Lucy-Fur Strikes

 

“Well, kids, I have to go help your Daddy finish up moving his shop.”  Mom went to the Hoosier in the foyer to get each pup a piece of jerky, the usual way these things work.  JoLee was already in his crate, knowing Mom’s “leaving voice,” and Elbie and Lucy were both standing there at Mom’s feet looking imploring up at her, while Dad waited on the front porch.   

Mom gave each pup a piece of jerky and left, quietly closing the front door behind her. 
  

For a few minutes, the only sound was chewing, along with the TV.  Dad had left it on the Comedy Channel for some background noise. 
  

Then, Lucy stood and stretched.  “Well, this sucks,” she stated flatly.  “Mom’s been doing this all week!  This was ‘Going To The Lake Night.’  I need a run!”
   

Jo and Elbie just sighed.  Jo picked a piece of jerky from between his teeth with his paw.  “Well, there’s nothing that can be done about it, Lucy, so you might as well just get another nap in.  They’ll be back eventually – they always are!”  
 

Elbie jumped up in the Command Chair and put his head down on his paws, facing the front door so he would know the moment when Mom and Dad got home.  Jo jumped up on the couch, and got comfortable.  But Lucy was restless.  She grabbed a piece of rawhide, ran out the dog door and did a few laps around the Big Piney, and then came back in and flopped down on the floor in the living room.  “Are they back yet?”  she panted.  
 

“Nope, not yet.”  JoLee replied.  
 

“It’ll be a while longer, I suspect,” Elbie added.  
 

Lucy ran upstairs.  She was gone for a while – long enough for Elbie and Jo to wonder what she was up to.  Odd thumping and bumping noises could be heard.  When Lucy came back down, there were black shreds hanging from her lips.  
 

“What was that?”  Jo asked.  “Lucy, what have you been doing?”  
 

“Uh, nothing,” Lucy looked a little guilty, but more defiant.  “Nothing that Mom didn’t deserve, anyway!”  She ran back out the dog door.  Jo put his head back down and closed his eyes.  “I don’t even want to know what she’s been up to,” he said.  
 

The next time Lucy came running back in, she looked at the TV and said, “I don’t like that guy.  Why do we have to watch this stupid show, anyway?  I’m going to change channels!”  She snatched the remote up from the table next to Dad’s Biscuit Chair.  Jo’s eyes got big, and he said, “Lucy, I don’t think you should be - ”  
 

Just about then, there was a crunching noise.  Lucy threw the remote up in the air and caught it neatly, then bit down on it again.  Little pieces flew all over the living room carpet.  
 

“Hey, this is fun!”  Lucy grabbed another remote – this time the one for the volume.  (crunch, crunch)  
 

Elbie groaned.  “This is bad.  This is very bad.” 
 

“I don’t care.”  Lucy declared.  “They shouldn’t have been gone all day and then left us again.  She bit down on it again.  And again.  More little pieces of black plastic piled up around her. 
 

It wasn’t too much later when Jo heard the Dogmobile.  “Mom is here!  Mom is here!”  He jumped off the couch and ran for the front door, giving a sideways glance at the paper that was shredded all over the rug.  
 

Heavy steps on the porch, and then Mom and Dad both peered in the front door.  “Oh, no,” Mom sighed.  “What has she been up to?  I see Destruction.”  
 

It took most of the rest of the night for Mom to discover all of what Lucy-fur had done, and it wasn’t until she went to bed that she found one of her favorite socks as full of holes as Swiss cheese.  And Star’s blanket, that Auntie Jolie had made her – it was in the middle of the bedroom floor and it had holes in it, too.  Mom looked sad as she picked up the mess.  She stroked the top of Lucy’s head and said, “Well, I guess that’s what we get.  Luckily, the move’s almost over!”  

A Hot Summer Afternoon at the Lake

“Catch me if you can!” Lucy called, as she ran after the Frisbee.

“I’m not even going to try,” Jo replied. He trotted over to the base of the tree nearest the restroom, where Elbie was studying peemail. They both scratched around in the dirt, and then both left their own messages, Elbie’s message being scant inches from the ground, JoLee’s message about a foot above Elbie’s.

Mom was walking toward the picnic shelter, two towels, a couple of bright orange toys (a flying ring and a flying squirrel) and all the leashes in her hands.

“I wonder what’s up with the towels,” Elbie said. “Mom doesn’t usually bring towels out here – she leaves them in the Dogmobile.”

After depositing everything on the picnic table, Mom grabbed the Frisbee and flung it way out in the lake. Both JoLee and Lucy ran for the water, Jo with a sense of purpose on his face; Lucy with a goofy grin on hers. They both swam out to the Frisbee, JoLee scanning the surface of the water, and Lucy splashing around in circles. She’s getting much, much better at swimming, and doesn’t look nearly as dorky as when she first started. Jo finally spied the Frisbee, and once he had it securely in his teeth, Lucy grabbed the other side of it, and together they brought it back to shore!

