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Lucy

Lucy’s Story: A Havanese’s Perspective

Hi.  My name is Lucy, and this is the story of how I found my Perfect Family.

 Once upon a time, I lived in a not-so-nice place.. shudder.. but lets not go there!  A very nice family came and took me home with them. They called me Pocket.  I thought that was a stupid name and TRIED to tell them that my mama dog had named me LUCY.. but they didn’t get it.  Sigh.  There was a Lady Person, an Alpha Man Person, and two little persons.. a boy and girl.  I spent six happy years with them. I learned tricks, like how to ring my wind chimes on the back door to go outside and how to sit up pretty.  I also learned to protect my house and my people.  I would growl and snarl ferociously anytime a stranger came to the door and even nipped at a few!  Alpha Man Person didn’t like that and before long they started putting this leather thing on my face when anyone came to the door.  It would let me breathe and open my mouth a tiny bit, but I couldn’t bite and protect my people anymore.  Then there was the BIG GROWLY machine thing that chewed up grass and then spit it back out in our yard.  Alpha Man Person would push it all around, but it made such a big, mean noise that I would run away and hide and shake till it was gone again. 

One day, Girl Person tried to hold me and show me the BIG Growly Machine thing.  I thought it was going to eat us up too like the grass.  I struggled hard to get out of her arms, but she didn’t understand. In my panicked scrambling, one of my toenails got caught on the corner of the Girl Person’s eyes.  She screamed and dropped me and I ran.  Things changed after that.  Alpha Man Person came when the Girl Person screamed and then the family talked and cried and took me in the Big “Go-For-a-Ride” Box for a long way.  I love riding in the Box!  Then we met this New Lady who had a white male dog at her house.  I didn’t pay much attention to him. My people showed the Lady my Sit Pretty trick.  They were crying again, so I tried to do it really good to cheer them up.  My Lady Person put me in New Lady’s arms.  That’s ok, I like being held and .. hey WAIT A MINUTE!!!  Where ya going?  Lady Person!  Don’t forget MEEEE!!!    

I struggled out of New Lady’s arms and ran for the door.. looked out the side window and then ran for the other window.  The Big “Go For A Ride” Box was leaving!  What was happening?  New Lady was talking to me cheerfully and came to me with a leash.  Who IS this New Lady?  Why did she take me away from My People???  I ran.  She tried to corner me and I snarled in warning and seeing an opening, ran again.  After a while she gave up and she and her dogs sat on the couch and ignored me.  Well, except for that white male dog. He said his name was McGyver and his little white girlfriend was Betsy. He was DETERMINED to make friends with me.  Wagging his tail and strutting up to me all the time.  I didn’t want friends. I growled and snapped.  I  just wanted My People to come back for me.  I didn’t eat that first night.  I was too upset.   

McGyver told me that My People had abandoned me and weren’t coming back.  That the same thing had happened to him 4 years ago and that he lived with New Lady now.  He tried to tell me how great New Lady was, but I just wanted My very own People.  Why would they leave me?  Five suns came and went and my people didn’t come back.  New Lady came and went a few times, but she always came back.  I still ran from her but crept close a few times when she was sitting down.  She did pet nice but she wasn’t MY Lady Person.  Then New Lady left.  McGyver and Betsy were in another room behind a door.  We were alone a LONG time. I got scared and lonely.  McGyver tried to tell me through the door that it was ok and New Lady would be back but I needed somebody THEN.. I started trying to dig my way under the door to where McGyver and Betsy were.  I scratched up the furry fabric on the floor and tore through the padding, scattering it everywhere.  But then I hit wood.  I couldn’t chew through it or dig through it.  

When New Lady came home, she was very upset about my digging.  She went and talked into the small ringy-dingy box.  She didn’t yell at me, but fed us all dinner.  McGyver was bouncing up and down like a nut-case.  “Glad you’re home.. Look at me… we missed you… is that dinner?”  he barked at New Lady.  I ate a little that night, but it tasted like sawdust.  Then New Lady gave McGyver a ball of something that smelled meaty and good.  He gobbled it up. She offered one to me too and told me to SIT PRETTY.  I knew what that meant and wanted that yummy ball.  She went and cleaned up all the torn padding that I left on the floor and then sat down.  I got very sleepy and I forgot to run when she leaned over.  Ahh.. a scratch. That was nice.. and a click!  Hey!  What’s with the leash?  But I was just too sleepy to care. I’ll deal with that tomorrow. 

