Lucy

Our dog Lucy is probably the most neurotic person I know. And yes, I know I used person instead of animal, but honestly that is because she is such a big part of our family… and she thinks she is a human… or that we’re dogs.

Lucy is a Great Dane from a champion line on her father’s side, but her mother on the other hand, is probably where she gets a majority of her traits. I mean, her good looks obviously come from her dad, as he was a Harlequin like she is, but I’m pretty sure the anxiousness, nervousness, twitchiness and inability to calm down when company is over comes from her mom. Her mother was also a chicken killer, which made us a little trepidant to let her near the chicks when we got them, especially since she would sit and lick her lips like we were about to give her a treat whenever we’d hold them.

However, Lucy’s best trait is her protectiveness… which, I suppose, is also her worst. I forgot just how protective Great Danes can be, mostly because they are just so darned friendly and goofy. She startles awake and barks up a storm if someone pulls into our driveway, unless she knows it’s either of us. When one of the neighbor dogs got into our yard again and started chasing our chickens, Lucy was at the door ready to defend her territory. I was worried about letting her out, as we hadn’t tried watching her unleashed around the chickens, but also knew that the other dog would probably kill the girls, so I took the chance, opened the door, and watched her bolt towards the other dog. She chased him back over the fence to his yard, barked a few words of warning, then walked back to the backdoor with me, completely ignoring the chickens. Since then, we haven’t had to worry about her being around the chickens. I guess she has integrated them into the family and as such, has offered her protection.

Now, this poor dog has had so many various medical issues, I’m glad we decided not to breed her. She has near-perfect markings and comes from a championship line, which would have been excellent to maintain the breed standards, but we got a dog just for a companion, not a baby maker, so we got her spayed. Lucy has developed not only food allergies (she can’t eat any grains), but also environmental allergies (she’s allergic to grass, mold, pollen, weeds and dust mites… basically, the Northwest), and suffers from chronic yeast infections.

Fortunately for us, there are a lot of foods we can feed her, but her favorite by far is the one we get at our local feed store, from a company that only makes grain free dog and cat food, Taste of the Wild. Being a Great Dane, she should be on the low end of the protein percentage foods, about 22%-25%, and she loves smoked salmon, so we started buying the Pacific Stream variety, which she would devour. However, one time the feed store was out, and me being the bad owner waited until she was out of food completely before buying another bag, decided to try the High Prairie formula, which has a much higher protein percentage. She went crazy over this food, and when I bought the Pacific Stream formula the next time, she turned her nose at it and would look up at me as if asking, “Where’s that other food, you know, the delicious one that makes me drool uncontrollably?” So I gave in, bought another bag of High Prairie, and fed her half-and-half until the Pacific Stream was gone.

Lucy has been eating the higher protein formula consistently for about ten months, and when we took her to the vet, we told her that she was on a high protein diet, and so for good measure had a urine and blood sample taken to test them and make sure it isn’t causing any problems. Surprisingly, even to the vet, her samples came back neutral, rather than acidic like she was expecting, so Lucy gets to stay on her food she loves so much. And the plus side is the higher protein food makes her hair grow back faster, which for a dog who’s constantly scratching and licking due to allergies until some areas are bald, is a good thing. She is also on a medication now that is helping keep the yeast infections from forming in the first place, so her skin has improved dramatically.

Our Lucy is the best cuddler, and even though she is rather large, she thinks she is a lap dog. Greg and I will be on either end of the couch watching TV, and she will be spread across the entire middle, with her tail in one of our laps, and her head resting in the other. Then she switches sides, reversing her position. But for all the cuddling and loving she gives, she can be a quite the destroyer. She ruined our sofa, tore holes in numerous blankets, chewed up most of our hats, but is still an absolute sweetheart… to us. Everyone else, especially women, she’s in their crotch, sniffing.

But honestly, I think it is time to get Lucy a companion. She needs another dog to be a dog with, and while we would love to get another Great Dane, I don’t know if our house can handle two of them. With so many mutts in the shelter, and the fact that mutts statistically don’t have the same health issues purebreds do, we may end up adopting from there. Then again, I do love the look of the Fawns, and there is a Great Dane Rescue only a couple hours away…