“Very good!” Mom cheered and clapped her hands. “What good doggies I have!”

After a few more throws – some on land, some into the water, Mom called Elbie to her, clipped his leash on, and led him to the picnic pavilion, where she hooked his leash to one of the posts and locked it in place with another of the leashes. Elbie stood there, a look of uncertainty on his face. “What’s going on? Where are you going?” Mom just gave him a reassuring pat, and then turned and said to Lucy and Jo, “Let’s go swimming!” 

Mom took the orange flying ring toy and waded waist-deep into the water. Lucy and JoLee swam circles around her, and there was lots of laughter and splashing going on. When she threw the ring, it hit the surface of the water and disappeared! Lucy made her way over to where the ring had disappeared and tried to look for it, ducking her head under the water, and snorting. Jo was on the shore, Frisbee firmly between his teeth.

“Huh! I could have sworn that was a floating one,” Mom said, shuffling over to where the ring had disappeared. Her feet were getting stuck in the muck on the bottom of the lake – she was having troubles walking at all, much less finding the bright orange ring. She finally gave up, and waded back to shore.

Elbie was looking a bit anxious and warm, waiting in the shade of the pavilion. And then you could see the idea, as it was being born, on Mom’s face. She detached Elbie’s leash from the pavilion and brought both Elbie and the leash to the water’s edge. Then she unleashed him and carried him out into the water. Elbie didn’t struggle, but he sure didn’t look very excited about this whole idea. And he knew what was coming next, you can believe that! About knee-deep for Mom, deep enough to ensure that Elbie’s whole body would be covered by water, Mom gently set him down. She made sure Elbie’s face was toward the shore, so the water wouldn’t slap him up the nose, and that his back feet could touch the bottom. And then she just held him there, a supporting hand under his chest. Elbie didn’t seem to mind! In fact, when she took her hands entirely off Elbie, he just stood there, the water gently swaying his body, a relaxed look on his face.

“Wow,” he said. “I didn’t know this was what swimming in the lake was like!” He stood there for the longest time, until Mom went to fetch the Frisbee for another toss, and then he made his way to the shore, shook about a gallon of water out of his fur, and started exploring the shoreline again.

Mom, Lucy and Jo splashed their way out of the lake. “Now that we’re all cooled off, let’s go for a little walk!” Mom hooked Elbie back on his leash (since he has a knack for disappearing at inconvenient times) and all four went for a leisurely stroll along the banks.

There was plenty to explore, for sure. A big flock of Canada geese were complaining loudly, and a blue heron looked up from where he was fishing. Elbie investigated the rocks along the banks, just sure he’d find something interesting. Lucy ran from Elbie to Jo to Mom and back again, and Mom kept flinging the Frisbee for her. JoLee was looking closely at something on the ground, and when Lucy ran up to him and asked, “What are you doing?” he looked up, with a big green grin.

“Jo! Your tongue is green!” Lucy gasped. Mom gasped at the same time. “Jo! You’re eating goose poo! Oh, ick!”

Oh, yeah. It was back to the water for everybody!

Later that night, near bedtime, Elbie was snuggled up against Mom on the couch. She ran her fingers through his fur and started laughing. “Elbie, you’re STILL damp! That’s some thick fur you have there!”

It was a great afternoon escape!

Fun at the Lake

“Hey! You peed on me!” Lucy sneezed and shook her head, sending yellow droplets flying.

“Not my problem,” Jo said. “And if you’d keep your nose out of my business, it wouldn’t be your problem, either!” Elbie just grinned and trotted along.

It was Saturday, and that morning, Mom had to work. But when she came home she took all the furkids out to Branched Oak, to see how full the lake was.

“Look, kids,” she pointed. “Lieber’s Point is gone!” Sure enough, where the geese had made their nest was entirely underwater. In fact, there was a flat-bottomed boat slowly drifting across where Lieber’s Point used to be. People in lawn chairs were at our normal swimming beach, and ranged all up and down the banks where we usually walk.

“I’m surprised there are so many fishermen out today,” Mom continued. “I thought, with all this rain, the fishing wouldn’t be very good. Let’s go over to our picnic area, since our regular swimming hole is full of people.” We went to our normal picnic area, and there wasn’t a soul in sight.

“Ah – this is better!” Mom said, as she turned off the Dogmobile and went around to the back. “Come on out!” She opened the door, and we all leapt out, scattering in three directions. Jo went west, Elbie went east, and Lucy… well, let’s just say that she was all over the place.

Mom brought the Frisbee, and kept flinging it for JoLee. If she wanted him to actually be able to catch it, though, she had to fling it out into the lake, because Lucy would breeze by JoLee, catch the Frisbee, and then keep it from him, laughing the whole time. Lucy followed Jo out into the lake for one catch, and stood there in the hock-deep water for a moment. Then she slowly laid down.

“Hey, this feels good! You should try this, Jo!”