Tomorrow came and New Lady picked up my leash asked “Want to go for a ride?”  I jumped in the Big “Go-for-a-ride” Box and we didn’t ride too long at all.  Maybe she was taking me back to My People!!!  We got out and I followed her, thinking how glad My People would be to see me again. Only then I Smelled it!  This wasn’t where My People were!  This was a VET!!  I pulled back on the leash and twisted left and right.  I didn’t want to go THERE!  I felt a tug at my ears but kept trying to pull away. And then I was FREE!   

I ran a few feet away and looked uncertainly at New Lady and Vet-Smelling Lady.  They were calling me all nice but I was not going there!  I RAN in the other direction.  There were honks and screeches of lots of “Go-for-a-Ride” boxes but I didn’t hesitate.  Then there were more Vet-Smelling People and they CHASED me!  But I was fast!  I ran back and forth and dodged more “go-for-a-ride” boxes.  Finally.. I ran into a big field of tall grass.  I couldn’t see anything in any direction but green grass, but the Vet-Smelling People finally gave up. Whew! 

After a while, I started wondering, what now?  I was thirsty but didn’t know where to find a water bowl.  I kept walking through the grass forest but it all looked the same and I didn’t know which way I had come.  When I finally got through it.. I looked around.  I had never seen ANY of this place before.  That was when I realized I was LOST.  The sun finally went down and I stopped wandering.  I didn’t know where my food bowl was.  And I still needed that water bowl too.  And I’d really like my soft bed now, cause I was very hot and tired and my paws hurt from walking and running so much. 

 All the night sounds were scary and strange and I cowered till the sun came up again.  I kinda lost track of time then.  I know suns came and went.. and I kept walking.  Surely I would find My People soon.. I found some water in a pond and some scraps of bread near a table.  Then one day it rained, and I got all wet and even more miserable. This was no fun at all.  Maybe McGyver had been right.  Maybe My People really DID abandon me.  And now I couldn’t find New Lady or McGyver either. 

Finally I decided that I just needed to find a new family.  I didn’t like being all alone in the scary world.  My paws hurt, there wasn’t enough food, and there were brambles and sticks in my long fur, pulling it and making it uncomfortable to lay down.    I crossed more places where lots of “go-for-a-ride” boxes were, but they just honked and screeched at me but didn’t stop.  I finally found a circle of houses.  One house had a bowl of water on the porch and another of smelly, fishy-tasting food.  But it was good and I hadn’t eaten for a long time. Maybe THIS would be my new home!  But then a nasty, hissing cat came out and chased me away from there.  That was HER home and she wasn’t sharing it OR her food.  I ran across to another house.  About that time a small white dog came out on to the yard.  He sort of looked like McGyver from a distance, but as I got closer I saw he was older, smaller and had thin curly hair.  He told me his name was Gizmo.  Wow. And I thought Pocket was a funny name!  But he didn’t seem to mind it. He asked me where I came from and I told my story and how I was looking for a new family.  He said he had a nice family and wouldn’t mind sharing his food with me cause there was always more food. 

His Lady Person came out.. and then his Alpha Man Person and they tried to talk to me, but I was afraid.  But I watched as Gizmo trotted back into the house.  The next day, Gizmo’s people tried to touch me again.  This time they had something very smelly and yummy with them.. Was it?  YES!  It was BACON!!!  I was so hungry.  They put a piece down and backed up.  I wasn’t sure about it, but it smelled soooo good.  So I watched them carefully and snatched it up.  HEAVEN!  They did that some more, talking to me all the time.  Finally Gizmo barked from inside the house.  Come ON.. he said.  It is nice and cool in here!   

The Lady Person said “Where did you come from, Sweetie?  Where are your people?”  I barked, trying to tell my story.  She looked to the Alpha Man Person and said, I think she is lost.  And she is beautiful.  What should we call her?  How about Mildred?  My eyes widened in HORROR!!!  Not AGAIN with the stupid names!  I’m LUCY.  I barked. Or maybe Gertrude?  Frantic to avoid getting stuck with another horrible name, I pantomimed for her.  Look! I’m Loooosee Seeee?  I bounced close and away  I’m Loose.  See?  The Alpha Man Person said no, not Gertrude.  He watched me for a minute, then said, “Let’s call her Lucy.”  FINALLY!  I was so grateful that someone, for the first time in my life, knew the name that my momma dog had whispered to me when I was just a pup.  I was Lucy.  So I followed them and that yummy bacon into the house.  

