Hi, I’m Lucy. Because of how I look, Mom and Dad think I am mostly American Staffordshire Terrier – AmStaff for short. As you can see, I am a reverse brindle, and Dad says my hair glows in the sunshine! Mom rescued me from going to the dog shelter and brought me home to find me a good family to live with. Her first words to Dad were, “Don’t worry, we’re not keeping her,” and Dad just laughed and said, “When have I heard that before!” Dad took me to the vet, who thought I was about one year old, healthy, and 55 pounds. Mom said, “Why did you take Lucy to the vet if we’re not keeping her?” to which Dad replied, “Why did you name her if we’re not keeping her?”
I had been with Mom and Dad for several weeks, but Mom still kept looking on her computer, trying to find a schnauzer to rescue. It had only been about four months since she lost her heart dog, Lexi, and she was still very sad and cried every day. One afternoon, as Mom was frantically visiting all the schnauzer rescue sites while I laid at her feet, she suddenly felt like God said to her, “Look down. I have already given you a dog.” She just sat there for a while, looking at me. With tears in her eyes, she went into my Dad’s office and asked him if they could keep me. Without any hesitation – not even a second – he said yes. He said that when Mom brought me home on January 14, the day before his birthday, he knew I would be his birthday present. We now celebrate my birth date as January 14, 2016.
So that’s how I got here, and how I got kept. I am a bit skittish, very sensitive and I scare easily. Mom had to learn how to be quieter and gentler because of me. If someone raises their voice or lifts their hands up high, I cower and run. I remember the first time I met Dad. I was in the kitchen with Mom, right after she had brought me home in the seat of that scary truck. Dad returned from the store and walked into the kitchen. I flattened myself and started to shake. And I remember what Dad did then. He squatted down to be on the floor with me and spoke to me real soft. I stopped shaking and went to him, and I knew right then that he would always be my safe person. I still go to him when I get scared. Now Daddy says I’m his girl, and he will always keep me and love me. I kinda’ knew that, but it was still nice to hear him say it.
Everything was going along great. Then, one day in early October of 2017, Mom disappeared for a very long time on a Saturday, when she is usually home. When she got back, she was carrying a puppy. I was curious, and should have taken my cue from Riley. He took one look and said, “Oh crap, not another schnauzer,” before walking out of the room. He was right. That little schnauzer turned my world upside down. I was the new girl, the baby girl. Then Xena happened. That’s when I started running away from home. I decided to go live with someone else who needed me more. I found a family with some children, and thought I might like to live there, but the man called my Mom, who came and got me. It was the fifth time I had run away in a month. Mom said if I was that unhappy, that she would let me live somewhere else, but it would break my Dad’s heart. She also said that I had healed her heart enough that she could bring another schnauzer puppy in the house to share her love with, and she sure would hate to lose such a sweet, gentle, loving dog as me. I figured out how to play bitey face and some other games with Xena so that I didn’t scare or hurt her. We still play a lot! (And I stopped running away from home.)
It was also after Xena came home to us that I started being allowed to sleep in the big bed with Mom and Dad, even before the puppy did! I found out that schnauzer beards are tasty to lick and that dry dirt puddles are fun to roll in.
So, here we are, my Dad and Mom and me and Xena. Andrew and Riley lived with us, and me and Riley got real close. Andrew is Mom’s son and Riley was Mom’s first “Don’t worry, we’re not going to keep him” dog. After five years, Andrew adopted him – well, they really adopted each other, and Riley still lives here on and off. * Riley used to be my boyfriend, but now I’ve hooked up with Achilles.
I hope you enjoy reading about my life. Please go to the blogs with the category “bully” not the ones with the category “schnauzer.” (Those are Xena’s.)
Love and wiggles, Lucy
* Andrew moved out in January 2018 and took Riley. He brought Riley back a couple of times to visit, but he just ignored me, no matter how hard I tried to get him to play or just be my guy again. My heart hurt for a long time, but I am definitely over him. Mom says it was Riley’s way of protecting his own heart since he believed we will almost never see each other. That ended up not exactly true, as he would come and stay with us for a week or more at a time. He’s back living here with us, and we remain good friends.
Xena Schnauzer Warrior Princess with Lucy, Chia and Riley 