JoLee gave her a look, shook his head and said, “Uh, no thanks, Lucy. Has anyone ever told you that you’re kind of odd?”

Lucy stood up and shook, then followed Jo back over to where Mom stood, laughing.

“I can’t wait to tell your Dad about this,” she said. “The only other time I’ve ever seen a dog do that was when your Auntie Sheila had her greyhound Kiowa. We went to the dog run, he found a muddy puddle and laid right down in it! It was so funny!”

We had a great time exploring and running and playing. It was the kind of day that Mom wishes she could bottle, or put safely in a box, to be pulled out and enjoyed again and again!

Adopted - Now What?

Mom came in the front door, Lucy’s leash in hand. Of course, Jo and Elbie met her at the door, tails wagging. After greeting them, she threw the leash on the Command Chair and said, “Well, I know you don’t like Lucy, so I got rid of her. I just took her out into the country and dumped her.”

“What?” Jo wagged his tail. “Nah. You wouldn’t do that. I know better, Mom!”

Elbie wasn’t so sure. “Well, Jo, you know you’ve been growling at Lucy a lot lately. Maybe Mom DID get rid of her!”

Jo’s tail faltered, then came to a standstill. “No. You don’t really think she would have… No. No!” He trotted off to look out the window, but there was no Lucy to be seen in the back of the Dogmobile. “No!”

Mom said, "Oh, wait. I forgot something." She scooped up the leash on her way back outside, and when she came back, Lucy was on the end of it!! Jo jumped up and down, whined, barked and twined all around Lucy. Lucy just grinned and yawned.

“…And there were three other dogs there.” The three dogs were laying in a circle in the middle of the living room, and Lucy was telling JoLee and Elbie all about her very first class. “And we played and played – and you should have seen Maggie! She was really pretty. We were playing and then she got the zoomies and she ran and ran and ran – and then she ran right into the glass doors that went outside! We all thought she was going to be hurt, but she seemed to be okay.”

“Maybe a little dazed, you think?” Jo was hanging on every word. Elbie looked at him and just shook his head.

“Yeah, I would think so. She really bounced off that door.” Lucy yawned again. “And then Mom made me go through some more doors. You know,” she said thoughtfully, “I really don’t like going through a door when I don’t know what’s on the other side of it. Even if I can see through it, I don’t really know what’s in there.”

Jo nodded. “I know what you mean, Lucy. When I was just a pup, there were things I didn’t like, too, but I’ve done them all now, so I’m okay with them, and you will be, too!”

“Yeah, maybe,” Lucy said. “The instructor watched me playing with all the other dogs and then she looked at Mom and said, ‘And why were you here again?’ I think she was teasing Mom, because Mom told her that I was shy and needed to get more World Experience.”

They all laughed.

A little later, Mom was telling Dad about the trick she’d pulled on JoLee. “Lucy was so tired after the class that she was sound asleep no more than two minutes after I pulled away from the place. In fact, she didn’t even wake up when I pulled into the driveway, or when I went into the house!” She and Dad laughed. “I wish you could have seen how happy Jo was to see his little Lucy!”

"Play With Me!!"

Heavy panting sounded loud in the darkness of the bedroom. The bed bucked and sloshed. Mom groaned.

“Lucy! Settle down!”

“Can’t! Can’t! Can’t!” Lucy panted. She jumped on Jo – he growled. She rolled on Dad – he grunted, then reached out and pulled her in close, so she couldn’t move. Lucy struggled and whined in her attempts to get free.

The noise woke Elbie in the spare room, and as he headed outside to do his business in the dark, Lucy broke free from Dad and hurtled at breakneck speed down the stairs. JoLee, thinking something interesting might be going on, followed close behind her.

Lucy’s barks could be heard echoing throughout the neighborhood. “Elbie! Jo! Play with me! Here’s my ball!”

Elbie rolled his eyes, finished emptying his bladder and headed for the dog door. “You silly grrl – it’s 3:00 in the morning! Nobody plays at 3:00 in the morning – it’s time to sleep!

Lucy looked up with huge dark eyes at the nearly-full moon hanging in the sky, and said, “It’s almost bright as daylight! It’s time to play!”

JoLee snorted and shook his head. “No way!”

And who was it that was sound asleep when it was time for Mom and Dad to get up and go to work?

Oh, yes. Miss Lucy.

Playtime!

“HA! Gotcha!!!”

“No you don’t – you’ll never catch me!!!”

(growls, yips and assorted odd noises ensue)

Mom looked cautiously around the corner of the garage. What started off as a frown between her eyebrows turned into a big grin that transformed her face. There was Lucy, of course, barking at Elbie – but Elbie wasn’t in any trouble. Oh, no – to the contrary, Elbie was dancing like a prizefighter, darting in and biting at Lucy, then backing off and turning his back to her. As soon as she got close enough, he turned around and was flying through the air, teeth flashing, his little snarls filling the air.

Mom had been really worried about Lucy playing too rough – in fact, the night before last night she’d yelled at Lucy over and over again, and each time, Lucy would look at her as if to say, “What’s wrong with you? I’m just playing!”