And it was so nice and cool there.  And there were soft beds down low and food bowls and water bowls and TOYS!  It all smelled like Gizmo, but he told me he’d share.  That it would be kinda nice to have a pretty young thing like me around now that he was older.  I found a quiet corner to watch everyone in the house.  I tried to be alert and look out for danger, but it was nice and quiet and I was sooo tired that I fell asleep.  When I woke up, the people gave me more food.. I was so hungry. I never thought I’d get enough again!  Then the Alpha Man Person picked me up and started brushing me.  I remembered being brushed by my First Lady Person, and he was very gentle.  He took all the burrs and sticks out of my hair and then he gave me a BATH!  It felt so good to be clean and comfortable again. 

I settled into this new home pretty quickly. And guess what!  They had little girl and boy persons that visited them and liked to play with me!  They were FUN.  I had found a good new family.

One day, my new Lady Person came and told me that she had found who I belonged to.  She had a piece of paper with a picture of ME on the front!  She said she really loved me but that this person must be sick with worry about me.  I tried to tell her I didn’t have anybody anymore and I didn’t know HOW my picture got on that paper.  She was crying a little and that scared me.  She went and talked at the ringy-dingy box that all persons seemed to have in their houses.  It rang several times that night and my new Lady Person talked a long time.  Then she came to Alpha Man Person, smiling really big and happy.  She is up for adoption! , she said.  I went over and put my paws up on her leg.  That was our code for “I want to be picked up and cuddled”.  She picked me up, all happy and said, You are going to live HERE, Lucy!  Forever and ever!  That sure was ok-fine with ME!

The next day, who should come to the door, but McGyver’s Lady Person!  I never thought I’d see HER again! She and my new people talked and laughed.  She had my wind chimes with her!  She said how happy she was that I had found my new home and then she told me, SIT PRETTY!  I remembered that and did my trick.  My New People laughed and told me how wonderful and smart I was.  I think I will be doing SIT PRETTY a lot for them.  But that’s ok!  McGyver’s lady pointed a tiny box at me that flashed a big light.  Then my new Lady Person picked me up and Alpha Man Person picked up Gizmo and McGyver’s Lady told us, SMILE!  Look HERE , LUCY.. I did, and then after another bright flash, I saw stars in all colors for a few minutes.  I don’t know WHY persons like flashing those bright lights at our eyes so much.  McGyver’s Lady went to the door, and told me as she left, “I’m so happy for you, Lucy.  Lucy is just the PERFECT name for you, and you have a PERFECT new Family.  And so I do.  And now we can all live happily ever after.

DISCLAIMER --  WARNING:  For any Foster Havanese reading this account, do NOT try this in your own home. Independent treks to find one's own Perfect Family are highly unpredictable and carry a high risk of failure. This fairy tale happy ending is a rare occurrence and may never be repeated.  Please leave Perfect Family searches to experts who are specially trained for the task.. Your loving foster family!

 Lucy’s Story:  The Rescuer’s Perspective:

 I have fostered and placed a number of Bichons over the past 4 years, including several very traumatized puppy mill dogs.  But I had always been interested in the Havanese breed.  Once I found HALO, I offered to foster for them as well so that I could learn more about the breed and maybe eventually find a tiny dog to play with my own tiny 8 lb Bichon rescue Betsy. 

 My first case was Pocket.  She was an owner turn-in and seemed to be coming from a wonderful family.  It just seemed that Pocket was not meshing well with their youngest daughter.  The owner was quick to tell me that it was her daughter’s fault and not Pocket’s.  That they had decided their daughter was just not mature enough for a dog.  I didn’t understand why it took them six years to decide that.. nor why a girl at 12 was not mature enough but when she was 6 they didn’t have a problem.  But they sent me pictures and she looked like a happy, well adjusted dog.  I was looking forward to my first Havanese experience and was thrilled that it was going to be such an easy case, since my last two fosters had been very traumatized puppy mill dogs.

 Pocket came the Saturday before Memorial day.  We would have a nice three day weekend to get use to one another.  Pocket was a beautiful, happy dog, doing tricks for her people and visiting with my male dog, McGyver .  She sounded off on her wind chimes which were to hang on the door, signaling her need to go out to the bathroom right away. When they got ready to leave, the mother put Pocket in my arms, petted her and turned to leave.  That was my first mistake.

