Lucy living large
The following story was sent to us by Kathryn and is a gorgeous story of a puppy mill dog given a second chance. For more on puppy mills please visit;
Where Do Puppies Come From?
My Little Dog
I'm sure this is just one of a million stories about puppy mills, but my puppy mill dog is a one in a million.
Lucy had probably never had a name. She was a puppy farm mom used to make Shitzu/Maltese crosses. She had sired many puppies. When her usefulness expired she was thrown out and left to die. When she was found her she weighed 4 kilograms (she now weighs ten – although she should weigh nine… what can I say - ham). Her thyroid was stuffed and her big googly eyes had been infected and never treated. She didn’t know what grass was and her legs were in a sorry state. Shitzus can jump. Lucy can sort of bounce if you waggle enough ham in front of her.
Doggie Rescue didn’t quite believe me when I emailed them and asked if I could have her.
She’s blind and deaf, they said. She needs drops in her eye twice a day. So what, I replied. I think they were a bit suspicious, like we wanted to eat her or something. They had also never done an interstate adoption before (I live in a different state). After lots of pestering by me and assuring she would not fall in the swimming pool, a friend of Doggie Rescue called was sent up to check out our house and check out us and our dog eating ways.
We must have passed because Lucy, the first interstate Doggie Rescue Dog arrived. They do it regularly now, but back then it was a first.
Lucy came in a crate. She looked as awful as she had in her photo. As we were getting her out of her crate in the airport there was a call from Monica.
Do they like her?
Of course we did. Even though we had never seen a Shitzu before we loved her the minute we saw her: her googly eyes, her undershot jaw, her stubby legs that would leave her splayed on the tiles.
She came with a toy Daschund, two blankets, her medicine, a pink jumper and her bumble bee jumper.
Shitzus were revered in China. They wouldn’t let their little sacred dogs be taken away until some sneaky British guy kidnapped a pair of them and they became a commodity. Shitzus are temple dogs, which mean they always sleep/guard any thoroughfare they can find and you always trip over them. I presume this was handy in ancient China, but really annoying when you want to go to the loo in the middle of the night.
Shitzus were attended to by Eunuchs. Lucy has two Eunuchs and Person Number One. Person Number One must be accounted for at all times or if she goes out, waited for and severely berated when she gets back. Eunuch One and Two are also important as they bring food, walks and tasty treats during eyeballing time (as we call it). Monty, her dog brother, must be put up with dignity and grace.
Somehow over time Lucy stopped being gerk brown and became golden brown. She snores like a low loader; she’s a pest; we have to constantly shovel eyedrops into her eyes and she gets very smelly because she digs up old bones from the garden, but
she is loved as every other little dog should be loved – unconditionally.