Tonight, Mom saw the truth. After she finished what she was doing (she’s cleaning out the area next to the garage so she can put pavers down), she went to sit in her chair in the Spare Yard, one of her favorite places. Elbie came running, with Lucy and Jo close behind. Just like the night before – but this time, Mom had caught on to what JoLee and Elbie were doing (and what they were trying to do), which was, of course, to get little Lucy in trouble!

“Dangit!” JoLee panted, after he chased Lucy into the other half of the yard. “Elbie, Mom didn’t yell at Lucy this time!”

“Yeah, I know,” Elbie said, from his Protected Place, behind Mom’s feet and just slightly under the chair. “I think she’s onto us.”

Lucy ran back into the Spare Yard, tossing a tennis ball and chasing it as she went. She ran up to Mom and dropped the ball into her lap, laughing and panting at her, and Mom threw the ball as hard as she could, into the other half of the yard.

As Lucy ran by again, she stuck her tongue out at JoLee and said, “Neener, neener, neener!”

Buried Treasure

Lucy watched curiously from where she was sitting with Mom on one of the lounge chairs as JoLee carried the half-chewed rawhide to the middle of the back yard.

Jo looked to the left, then to the right, and then settled on what he thought looked like the perfect place. With the rawhide still in his mouth, he began carefully digging. He dug a shallow, perfectly proportioned hole, then very precisely placed the rawhide in the exact center of the hole. He looked around again, surreptitiously, for anyone who might be watching, and Lucy ducked her head and looked over at the bird bath just in time. She looked back over, out of the corner of her eye, as JoLee used his nose to push the dirt back into the hole, and had to suppress a giggle at the sight of his speckled nose covered half-way up with rich, black dirt. He tamped the soil down, looked around one more time, sneezed, and then shook himself and trotted towards the patio. Lucy jumped off the lounge chair, ran up to Jo and said, “Whatcha doing?”

Jo growled. “Nunya.”

“Nunya?” Her narrow brow wrinkled. “What’s that?”

“Nunya business!”

Just then, Elbie ran by – with a dirty rawhide in his mouth.

Apparently JoLee hadn’t been as sneaky as he thought!

Triple Play

“Harry, wake up!” Mom reached out and poked Dad where he was reclining in the Big Comfy Chair. “Wake up! Look at this!”

Dad slowly opened his eyes and looked over at her. “What?”

She pointed to the three of us.

“Have you ever in your life seen a three-way game of Bitey Face????” She grinned. “And they just keep going! I thought for sure they’d stop when I tried to wake you up, but just look at them!”

It was true. All three dogs were playing together. Mom was sitting on the couch, JoLee to her left, Elbie on the other side of JoLee, and Lucy standing on the floor right in front of them, and they were all playing Bitey Face together!

What fun!

A Brush with Death

“What are you doing, trying to kill her?” JoLee stood over Lucy, lips raised. Lucy wagged her long skinny tail, pathetically.

“I didn’t mean to, really! How is it my fault, anyway?”

“Well, Mom has told you not to leave your toys around, hasn’t she?”

“Yes. Yes, she has. But I thought she was just saying that. You don’t pi---“

“Never mind what I do or don’t do. This is about you. First, Mom stepped on that red rubber thingie that you left at the bottom of the stairs into the Observation Deck. She almost bought the farm with that one. And THEN you left a cow hoof out in the middle of the floor, and Mom stepped on it, BAREFOOT, in the dark hours of the morning while she was trying to get ready to go to the gym!”

“I’m s s s sorry…”

Elbie came trotting up. “Oh, give her a break, you big bully. You know it could have been any one of us who left those there – just because she’s a pup doesn’t mean it was her fault.”

Jo gave Elbie a murderous look. “Hush. I’m trying to make an impression here.”

Lucy’s tail started wagging, in a much more relaxed way. “You mean it might not have been my fault, Elbie?” She rolled onto her back and started wiggling. “It might have been Jo who left those toys out?” She hopped back up onto her feet and dropped into a play bow.

JoLee growled at Elbie. “Now you’ve done it. Thanks a lot.”

And he stalked down the stairs, with Lucy nipping at the backs of his legs the whole way.

Oh, the Drama!

“It’s supposed to freeze tonight – I’d better bring that new bush inside.”

Mom got up and lugged in the new serviceberry bush she’d bought to replace the poor magnolia tree that just never seemed to recover from that bad winter a couple years back.

She put the serviceberry on the floor in the dining room, and Lucy promptly dropped what she’d been playing with and trotted over to investigate.

She reached out and started chewing on one of the branches. Mom saw her and said, “Lucy, no!”

Lucy gathered herself up in a cloud of indignation, stomped into the kitchen and flung herself onto the rug in front of the refrigerator, putting her head on her paws, looking at Mom and heaving a big sigh.

"I never get to do anything!"

Oh, the drama of living with a greyhound!