 Lesson #1:  When an owner is leaving their dog, have them attach the new harness that you have available for the rescue, or at the very least to check the security of the collar and attach a long leash that the dog can pull around.

 Pocket naturally panicked as her family left and jumped out of my arms.  She was frantic, racing from door to window.  I had intended to take her directly to the vet as one of her shots was overdue.  She ran from me and snarled when I tried to corner her to attach her leash.  Her owners had already told me she had nipped other people and I had no desire to get bitten or to traumatize her further, so we gave up on the vet visit for that day.

 For the next 4 days, Pocket ran from me in the house. She would not eat for the first two days and snarled at McGyver as he tried repeatedly to make friends, wagging his tail and looking all alert and interested with his prancing posturing.  When we all would settle down on the living room couch she would eventually come close and after the first day, allowed me to touch her, though I still could not get a leash on her.

 I left Pocket in the house while I ran several short errands.  Given that she was still snarling occasionally at McGyver, I shut my dogs into their room and managed to trap Pocket in the kitchen by putting up the gates before she came in from outside.  When I came home, the gates had been knocked over and all the blinds shifted to the side so that she could see out the front.  That was the last time I was able to trick Pocket into the kitchen when gates were up.  She did relatively well while loose on the errands that took a couple of hours, so in desperation on Tuesday morning, I finally left her loose in the main part of my house while I went to work.  My dogs, were again, safely in their room.  That was my second mistake.

 Lesson #2:  If you can not contain your foster dog in a safe (both to her AND your house and other animals) location, seek help early from other more experienced rescuers for possible alternatives.

 When I arrived home, Pocket had torn up the carpeting in front of the door to the room where my dogs were.  The entire front entrance to the doorway was totally torn loose and all the padding had been shredded for a swatch the width of the doorway and approximately 12” wide.  I was horrified.  Given that she was still occasionally snarling at my male dog, McGyver, the fact that she was trying to get into the room with them was not comforting, though she might have just been very lonely. I was careful not to react angrily and just ignored Pocket, though inside I was pulling my hair out in panic. What would I do about tomorrow when I had to go to work?  I couldn’t crate her.. I couldn’t even get close to her.

 That night I managed to give Pocket a ball of wet dog food.  This is the way I feed McGyver his pills and she had watched us for several nights. Pocket’s ball was laced with Rescue Remedy.  The bottle said 4 drops for a dog. I gave her five.  By midnight she was getting very sleepy and had laid down at my feet.  I was prepared by then, having hid a long leash behind my back as I read my book and pretended to ignore her.  In her sleepy state, she let me pet her, and in doing so I finally managed to hook a leash onto her collar.  She would pull that around from then on so that I had a chance of catching her.

 I also left emails for both Pat and Kathi that night and called in for an emergency vacation day the next day from work.  The HALO angels caught up with me the next morning and we discussed options.  Kathi and Pat were appalled at Pocket’s behavior and we all agreed that she had bigger problems than we were led to believe.  Kathi left to try to contact the previous owners to return their dog, while I called my vet to try to locate a trainer who might also board the dog they were working with since I clearly could not leave Pocket in my home again while I was at work. 

 The loving previous owners told Kathi that they were heartbroken to hear of Pocket’s problems.  Their solution was for us to euthanize her.   I had fed Pocket her second dose of Rescue Remedy that morning, so she was remaining calm.  Around 2pm, I finally decided to try to take Pocket to my vet for boarding until the trainer could return our frantic calls.  The owner’s were right.. Pocket liked riding in cars and I was praising God that I was able to get her in and hooked to McGyver’s seat belt with relative ease.  That she was still a little sleepy with the Rescue Remedy also helped. 

 At the vet, she hopped out and followed me without complaint. That was my third mistake.

 Lesson # 3:  When dealing with an unpredictable and frightened dog, get expert help as soon as possible.  Do not try to move the dog yourself, but ask for vet tech help.

 Pocket took one look at the open door.  Perhaps she smelled the vet’s office.  Perhaps she just didn’t want to get trapped in what could be another enclosed area.  Whatever went through her mind, the result was that she started pulling and fighting to run away.  I saw her collar starting to go and tried desperately to keep slack in the leash so she did not pull the collar off.  The Vet’s receptionist holding the door couldn’t move fast enough and with one final twist, Pocket was free and running.  Without a collar or any identifying marks.

