Lucy Has A New Friend, Lodi

Lucy has a new friend. His name is Lodi. He looks big and scarey but is more gentle then Lucy is. He is 3 years old and was rescused from an old man and lady that abused him. He was beated a lot and not allowed to chew on bones or sit on the couch. Andy rescued him and now he lives a nice life. Lucy and Lodi sometimes fight over bones or toys but for the most part they chase each other and play all day. They eat out of each other's food dishes and drink water at the same time out of the same bowl. Since Andy and I both work so much I think it is really nice that our puppies have company.

Lucy Pants Has Her Surgery

Lucy had surgery today on her tail. I cried when I left her. It was horrible as she tried to follow me out. She has 7 stitches in her tail that need to stay there for 7-10 days. They gave her an injection to keep her pain free and pretty sedated for 24 hrs. I had to put her in and out of the truck because she couldn't do it. She is slow and saggy and warm and sweet. There is a lot of whining going on because when she wakes up she just doesn't feel like herself I think and so she cries, wanting me to make it better. I just pet her and talk nice to her till she falls back asleep. But this is a picture of her poor "wagger" as the vet says. I was horrified when I first saw her. It is a huge cut. She is being quite a trooper. I got her a new toy at the store for being brave. It is a monkey rope thing but it looks like a flying squirrel I think. I was worried she howled all day long till I came to get her but she was sedated so she slept. She was sleeping below a beagle the vet says. I am glad she did not bark for 3 hrs driving them nuts. But now I just have to make sure she doesn't lick it. She needs to wear a lamp shade when I am gone. She is going to hate that. I have tonight off, on a vacation day, to be with her. I will be happy when the stitches are out and this is over with. An expensive, stressful ordeal. She was a trooper though.

Lucy Has A Tumor

About 3 weeks or so ago I found a lump on Lucy's tail up by her body. It was cold then and I had accidently shut her tail in the door on our way in. So I thought it was from that. The bump got bigger and she does not like it to be touched. It is about the size of a dime or a bit bigger. I finally took her to see her vet and they took stuff from it and it is a tumor they believe. They say it is too hard to be a cyst. There are 2 types of tumors dogs get that I guess are quite common and usually if found on the outside, rather then in their organs, they are not cancer. But not always. Either way, it has to go because she bites at it and can cause infection. So on May 22nd, at 7:30 am Lucy is going into surgery on her "wagger" as the vet called it. They will shave her tail some, cut it out, and stitch her back up. Most of the hair should grow back. I can pick her back up and bring her home at 1 pm. I am going to spend the night with her as sometimes coming off the drugs can cause sickness and I don't want her to feel alone. They will then test the lump and see if it is cancer or hopefully nothing at all. She is not even 2 years old yet! So on Thursday, please think of long ears as we need your prayers.

Lucy Has A Few Moments of Bad Judgement

As I mentioned, Lucy does not ruin her toys often. She carries them around like babies. One day I had gotten home from work and am on the computer and hear a tearing noise. I look behind me and Lucy is straddling Charlie Dog, and has BITEN HIS EAR OFF! I was upset. Charlie was a funny neat toy, and I had to take him away so she wouldn't yank all his stuffing out and eat it. She carries that funny yellow ear all over the place. It is sort of funny, but also sad. And THEN I find Rudy Reindeer and see that he resembles the Grinch's Dog, with one antler. All of a sudden, my sweet doggie seems to be removing body parts from her toys!!! Rudy has no stuffing exposed so he is still in the game, unlike Charlie.

Good Doggie! vs What Happened To Your Toy?

Lucy is usually very good about not tearing apart her stuffed toys. Ever morning when I come home she will carry Rudy Reindeer around the house along with Aqua dog, and "bury" them in the corners of the couch, by the bookshelf etc. For Christmas, Santa Paws brought Lucy a really cute stuffed elf type toy. To my dismay, she had him torn apart, stuffing all over the place within minutes. I was quite disappointed in the quality of that toy.

