Goodbye my Sweet Lady

      Goodbye my Sweet Lady

Suzanne Marsh

August 13, 2011

She was a frightened puppy running around a busy truck stop seeking help; a small dog with a brown coat. That cold miserable rainy night Lucky Lady entered our lives. We had stopped to eat; being seated in a big rig for hours on end requires time to get out of the truck and walk around, truckers must take an hour break before eight hours are driven.

We walked toward the C store, had dinner, and then left since Earl had four hours to drive. The rain continued as we watched the dog begging people to help her, finally, Earl could not stand it any longer. He pulled the big rig into the fuel aisle and parked. He went to the back of the big rig where we kept Rosie’s food, he took some then went out into the rain. The only thing was where to put the dog, we definitely did not need another dog or so I thought. Earl banged on the driver’s door, his arms were full holding the dog. He put her inside climbed into the cab, and towel-dried her. She laid down at my feet, a shivering, cold dog. I covered her with a dry towel trying to keep warm. Earl put the heat on low as we drove toward our next delivery.

The following day we stopped in a rest area where people were selling baked goods, we stopped, and the windows were up, I looked over and the passenger window was open. I asked Earl:

“Did you leave my window open?” His answer was; no. I shortly realized this dog was intelligent but nothing prepared me for the ‘great window challenge.’ Lucky, liked the window open, I liked the window closed! She would stand, use her nose, and open the window. During the summer it was not so bad, a blast of hot air but as winter began to rear its head it was darn cold. We would go down the road and it appeared that I was opening and closing the window for no reason, we used to get stares from other truck drivers. This went on for almost eight years, it became a contest of wills.

Three weeks after finding Lucky we took her to the veterinarian to find out about her leg. We had decided to give her to Earl’s aunt, she had just lost her dog, and that was the plan. The best-laid plans of mice often go astray and this plan really went astray. The veterinarian gave her a good going over, he checked out her hip, which was displaced when she was shoved out of a moving vehicle. We asked him if he thought she would be a small dog, to which he replied:

“This is a chocolate lab, she is not done growing, when she is done she will be around

seventy pounds. Her tail is still unwinding.” That took care of our plan for giving her

to his aunt. The vet also told us that these dogs mature slowly. I inquired as to how long, as it turned out over six years. Those were six very long learning years.

Lucky had a penchant for a small stuffed green frog our daughter used to put on her bed; that was until Lucky discovered it. More than once she took off with that frog and our daughter ran after her yelling; “that dog is a thief.” She would take back the frog, and Lucky would wait for her next opportunity. Our daughter finally decided the stuffed frog would be much better off in her closet on a shelf. For the longest time, we could not understand why Lucky would always go into her bedroom and stare at the closet until she remembered that was where she had put the stuffed green frog.

Lucky really enjoyed the driver's side of the big rig. She was comfortable there, however that created a problem. Lucky hated to move unless given no choice, the driver did not give her one. Lucky would growl at him as he tried to get her out of his seat. There is nothing like a seventy-pound chocolate lab that thinks she is a lap dog, my lap. I tried to share the seat with her to no avail. She also slept on the seat at night and regarded that seat as her bed. I can still see Lucky with those hazel eyes of hers warning Earl that she did not wish to be disturbed. She also slept at the end of the bunk, this caused a great deal of frustration since once she was comfortable she would not move.

Lucky would devour anything that did not move faster than she did, no one prepared us for this dog and her antics. Lucky had a toy, a long red fox that she played with. Earl had been playing with her, and he threw the toy. He then began watching a television program, it was then that Lucky ate her toy. We searched the house, and her dog bed. Several days later we found the toy, although I don’t think anyone would have wanted it. Lucky was an adventure, a good one most of the time.

Our adventures with Lucky continued as she began to mature, however she simply could not leave the dog alone that lived next door. She would stick her nose through the fence, the other dog bit her nose several times. She never did learn to leave that dog alone.

Time takes its toll on us all, dogs are no different. Lucky began to slow down, compared to her youthful exuberance. She began developing breathing problems. That dog would sleep on her back and snore, I had never seen a dog sleep through the night on her back but Lucky did, with her legs straight up in the air! I later discovered that was a lab “thing”.

I had gone to the museum with my cousin and daughter when the phone rang, something was wrong at home. Lucky was walking into walls and going around in circles. I ran for the exit with my daughter and cousin hot on my heels. I was too late, by the time I arrived home, Lucky had crossed the rainbow bridge. I knelt down next to her body, and the only thing I could think of was: “Goodbye my sweet lady.”