Losing Our Lucy

Tuesday morning I wanted to run. I needed to run to clear my head after the evening’s turn of events, but I also wanted to be here when my daughters woke up. I knew they would ask about Lucy and I wanted to be here to hold them when we delivered the sad news.

Our dog, Lucy, passed away on Monday evening. There were no signs that the end was near.

We explained to the girls that Lucy was older than we thought and sometimes older dogs (much like older people) have strokes when the end is near. It’s just their bodies breaking down and telling them it’s time to go.

We adopted Lucy one year ago. Less than two weeks ago, we celebrated the anniversary of her adoption into our family. I never wanted a dog but after repeated begging from my children and against my better judgment, I agreed to a pet. So we searched the shelters for a Pomeranian similar to the one we rescued.

We eventually found Lucy on Craigslist, which was as shady and strange as you would imagine a pet adoption through Craigslist to be. With blind faith, we took the previous owner’s word about her health as well as her age, but it was certainly obvious that this poor dog had been used as a puppy mill.

This dog that I never wanted wagged her fluffy little tail into my heart. She followed me from room to room like a pack leader and was with me every minute of every day. Lucy became my dog. I eventually transformed into a crazy dog person as I began taking Lucy shopping and to restaurants and baked her pupcakes.

I keep playing moments in my head, like Liam hugging Lucy and dragging half her tiny body along the floor as he loved on Lucy. I regret never catching a photo of those funny loving, but torturous moments for poor Lucy.

I also regret not praying with my children at bedtime Monday night. Instead, I made jokes to lighten the mood and to fill their hearts with happiness so they wouldn’t worry all night long about our beloved pet. But, I should have prayed with them to help ease Lucy’s pain as well as the pain they were feeling in their hearts. I feel I failed them as a mom and as their spiritual leader. I feel I failed my Father and Lucy too.

Like most dogs, Lucy had simple tastes and loved life. Everyone should learn to love life through the eyes of a dog. Next to the food dropped from a highchair, she loved Chinese food. Lucy also loved being outdoors, long walks and car rides. She even loved camping with us.

Although we didn’t know much about Lucy when we adopted, we simply loved her. I believe we gave her the best last year of her life.

We miss you, Lucy.

Rest in peace.

Peanut Butter Delight Pupcakes

Photobucket It’s been one year since we adopted our little Pomeranian, Lucy and we simply had to celebrate the occasion, which meant baking some kind of doggie birthday treat for her, of course. But what kind of cake to bake? I didn’t know the first thing about dog-friendly cakes other than the ones I could buy from our local doggie bakery.

A quick Google search returned some very simple, easy to follow dog-friendly and people-friendly recipes. Many sites said to avoid anything with butter, chocolate or sugar and if your dog has a wheat allergy, rice flour can be used as an alternative ingredient.

My mini-chef, Emmalynn, assisted me because she loves to bake. After reviewing the selection of recipes, we decided to bake Peanut Butter Delight Pupcakes because I had all of the ingredients on hand.

As you can imagine, Lucy loved it.

Chowed down on the Milk Bone, licked all the icing off of it and ran outside to gobble down the rest of her pupcake in her favorite spot kind of love. That’s how much she loved it.

If you most know, yes, we tried the pupcakes too. They were tasty, like a bran muffin without sugar, but our brains were expecting something sweet. So, the kids and I nibbled one between the four of us, just to try it.

At least Lucy enjoyed it and that’s all that mattered. After all, it was her day.

Peanut Butter Delight Pupcakes

(Yields six pupcakes)

Ingredients

1 cup white or whole wheat flour (I used white wheat flour.)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey
1 egg

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Prepare a muffin pan with paper muffin liners.

In one bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda. Then, in another larger bowl, add the remaining wet ingredients and mix well. Slowly add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix well to combine.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin. Fill each cup about ¾ full. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Cool on rack.

Once completely cool, decorate the pupcakes with dog-safe peanut butter icing (recipe follows below) and top each with a Milk Bone or dog-safe treat, like jerky.

Peanut Butter Icing

Ingredients

4 oz low-fat cream cheese

2 oz all natural creamy peanut butter

1 Tbsp canola oil

Directions

Combine all ingredients with a hand-held mixer until well blended.

Thanks for joining our weekly Friday Food Fight! Can’t wait to see what everyone is flinging this week!

*Also submitted at*

The Blackest Lily, Our Lucy

Since they sobbed themselves to sleep after reuniting Daisy with her owner, Allan wanted to heal the girls’ broken hearts with a dog. He searched rescue sites and sent inquiry emails for a replacement Pomeranian. Only to have his request was denied because none of the dogs would do well in a home with children.

We mentioned to the girls that we were on the hunt for another Pomeranian but it would take a while since we weren’t having any luck. Every day, Allana anxiously asked for a Pomeranian update and offered suggestions for where to find one. Did you call the pound? Did you check the newspaper?

