting, I woke up early and walked to the front door. I was going to check and see if Young Lucy was gone. When I looked out the window, I nearly feel over laughing! I guess we had not gotten up early enough for Lucy and she needed to play. She had pulled the cushion she was sleeping on off the chair and started chewing. When I found her, she was laying on the remains and it looked like a snow storm of cotton had exploded all over the porch! Lucy looked exhausted and didn’t even jump up when I opened the door. The kids collected all of the cotton and the cushion and I fed Lucy so she wouldn’t feel the need to eat cushion again. I decided I better try to find Young Lucy’s home.

We did not have a lot of phone signal, so when I drove down to the Dollar General I called the chip number from Lucy’s collar. After a little wait, they found her owner who called me back. They were so happy to know Lucy was safe. I spoke to Lucy’s mom April and we arranged for her husband to come pick her up that night. They had been looking for Lucy (That was who we heard call her!) and Lucy had even gone home the night before and then left again. She was also visiting another neighbor for treats and then playing the neighborhood. They only lived a short way down the road.
Curtis came to pick Lucy up that night and even though we were very sad to see her go, it was great reuniting her with her family! Lucy really wore Beast out for us and helped him have an even better trip. Old Lucy came back a few times, but just couldn’t keep up with Beast. We were gone most of the time the last couple of days, but it sure was quiet without Lucy running around. She made a lot of new friends with Beast, the kids and all of us loving her sweet personality! I repaired the cushion and even though it lost a little bit of its corner, it was in pretty good shape! Beast has yet to meet a dog that he didn’t like and want to play with! He loved Lucy and had a blast running and playing! She also got him to really swim which he hasn’t done in a while. He swam across the lake with the kids like a fish! It was so cool to watch them swim together.

Everywhere we go, the kids and Beast seemed to find a ton to entertain themselves. With all the things we did on this trip, if you asked the kids, I think they would say swimming in the pond and running and playing in the yard might have been their favorite. It’s often the simplest things that keep kids and dogs the happiest. For all the toys we buy Beast, he is much happier stealing a sock and chewing on it for hours. Lucy brought a little extra sunshine to our trip and we will always remember her for that! Old Lucy also came back several times and even though she didn’t have the energy Young Lucy did, she was so sweet and again she added more to our trip! Beast brings more joy to us every day! These are things we might have missed without him! I think he had an amazing trip too! He came in when we got home and passed out. He is one worn out dog and dreaming happy dreams about all the fun we had!