Saying Goodbye

Yesterday our Lucy left our house for forever.

Our silly, wild, over enthusiastic dog who loved her peoples with an exuberance that often left them flat on the floor is gone.

She was Little Girl's best friend in the world. They were Trouble One and Trouble Two. 

Loyal. Happy. Sweet. All great descriptions of our Lucy.

But also crazy and reckless. Wild. Uncontrollable.

Nothing was safe with her around. Every tool, toy, bike, piece of equipment, amazon box etc. was her personal chew toy. The amount of things she destroyed could fill a landfill. 

No one was safe. Every person who walked on our property was fair game for her. Little people were especially fun. Slamming them to the ground and rolling over top of them was her favorite pastime. 

My poor 85 year old dad took his life in his hands each time he came over.

Chewing and destroying we could handle. She's still a puppy. She will outgrow that destructive tendency.

The jumping and uncontrolled wildness we could not.

We tried. We tried to train her. She would sit and listen and stay at mealtimes like a pro. She understood commands. She was calm and quiet in the house with us. But as soon as a car drove into the driveway she went into frenzy mode and we could not reign her in. She was too big and powerful. We had friends try to work with her but hit the same wall we did. She would not come or sit or stay when people were around. She just went crazy. 

She was too wild. And we couldn't risk her harming the little people who so often visit. We couldn't risk her hurting my dad. Our UPS driver and other delivery drivers were traumatized by her. 

Last week she took out my friend's little girl. Knocked her over and when the child tried to get up she took her down again. It was pure joy for Lucy. The child was her plaything. I ran and yelled to get her off, but she was having way too much fun. At the expense of a little girl. 

It was the last straw.

She left yesterday. She has a great new home. A single man who loves wild and crazy dogs and who has the time and energy to work with her. She will be well loved and cared for. She will run and play with his other dogs, sleep in his room at night and be his special pet. He will feed her fresh cooked food and give her all the love and attention she deserves.

It's a win for Lucy. 

She went to the best kind of place for her.

But a loss for us.

She left a hole in our hearts.

We loved her. She was our crazy puppy. If we lived in a  bubble with just our family we would never ever have given her up. But too many people come here. And we had to consider their well-being. 

So yesterday we said goodbye.

And today I cry for my dog. Missing her crazy wild self. Missing her company while I work. Wishing we could have figured out how to stop the jumping, the crazy.

The kids and I, we loved our Lucy.

And we are really really going to miss her.

Truly.