Finally, I had the idea to check craigslist for a dog and lo and behold, I found one. A black Pomeranian about 3 years old named CiCi who was great with kids. I contacted the owner and within 24 hours we welcomed CiCi into our home. (The craigslist experience is a story in itself, but this is CiCi’s story. I’ll save the craigslist story for another day.)

Her coat was mangy and matted with horrible dander flakes. Her nipples were the size of lug nuts and her belly sagged, so it appeared she had been bred repeatedly. (I felt her pain.) On the way home, she vomited three times in my car. Once in our home, she appeared nervous and didn’t understand commands. I worried that we had made a mistake.

Within a couple days, once she adjusted to her new home and settled in, she acted like an entirely different dog. She began to understand basic commands, like sit and stay. After a diet of better quality dog food other than the kibbles and crap her other owner fed her, her coat improved. It felt silky and gorgeous auburn highlights shimmered in her black coat.

Now she needed to shed that horrible name, CiCi, along with her mangy coat and her former life.

But what name? Emmalynn and I liked Lily or Poppy. We have two Roses (Allana and my middle name), we had a Daisy, so we should pick another flower name, like Lily. After all, she is The Blackest Lily.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7w_1HbALT0]

Allan liked the name Roxy and honestly, I really liked that name too. You gotta love anything linked to a clothing line or a musical.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj-fDHCvza0]

Allana liked Lucy, after her cousin in Scotland. Plus, it was an easy transition from CiCi to Lucy. That made perfect sense.

So Allana suggested we vote as a family to pick the dog’s new name and Roxy won but Allana pitched a fit so Lucy it is!

So without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to our newest family member, Cici Lily Roxy Lucy.

(Great story about the song, Lucy by Julian Lennon. Song starts at 3:33)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIO5Qebk3dI]

Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

I Picked a Daisy for You

Alternate titles for this post:

It’s a Dog’s Life

Random Acts of Kindness Not So Kind

While in my car on the way to pick my girls from school the other day, I nearly squashed a small tumbleweed of fluff in the road. Since the petite pooch seemed lost and confused, I pulled over to save her from being roadkill or an alligator’s supper.

We nervously approached each other, but once sitting in the passenger seat a smile grew from ear to ear on her small, feminine fox-like face. “Daisy” appeared grateful to hitch a ride home. Only I didn’t know where home was.

When the girls piled into the car, they immediately noticed the passenger sitting in the front seat. “What is that? Where did she come from? Are we keeping it?” They couldn’t contain the excitement of a new pet in their voices.

“I found her in the road. I need to call the number on her collar to locate her owner. So, she’s not ours to keep,” I said firmly as to not send mixed signals with my heroic act for the day.

But my stern words didn’t stop Allana and Emmalynn from falling in loving with her. They tried to play fetch with her, but Daisy wasn’t interested. Apparently she loves to play dress-up, but then what girl doesn’t love to be a princess and wear tiaras?

All the phone numbers listed on her tag were a dead end and her owners were no longer living at the last listed address associated with her tag and microchip. So, it seemed Daisy would be staying with us for a little while longer and that night, she settled in like she had been here forever.

The next morning, I loaded Daisy and Little Lion Man into the swagger wagon for a trip to our local pet supermarket. If Daisy was going to be staying with us, she would need all the essentials to make her stay more enjoyable. So there I was shopping with a baby and a dog sitting in a shopping cart. Daisy had transformed me into a social deb.

After hearing from the neighbors that we rescued her dog, Daisy’s owner stopped by to claim her. It’s was a bittersweet reunion. How would I explain this to my girls? I anticipated complete devastation once the girls realized they weren’t able to say good-bye to their new friend. Understanding that this could be upsetting for the Allana and Emmalynn, Daisy’s owner suggested I bring the girls around to visit her some time and I took her up on that offer immediately after school.

Unfortunately, our brief visit with Daisy didn’t patch their broken hearts. I tried to explain to the girls that I understood how sad it was for them, but Daisy’s owner felt even worse when her dog had been missing. Daisy wasn’t ours to keep. We were just keeping her safe until we found her family.

The words offered no comfort and at bedtime, the girls sobbed themselves to sleep.

My random act of kindness caused a lot of sorrow in such a short time. Prior to our day with Daisy, I was under the impression that doing good deeds felt good. My friends mentioned that good karma comes your way when you rescue a dog. So why did doing a good deed hurt so badly?

Never wanting pets due to allergies and overwhelming responsibilities when caring for a pet, Allan and I found ourselves second guessing our decision to be a pet-free home.

This morning, I found a note from Allana.

She makes a strong case and I’m easily swayed by money. So, it looks like we may need to find a pooch to ease my girls’ pain.

Parenthood is a dog’s life.

*This post was inspired by and submited to Mama Kat’s World Pretty Much World Famous Writer’s Workshop.*

“Perform a random act of service. And then tell us about it.”

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Tag Archives: dogs

Losing Our Lucy

Peanut Butter Delight Pupcakes

The Blackest Lily, Our Lucy

I Picked a Daisy for You

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