Just Your Typical Morning...

“Honey?” Mom’s voice floated out into the back yard and into the open garage door, where Dad was carefully placing something in the Big Kiln.

He pulled his head out of the kiln and said, “Yeah?”

“Just so you know, you shouldn’t use the pink washcloth that’s hanging on my towel rack in the bathroom. I just used it to wash off Elbie’s head – JoLee peed on him on the walk this morning.”

“Yeah – okay!”

Ah, the things you hear around the dog-owning household!

Let's Dress Lucy Up!

“Brrrr…” Lucy’s teeth were close to chattering. We’d just started on our morning walk, just right after Elbie and JoLee sounded the Loose Dog Alarm. Mom likes to leave the house right after the alarm sounds, so we’ll be sure to miss the Loose Dogs on their way back past our place. We turned the corner, and then Mom swiftly rounded us up and took us across the street, totally unlike our normal morning walks. I think Elbie was the first to see him – a sturdy pittie mix who looked just like a souped-up Elbie on steroids was out in his front yard, on a red cable.

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” Elbie barked at him.

“Shush,” Mom said. “Elbie, be polite.”

But of course, Elbie had gotten the pittie’s attention. And he barked right back.

“Hey! I recognize that bark!” Mom said. “We’ve heard that one when we’ve been sitting on the porch!”

It’s true – we know just about every dog in the neighborhood by their bark. There’s the Shepherd and the Heinz 57 (that’s what Mom calls him) up the street on the left, and the brown and white pittie that was chasing squirrels under the tree across the street; and there’s Crosby and the little teeny weenie yappers who live with him down the street on the other side, and then, of course, the Loose Dogs. Their names are Cooper and Chica. Mom calls them the Loose Dogs because their Dad walks them every day without a leash. It used to drive Mom nuts, and it still drives us nuts. There’s also the weird little dog with the big bark who lives on the next block – we know them all.

We continued on our walk, and Lucy continued shivering. Mom felt sorry for her, and snuggled her close. “I’m sorry, sweetie! I would love to get you a coat, but you’d be grown out of it by the time you’ll need it again! It’s going to get warmer, I promise. Maybe I’ll get you a sweater for winter next year!”

JoLee and Elbie sniggered. “Oh, yeah, let’s dress Lucy up! Can’t you just see it? She’ll be wearing a dress and bows and all kinds of ruffles – Ow!” Lucy nipped Jo on the leg.

“Enough of that, now, Lucy – not on the walk!” Mom kept on going, as if she hadn’t even heard JoLee’s snide comment or seen Elbie laughing at Lucy.

“Thththtat’s okay, mom,” Lucy said. “I’ll toughen up. Really, I will. I don’t want you to dress me up!”

Elbie and JoLee just looked at each other and grinned.

All Vetted Out

As Mom pulled into the parking lot on Saturday morning, JoLee started whining and jumping around.

“I know, I know, you’re all excited to see Dr. Bittner,” Mom said, turning off the engine and getting situated. She hooked her keys to her belt loop, slung her purse over her shoulder and sternly told everyone to wait.

As Mom went to the back of the car to get us, Lucy said, “Jo, why are you so excited to go into the vet clinic?”

"I love them! I love them!" He panted. "They love me, so I love them!"

Elbie was hanging back, well behind JoLee’s dancing excitement. Lucy cocked her head and asked him, “Elbie, are you excited to go see Dr. Kayla?”

Elbie shrugged. “One vet’s pretty much the same as all the others,” he said.

JoLee turned around and growled. “That’s not true, Elbie! I love Dr. Kayla! She’s the best!” He gave Lucy a meaningful look. “Look at your tummy and tell me otherwise!”

Lucy sat down and looked at the pearly skin on her tummy, where no blemish or sign of a scar could be seen. “Hm… You do have a point there!”

The vet visit went well. After JoLee got his fill of being petted (Elbie spent his time under Mom’s chair), Lucy was weighed (she’s up to 40 lbs.) and got her final puppy vaccinations and everyone had their toenails trimmed, it was time to go. Mom looked at the sky as we left the clinic, and said, “Sweeties, I think instead of going to the lake right now, we should go home – it’s about to rain!”

Sure enough, no sooner had we gotten into the house when it started pouring! Nap time – for everybody!

Happy Family

“Well, you’re looking very proud of yourself,” JoLee said.

Lucy lay in the sunshine, panting slightly, propped up on her elbows, her front feet crossed demurely. Her puppy fuzz was starting to turn into real fur – it had started with her tail, and was progressing up her body, so now her head and a wide stripe down her back all the way to the tip of her tail was shiny blue-black. Next to the new fur in the sunlight, the fuzz on her sides almost looked brownish-purple. She flopped over on her side and then rolled luxuriously. Her pale tummy looked flawless – no scar from her surgery could be seen. She finished rolling, looked at Jo and grinned. She said, “Have you looked at Mom lately?”