 Over the next 45 minutes Pocket crossed a busy, 6 line street four times while trying to allude us.  Vet techs chased her everywhere with leashes, nets, and treats.  Any time she headed back my way, I would sit down and try to talk to her.  I knew she would run from me when I was standing, but sometimes she did come to me when I was sitting.  Even though she was still slightly sleepy from the Rescue Remedy, she managed to allude her capturers and the remaining vet tech finally lost her in a field of deep grasses.  We all thought that was the end of Pocket and felt sick.

 That was on May 30, 2007.  I went home, dreading the call I had to make to the HALO leaders.   My first rescue for them was a complete shambles.  First she was uncontrollable, and now I had lost the dog.  Pat and Kathi were wonderful to work with.  Kathi set up an AMOS alert on Pocket with pictures that I had gotten emailed from the previous owners prior to them leaving Pocket with me. One was a great close-up of her face.  I made color copies of the alert and posted them at the two vet offices on the street where Pocket disappeared, at the local animal control kill shelter, and at a nearby PetSmart.  I drove by the area where I had last seen Pocket almost every day and asked at a number of the businesses along that busy area if they had seen her.  The picture was a great help.  I also took the picture to the only 24 hour emergency vet hospital in the county.  I listed her online with Craig’s list.

 The kill shelter only kept dogs for six days and they closed before I could get off work, so I arranged with my supervisor to leave two hours early once each week so I could check the shelter, since they would not tell you anything about any of their dogs over the phone.  I walked through that sad place twice, my heart breaking for all the dogs, most of them large, who looked back at me with confused, sad, scared eyes. I dreamed about Pocket.  I couldn’t get her off of my mind.  When it rained and thundered I wondered if she was wet and scared. Neither could I get the picture of one of my own dogs, like my tiny 8 lb. puppy mill rescue Betsy, being lost like Pocket.  I was grateful once again, that both my dogs were micro chipped.  At least they had a fighting chance if they were lost.  Pocket had nothing. 

 One person from Craig’s list wrote me after about 8 days.  She had seen a small white dog about five miles from where Pocket got away.  Pocket wasn’t white but champagne .. and it was the opposite direction from where she was last headed, but I sent her picture, then scoured that area for about two hours after work that day.  I was lucky that the neighbors didn’t report the strange lady casing their houses to the police, since I was driving slowly around in circles.  The more time passed the more my hope diminished. 

 On June 13^th, a full two weeks after Pocket had disappeared, my vet called me.  A couple had brought Pocket into his office looking for me!  It had taken them two days after she showed up to lure her inside and then they finally went to the animal control to see if anyone was looking for her.  They saw her LOST AMOS poster right away and that led them to my vets’ office.  Pocket had traveled over 5 miles from where she was lost.. and had gone in a totally unexpected direction, crossing several other multi-lane highways and railroad tracks to reach this couple’s home.  That was lesson number four.

 Lesson #4:  Get a map and the phone book.  Go out 5 to 10 miles from the point of the lost dog at a minimum and locate every vet’s office and pet store in that circle.  I didn’t know about the vet 3 miles away from the ones where I had posted her picture.  I just never drive over in that direction.

 The Pocket that this couple described sounded like a totally different dog from the one I had experienced. They had named her Lucy.  I almost fainted when they told me that their young grandchildren just LOVED her…and that she was great with their other male poodle.  When they found out that I was Pocket’s foster parent and that she was in rescue, they wanted to adopt her right away.  I told them all the negative things that I knew from the owner and from my own experience with Pocket including her separation anxiety, her aggression when people came to the door which led those owners to muzzling Pocket when visitors were expected, and the previous couple’s problems with her being too protective of the children.  They couldn’t believe that the “perfect” dog they had could act like that and eagerly agreed to hold her for a day or two until I could reach my HALO  contacts and we could make other arrangements. 

 There was much rejoicing as I spoke first with Pat and then with Kathi about Pocket’s miraculous appearance.  We had all been praying frantically that God care for Pocket and to lead her somewhere safe where she could get help.  We were cautiously excited about the possibility that Pocket had somehow managed to find her own Perfect Family. 

 There were a lot of phone calls over the next two days as we interviewed Pocket’s prospective adoptive family.  I made a home visit and delivered Pocket/Lucy’s wind chimes and other belongings to them.  They were charmed when Lucy performed her famous SIT PRETTY trick for them.  As I was charmed by their loving home and how happy and settled Lucy looked there. Lucy was home.

Special thanks to Crystal for writing this delightful story.

Lucy in her new home