09/06/2024
This is my eulogy for Lucy who left us on 30th of May. Those of us that have had many dogs through the years know that each one is special, but some do stand out and Lucy was one of those dogs. Mostly a deerhound she was a tall beauty who we called our supermodel because she was elegant with long legs and a beautiful face. We got her from Border Pet Rescue at 12 weeks of age and the first time I met her she jumped on my lap and bit me hard enough on the nose to draw blood. I just thought, OK, got the measure of you! Despite this, for both Dave and I it was love at first sight. An absolute nut as a puppy she was funny, playful and huge! Sometimes when walking her she would start leaping about and at 6 months she was the size of a full-grown dog, so it was quite a sight. Though Dave never experienced this, I had several men tell me that they would sort out my badly behaved dog or that she was the wrong dog for a woman because I didn’t have a firm hand. Aside from telling them they were too stupid to recognise she was a puppy, I also said a few other things not suitable for posting here! Despite being a handful at times she was never aggressive and actually very biddable. In the middle of her 3rd year she suddenly became a very calm and sensible dog. Not surprising because she definitely had a deerhound personality, and this is pretty typical of the breed. Lucy was really good at avoiding confrontation and I even sometimes used her for parallel walking to help with nervous dogs because she was so calm and very laid back with other dogs. We also use to help raise money for Border Pet Rescue. She was brilliant seeming to know just what she was supposed to do. Seeing this beautiful gentle giant really attracted people and their money went in the bucket. She also had the ability to guide other dogs to good behaviour. If play got too intense, she would step between dogs to calm them down and they would stop. When we got our Brodie, who had a traumatic start in life, Lucy was instrumental in helping her to heal. Though she didn’t like hanging out with puppies, she was the big sister that set an example for our wild whippet Trinket teaching her good manners. In her later years Lucy spent her time just enjoying life with walks and lounging around the garden until she decided she didn’t want to go on walks anymore. A few days ago she lost the strength in her back legs, and we knew it was time to go. Ian McKelvie the Mobile Vet was just wonderful with her and gave us great guidance on coping with our geriatric dog. When the time came Ian was so kind and gentle with her and us as well. In the end she calmly slipped away and Dave buried her in the garden next to Zara. Even to the end she was such a wonderful and still beautiful girl. She was 13 years and 7 months. We are heartbroken and will always miss her but thank goodness have our wonderful Trinket and Brodie to keep us going…