Jo thought about that. “Well, not really to pay any attention. I’ve noticed she and Dad have been enjoying lying in bed with us in the morning, and that these days Mom is usually singing Dog Songs when she makes our Burger Bites.” His mouth watered slightly at the thought, and he licked his lips. “What should I be noticing?”

“Her eyes. The circles under her eyes are almost gone, and it’s all because of me!” She grinned happily.

Elbie backed out of the hole he was working on under the lilac bush. “Why is it because of you?” He sat down and scratched behind one ear. “I noticed it, too, but I thought it was probably because that heart medication seems to be working on me.” He trotted over to another nice patch of sunlight and laid on his back, wriggling like a fish. “Are you quite sure it’s because of you?”

Lucy grinned even wider at the sight of the dirt on Elbie’s nose. Then a teeny frown appeared on her narrow face as she considered what he’d said. “Well, I just kind of thought it was because I’m all healed up from my surgery and I am now officially what Mom calls ‘reliably housetrained.’ That means she can sleep all night, as long as Dad doesn’t wake her up when he comes to bed.” She sat up a little straighter, looked down her long nose at the Boyz and raised one eyebrow. “And I’ve been really careful not to bite her on the nose anymore!”

JoLee laughed. “Well, for sure I would think that would be the case, after the other night!” The three of them had all been sitting on the couch with Mom when Lucy’s Evening Zoomies started. While she was roughhousing, Lucy reached up and hooked a canine into one of Mom’s nostrils – and you can just bet Mom hollered then! Lucy had spent the rest of that entire evening looking guilty.

Jo got up and did a Doga stretch – first the front legs, and then the back legs, and then shook vigorously. “Did you guys stop to think that maybe it’s because we’re all getting along so well? You know what? It doesn’t matter why - Mom is much happier these days, and that makes me happy, too!”

Packmates - at last

April 16, 2015

“OW!” (ow, ow, ow, ow)

Lucy put as much distance between she and JoLee as possible.

“What?” JoLee demanded, crossly. “If you insist on putting that long nose in my business, well, I’m going to bite it!”

“But that was my EYE!” Lucy whimpered. “You could’ve blinded me, Jo!”

JoLee stalked out of the room, and stomped up the stairs to the Observation Deck off the bedroom. He felt bad, but he was feeling more grumpy than conciliatory. “Danged puppy,” he muttered under his breath. “If I had my way, she’d be gone.” He stomped around in a circle, three times, and threw himself down. “Outta here gone. Like, forever gone.”

Elbie looked over at him. “Lucy bugging you again?” He rubbed his face on his paws, hiding a grin.

“Yeah,” JoLee said gloomily. “No matter where I am, there she is.” Both Jo and Elbie turned their heads as a small sound was heard in the bedroom. “And there she is again.” Jo looked pained. “I just can’t escape her!!”

“Well, she just adores you,” Elbie grinned. “Don’t you like that, just a little bit?”

Jo rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Like Mom likes getting splinters.”

“Well, Mom isn’t going to be happy if you left a mark on her, you know.”

Jo got up and went into the bedroom, where Lucy was moping on the Big Bed.

“Let me see where I bit you,” he said. Lucy obligingly turned her head and showed him the red mark near her eye – almost a bite mark, but not quite bleeding.

“Gosh, Lucy, I’m sorry – I didn’t mean to bite you that hard,” Jo said. He gently reached out with his tongue gave her a lick. She hung her head.

“And I’m sorry, too, Jo. I don’t mean to be such a pain, but… I love you.”

Jo nudged her with his shoulder. “I know.”

“Did you mean it, really? That you wish I would go away?” Lucy’s eyes were brimming.

“Nah,” JoLee said, and he gave her another nudge. “But if you don’t back off, I’ll bite you again!”

Lucy rolled over against Jo, put her head down, and heaved a big, contented sigh. In seconds, she was asleep.

Jo looked out to the Observation Deck, where Elbie was watching with a big grin on his face, and shrugged. “Puppies. What can you do?”

Accidents Happen

March 12, 2015

“What the - NO!!!” Both Mom and Dad yelled simultaneously. Lucy looked surprised. A puddle of urine was forming underneath her where she stood on the bed.

The rest of the morning did not go well.

During all commotion, while Mom was putting all the bedding in the laundry and Dad had Lucy outside on her leash, Elbie and JoLee talked about what had happened.

“Well, if Mom had just picked her up and taken her downstairs, none of this would have happened,” Jo declared.

“What? You think this is Mom’s fault?” Elbie was incredulous. “Lucy didn’t tell Mom she needed to go out, even after Mom asked her several times!”

“But Mom should have known, Jo stubbornly insisted. “Mom just knows these things.”

Elbie considered this. “It’s true - Mom usually knows things.” He sniffed the air, disapprovingly. “This house has smelled like pee ever since that Hound of Satan got here. I’m thinking of moving out, I’ll tell you.”

“You can’t move out!” Jo was nearly panicked. “That would leave just me to deal with her!”