How My Lucy Lost Her Bark, Sort Of

The day after Christmas Lucy went in for surgery. Since she was a baby she has coughed a lot, like she is trying to cough up a hairball. The vet did an x-ray and found a lump on her vocal cord and watched it. Over time it has gotten larger. When laying down it was pushing on her esophagus (sp??) and causing discomfort, thus barking and puking. I was getting barking complaints and risking eviction. So we went in for surgery. They removed this lump, the size of a nickle, and it was NOT cancer. Just a tumor thank God. But it also took a chunk of her vocal cord out rusulting in Lucy sort of Losing her bark. She more or less now has an "inside voice." She can still bark but it is quieter, and a lower tone. Not so shrill. And she can still growl, and whine, they just sound different. And she is in no discomfort. And not puking as much. I am still having trouble with her eating habits. She should be eating at least 3.5 cups of food a day and we are lucky if she eats 1.5. I am working with her vets with ways to help her. The surgery was painless for Lucy. She came out saggy, and since she is already saggy all over, it was a bit heart breaking, but they insisted she was in no pain at all. They gave me tranquilizers to keep her from trying to bark for a few days to heal. They said to give her 2 pills. They were HORRIBLE. My poor doggie was worthless. Her eyes rolled back in her head. She could not walk. I had to hold her up to pee, carry her places, boost her up on the bed, bring her water to her, hold her head up to drink. After one dose of that I quit using them. They were too much for my little doggie. She healed up nicely. No stitches to come out at all. And best of all, the surgery was only $130! This whole episode made me think of Rudyard Kipling's stories like "How The Camel Lost His Hump" or how Sara thought Daisy would lose her stripes after taking a dive into the toilet full of bleach. "How My Kitten Lost Her Stripes" only "How My Doggie Lost Her Bark." I guess there is a procedure to de-bark a dog that is done in much the same way Lucy's was done but instead of removing a portion of the vocal cord as in her case, they will sever the vocal cords to prevent barking. Who knew?! But no need to worry about my saggy pup. She is back to being her usual self, minus the puking, coughing, and barking!

"Peeping Lucy"

When we go to Belleville, Lucy is not allowed in the house so she will run around the house and look in the windows to find mommy when she goes inside. Here, she is on the basement door peeping into the livingroom. She will go from window to window and bark. It is really funny. Lucy just had her one year shots and took them like a pro. I have been sick all week and she got a strain of it and has been puking and sneezing. I tried to wake her up for me to get ready for work the other day and she lifted her head but kept nodding off. I looked over and her head plopped down onto the pillow nose first and she had fallen asleep again, and she looked like a crashed rocket ship, nose first into the pillow. I laughed really hard. Lucy is weighing in at 35 lbs which is very small for a female bassett but I feel blessed to have a small doggie. She is easier to manage.

Has Anyone Seen My Puppy?

The other day, Lucy ran away. Not once but TWICE. I came home from the store and let her out of her bed. She ran to the door to go outside and I guess since my hands had been full, I did not shut the door all the way and she ran out. I called to her and she came right back. Then later that night, at about 9 pm, we were outside going potty and she saw a guy and went to chase him. She is between sizes on her collar so I have it on the looser hole. It pulled right off of her and she BOLTED. For some reason Lucy does not like black men. She will bark and growl and jump at them. I was calling her name but she was gone. A neighbor, a black man, was coming up the walk and was trying to get her to come home. He walked backwards and she followed some, barking and carrying on. Other neighbors came out and were trying to help. She found it to be a game. "Lets chase the puppy!" so if anyone got near her, she would run. I was so angry at her. The man's girlfriend came out of her house and Lucy likes her. She ran up to her kissing her etc, and I was jingling her collar at her. I finally got it on her. I was so ANGRY at my dog. Now her collar is on tighter.
And mommy's warning "Don't play ball in the house. It is all fun and games until someone gets hurt" rings true. Lucy and I were playing ball and we some how collided. She hit my head and bust my lip open. It was horrible but luckily not bad enough to need stitches. What a week. (We still play ball in the house though!)