the love of lucky

growing up all i ever wanted was a dog. we could not have one because my dad was a bit scared of them. we had fish instead. they were great, but face it, fish only live for so long. we lived in an apartment when i was little and when we moved to the burbs, we had a condo. still no dog.
i begged, pleaded, anything you could think of to have a dog. the dog never came.
when i moved out i was free to get a dog when ever i want. however, living in an apartment that was not pet friendly and working long hours, killed the idea.
when my sister was dating her husband he had a dog, lucy. she is a beautiful black lab and i suddenly had a "doggie niece". that still did not help the fact i still wanted one of my own.

one day my apartment complex decided to become pet friendly and allow dogs. i began a search to find one. i knew what i wanted too. a small loving dog who was not a big barker.
ace and i had just started living together and decided we wanted a dog. he knew a friend of a friend who had to give her dog up. it seemed that this girl was moving and could not take her dog with and was planning on dumping her dog at the shelter. when we heard this we freaked and i told ace find out what kind of dog and then go get it. lucky came home.

lucky was a year and a half and the cutest little pup i ever saw. i fell in love. what ace and i did not know was that she was also an abused puppy. something said friend did not tell us.
they must have hit her with pillows, belts, new papers, what ever they could find because this little girl was scared of everything. yelling would send her into shakes of terror.
we noticed right away that she seemed a bit slow. ace called this friend to find out why. as it turned out lucky was hit by a car when she was 6 months old and was in a cast for a long time. her rear left leg was broken and had a mental rod put in. she lost a lot of time being in the hospital and the puppy time she should have had, got lost.

lucky was not a happy pup at first. it took a while for her to warm up to us. she did know some tricks. she could shake paws with you, do smooth, a high five and play dead.
her first night with us she was so scared that we took turns holding her and telling her how much she was loved. her previous family kept her caged, and she was ok with that.
she did bark when we would leave her. it broke my heart.
the first time we left her alone was monday july 14th, 2003. we had gone on a friends boat and figured we would let her roam free. she was fed before we left and did her business. we left her out of her "room" or "little house", as we called it, because we felt bad and didn't want her to be barking for hours. we were gone for quite a while and when we got home we found out lucky has a sneaky side. she ate part of a boot, sunglasses, a lipstick, and anything she could get in her little mouth. we also found out lucky will eat and drink anything that is not nailed down. and that her little tummy will reject it at some point.

the following saturday night we took lucky for a walk around the complex. she had just done her business and all of a sudden she took off. mind you she was on a leash but somehow managed to get it off over her head, leaving me with the leash. true to form, i freak and run after her thinking my dog has run away from home. now behind me, totally clueless, was ace.
ace was picking up the poop while having an in depth conversation with his friend who was over. as i was running i literally tripped over my own tow feet. next thing i know i am about to fall down. so what does any normal person do as they are about to fall??? they do something to help break their fall. and i did. i used my left arm and fell straight on to it and broke my entire wrist. i was face down on the pavement. meanwhile ace was running to me having no clue what happen and said pal went after lucky but quickly ran back after ace screamed.
i am laying face down, dizzy and having no clue my self what was going on. i opened my eyes and there is lucky laying down in front of me licking my face with the look of "what's wrong? i am here. i never would leave you."
well, the boys got me up and upstairs, yes with lucky following, and sat me down. by this time i could talk and realized what was going on, and i realized i was in pain and bleeding. ace looked at me and said "holy crap, look at your nose i think it's broken!" i know he has a real romantic side, doesn't he? well then his friend said "dude forget the nose, look at her wrist!"
i looked down and at my wrist and realized i needed the nearest e.r and fast. well, ace is not from the "north shore" so he had no clue where to go, and i am trying to give directions, this is not an easy task as blood is running down your face, your wrist is throbbing, and ace is having a meltdown.
we pull into the e.r. and i am helped out by ace and his friend. this is where their mentality lies at this point: "dude, we might get arrested. they are going to think we beat her up."
ok, granted there was a security guard there, but let's get serious, do you really think that is what an underpaid, tiered, security guard is thinking at 2am???? hell no!!!
we get in and the nurse asks what happen and i tell her. this wonderful woman does not bat an eye. she looks at me and says, " do you need more ice, and can i help wash your face so we can tell where you are bleeding from" so where those two got the idea they could be arrested is beyond me.
the nice nurse tells the doctor what happen and he looks at me, we do the xray thing and result is one broken nose, 5 stitches inside my bottom lip (don't ask, i bite the inside of my lip) and a collapsed wrist and bones. i did a number on it.
after a few days, i get to see the orthpedic doctor. mr. ray of sunshine, tells me it's broken, (no kidding, i knew that and didn't need a degree) and i will need surgery.
ok now i am hopped up on pain killers, ace is still on meltdown mode, and no he does not do well with doctors, hospitals and the words surgery, and i hear surgery? did i hear that correctly?? i did.
3 days later i am having surgery. i have a metal rod and 4 screws attached to but it back together. does that part sounds familiar? yes, my puppy has a metal rod in her left paw too.
i won't bore you all with the rest of details. we now joke that lucky wanted mommy to be like her and have a metal rod in her left paw too. and like lucky, when it's really cold, it hurts.
also ace will tell you part of the reason i fell was that i was wearing 3 inch platform sandals.
note to self: flat shoes when walking lucky or any dog. preferably gym shoes. there is a dog walking shoe etiquette here and thanks, michelle, for telling me after the fact.

now 6 years later, lucky has grown into a beautiful, wonderful, loving, sneaky puppy. she is 7 1/2 and our best friend, only child and a constent source of entertainment. she has endured 3 moves, mommy sick for a long time, daddy's meltdowns, and mommy in the hospital. when i am sad, she sits next to me and cuddles. when i get sick, she stays by my side. and when she wants to play and play rough, she goes to daddy. she really is daddy's little girl too. when they play it is like having a dozen children running around. she has learned love. she also knows she is the baby. our baby girl. lucky is no longer scared of people or objects. for a dog who was scared of pillows and blankets, she gets very upset when you take hers away. she loves everyone and gets very excited to see people. she will bring you a toy to play with and you must play with her. and when people leave she brings another toy. this is her way of saying if i give you a toy you will stay and play with me, right???
you would think she never plays with us. trust me we play. that's how i broke a vase. playing ball in the house.

i think the best lucky puppy story is this.
lucky started sleeping with us in janurary when it was very cold out. she isn't a fan of cold weather. we all went to bed and she would snuggle up and fall asleep. i'm sure she doesn't want you guys to know this, but she snores and very loudly. she would sleep for a bit then get up and take over the couch or go to her room, or her chair or her cornor. yeah she has a lot of sleep places. we would never hear her leave.

this one night she snuggled in and ace fell asleep and i was trying too. i guess she thought we were sleeping so she was about to leave, and turned around. i felt the movement and opend my eyes to see what she was doing. i saw her go to ace and lick his face. then she turned to me and did the same thing. lucky kissed us good night and then went to sleep on the couch.
this is a puppy who is very loved and shows love back. <3

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