Later, after things settled down, Jo went to talk to Lucy to learn her side of the story.

“Well, my tummy hurts!” Lucy whined. “I’m afraid to jump off the bed, because it hurts really bad when I do!”

“Mom asked you - more than once - if you needed to go outside, Lucy,” Jo said sternly. “Why didn’t you tell her you needed to go?”

“I don’t know how!” she wailed. “I don’t speak human like you do!”

Poor Lucy, she was miserable. Not only was she in pain, she knew that Mom and Dad were angry and disappointed with her.

JoLee nosed her. “Well, little Lucy, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that in the future. I don't think Mom’s even going to ask you anymore - I think she’s just going to pick you up and take you outside.”

Spay Day

March 10, 2015

Things were strange at the house this morning. At 7:15, much earlier than usual, Mom fetched Lucy’s leash and said in that artificially cheery sing-song that Elbie and JoLee have grown to mistrust, “Come along, Little Lucy! We’re going to the vet!” Jo looked at Elbie, and Elbie looked right back at Jo, and then they both looked at Dad, who sighed and reached for the puppy biscuits.

At lunchtime, Mom and Dad came back home, but without Lucy. Jo looked for her, but Elbie was beside himself with joy. He danced and he pranced, and his little stump of a tail wiggled like crazy. He danced a jig, all the while singing, “She’s gone! She’s gone! Yippee!!!!” Mom was laughing, and asked Dad, “Do you think he’ll be sorry when I bring Lucy home tonight?”

That night, Mom brought Lucy home. Lucy smelled funky, and she didn’t seem quite right. She didn’t strike like a snake at Elbie’s legs; she didn’t try to chase JoLee down and rip the Blue Alligator from his mouth. She also had a strange shaved patch - two of them, actually. One went all the way around her front leg, and a really big one covered her entire tummy; and the interesting smell is coming from the one on her tummy!

Elbie was angry. Very angry. Terrier Angry. But then he realized that Lucy wasn’t taunting him or chasing him down. In fact, she hardly spoke to him. She reached out and touched his nose with hers, but that was about it. Her tail wagged limply, but she looked tired. Mom got a glass of water and a book, and we all sat on the front porch in the late afternoon sunshine. Lucy slept and slept; Elbie and I watched for Strangers and Rogue Squirrels.

On the walk that night, Mom was talking conversationally with us. “You know, JoLee, you were much worse as a puppy than Lucy is now,” she said. She got that faraway look in her eye, remembering back to when she had first brought JoLee home. “You used to give Tim no end of trouble. You know, now that I think about it, when you came to live with us Tim had the same look on his face as Elbie does when Lucy’s around.” She smiled. “You and Tim ended up getting along, didn’t you?”

Jo shrugged. “I don’t know - Tim didn’t want me to play with him, so I didn’t care much about him one way or the other.”

Elbie looked shocked. “Really?” The look on his face changed to worry. “You really didn’t care about him at all?”

JoLee shrugged again. “Nope.”

You could see the calculating look on Elbie’s face. He didn’t want to be unloved. “I’d better figure out a way I can get along with Lucy, then!” he declared.

The First Days

February 22, 2015

“Gosh, this place smells incredible!” Jo’s nose was going a mile a minute. Elbie didn’t reply, as his nose was plastered to the ground, the better to inhale all the different odors. He lifted his leg, and Dad hollered, “NO!”

Too late. Elbie’s quick that way.

We were at the Nebraska Humane Society’s Training Center, to meet a little grrl dog that Mom told us was in need of a home. Auntie Sheila was there, too. We had plenty of time to sniff and explore, and then the double doors opened, and in crept the scardiest, most shivery, scrawny little pup ever. She’s black with a splash of white down her chest, and she has four little white feet. The ladies who brought her in called her Winnie, but Mom and Dad have decided that her name will be Lucy.

Jo just knew she was trouble. “Who are you, and what - hey! Don’t put your nose there! That’s not polite!”

Elbie tried to ignore everything else, and just kept on smelling.

Long story short, that’s the way Lucy became part of our family. Auntie Sheila drove her back to Lincoln, because Mom figured there might be some tension in the Dogmobile on the way. Once we got home, Auntie Sheila brought Lucy to the back yard, and we were able to get to know each other a little better. We're still not sure we like her.

February 23

Mom stayed home today because it was Lucy's first whole day with us. In the afternoon, Mom decided she was going to go to the gym and work out, so she tried an experiment. She gave us all Going Away Treats, as usual (this time it was chicken jerky - YUM), put Lucy in her crate (which used to be Star’s crate) shut the door and off she went. It was only going to be for an hour or so.

Just about when the Dogmobile hit the street, poor Lucy went into a panic. JoLee turned from the front door, where he had been watching the Dogmobile pull away.

“Lucy - really, there’s nothing to worry about! Mom will be back soon.”

