August 14th marks the two year anniversary of saying goodbye to our beloved yellow labrador Lucy. She was 14.5 years old when she left us and I miss her. Lucy was our first dog and was a bossy, smart, stubborn, loveable girl who helped make us a family. She was a very naughty puppy and we wondered if we would ever survive that stage. Riley and Stella have seemed like dream puppies compared to her craziness.
Riley is the dog that taught me to love training but Lucy was the dog that introduced me to the world of natural dog health. She developed food allergies as a young dog which eventually lead me to raw feeding. When she was five years old she got terribly sick and was diagnosed with Chronic Active Hepatitis and was expected to live less than six months. We chose to support and fight her liver problems with many supplements and healthy food and she rebounded and did not show liver issues again until much later in life. She also had bad problems in her final years with mobility so we learned again about things like IMS therapy (similar to accupuncure), dog chiropractors, swim therapy and supplements. Her smile was ever present no matter what life threw at us.
She had a bad experience with a jack russell when she was six months and held a life long grudge against small, bossy dogs. I know now that we probably could have trained past that but luckily her situation was easy to manage as it was easy to know the type of dog that would bother her. She was ten when we brought home puppy Riley so they never really played much but were very good friends. Riley was always gentle with her and was her great protector in her senior, wobbly years.
When I think of her now I am flooded with happy memories. Our recent camping trip to Oregon had us laughing at funny thoughts from years camping with our yellow dog. I still have moments where I cry and my heart aches from missing her so much but mostly I am just grateful to have known her. Thanks for being our dog Lulubelle, you are forever in our hearts!
They are gone but never forgotten. Time will heal your sorrow eventually but until then, it's still hard on those special dates. Our thoughts are with you as you remember your beloved Lucy.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sylvia :).
DeleteAw. So sorry you are missing your sweet girl. I loved the tribute video - she had very expressive eyes. :-) The shot of the Lucy and Riley lying on the beach together (about 3/4 of the way through) was so sweet...and loved the one of them running together in the water. Thanks for sharing your precious memories.
ReplyDeleteThe beach was her most favourite place in the world and we have lots of wonderful memories there.
DeleteWhat a pretty girl she was. And what a great life she had with you!
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