Banging sounds came from the crate, and the pan on the bottom edged out just a bit. “NO! NO! I’m going to be in here forever! This is my fourth home in 5 months and I just know I’m going to be shut in here forever!” Lucy started gnawing on the blanket that was in her crate, and then reached through and started pulling the rug that the crate sat on in through the bars.

JoLee laid on the floor in front of Lucy’s crate and tried to reason with her.

“Lucy, really, it’s going to be okay. Mom crate trained me when I was a puppy, and look - I’m out here, free as a bird.”

“Yeah, and I never even had to be crate trained - I did it all on my own,” Elbie said, smugly, from the couch.

“I don’t believe you!” Lucy cried. It was pitiful, really.

When Mom got home, the pan from the crate was halfway across the living room floor. The first thing Mom did was let Lucy out of the crate. The second thing she did was gather up the blankies and rugs and put them in the wash - Lucy had peed all over them and there were bloody marks on them from where she had chewed on the bars of the crate.

“That’s disgusting, Lucy,” Elbie said. “Why would you soil your crate like that?”

“I - I’m sorry,” Lucy said, hanging her head. “I was just so . . . scared!”

Jo reached out and gave her a lick on the nose. “Well, but what did I tell you? I told you Mom would be back - and she is.” Lucy leaned on him, and Jo growled. “Now, follow me out the dog door if you have any business to do!”

February 24

The next day Mom went to work and Lucy was left out. Mom did throw a Going Away Treat in the back of Lucy’s crate when she gave Jo and Elbie their treats for going into their crates, but she decided that Lucy had been so unhappy the previous day, she would risk property damage, rather than causing further damage to little Lucy’s psyche. Lucy had no problem going into her crate for the chicken jerky!

When Mom got home at lunchtime, the only thing Lucy had destroyed was a purple scrubby thing - and get this: today, Lucy learned to go out the dog door (coming back in is another matter).

In the Beginning...

Up in the clouds, Winnie went into her Doga stretch, the one that went from the tip of her long nose to the little white tip of her tail, and then she shook. Vigorously. She then folded herself up on a soft, puffy cloud right across from Star, whose brow was furrowed, as she anxiously looked down.

“I think they’re doing fine, Star,” Winnie said, soothingly. “You heard Mom - she said she’s just fine with only JoLee and Elbie.”

“If she’s fine, why is she always looking on the computer at dogs who need a home?” Star peered down again.

“Sweetling, maybe you just need to take a break. There’s plenty to do up here - look at Tim!” Winnie gestured over to a pile of clouds, where all you could see were two tails and hineys. Tim and Milo were digging furiously, side by side, and puffs of cloud streamed up from behind them.

“Nah. I’m good.” Star said. She resituated herself and looked back down again.

Winnie got a thoughtful look on her face. “Star, what if we sent Mom and Dad a puppy?”

Star’s head cocked to one side, and then to the other. “We can do that?” Her tail started wagging - for the first time since she’d greeted all her friends after leaving Mom and Dad.

“Well, sure!” Winnie grinned. “There’s nothing we can’t do up here!”

They scootched closer together and started planning the Perfect Puppy, and all the while, Tim and Milo scratched up the clouds, which floated away in little puffy bits.

“I want her to look like me,” Star said decisively.

“Well, but Dad said he wanted another greyhound,” Winnie preened. “How about we send them a greyhound that looks like you?”

Star got a funny look on her face. “Um, I’m not sure I can actually picture that, Winnie. Would it be a grrrl dog or a boy dog?” She looked down again. “Mom said she wanted to stick with boys for a while…”

“Oh, Mom doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She needs another grrrl around the house - she’s far outnumbered by boys right now.” Winnie sniffed. “They need a little sophistication down there - you’ve been watching, so you know I’m right!”

Star considered. “Yeah, I think I know what you mean. And she has to be cuddly. That JoLee - he always growls when Mom hugs him, and Elbie’s just too small to hug properly. Mom needs someone who really wants to be hugged.” She looked off into the distance. “I loved it when Mom hugged me. I miss her.”

Winnie reached out and touched Star with her nose. “I miss both of them, Star. I remember how Mom used to bend over and wrap her arms around me, and I used to love leaning on Dad for his hugs… Yes. We need to send her someone snuggly. What else should we give her?”

“Twinkle toes!” Star grinned. “We have to give her twinkle toes like mine!” She looked at her back feet. “But we can make her any way we want to, right?”

Winnie nodded.

“Then let’s give her Twinkle toes on ALL of her feet!”

They scootched even closer together and started making their very own puppy.
Days passed, maybe even weeks. Time moves much differently up at The Bridge, you know.

“Winnie?” Star was laying on her back, all four feet in the air, head lolling back lazily.

“Yes, Sweetling?”

“How will Mom and Dad know that we’re sending them this Special Pup?”

Winnie gave it some thought. “Well, how about this: we’ll call her ‘Winnie.’ When Mom sees a greyhound that looks like you that has my name, there will be no way she can possibly not put it together!”

“Great thinking, Winnie!”

And they put their plan into action.