World’s Greatest Cucciolo

We have the world’s greatest dog, Lucy. 

Lucy loves to hike and run on the beach.  She hates her ACLs (both are surgically repaired).  She loves to snuggle and sleep in the bed.  She does not love tile floors (all floors in Italy are tile).  She loves to ride in cars but hates to ride on airplanes.  She loves to eat. And eat.  She kind of likes the baby but really loves Matt.

Lucy became mine in March of 2006.  She was smart enough to run away from her first owner into a five lane road in front of an elementary school and be saved by the third grade students and teachers (or be dumped which is what we think really happened).  I was lucky enough to walk into the office to check my mailbox right when she was brought to the front.  It was love at first sight.  Jay and Tracie came to the school, late as usualJ, and took the dog to the closest vet to find out if she was chipped or had an owner or if the vet recognized the dog.  They also drove around looking for lost dog signs.  During my 40 minute lunch break, I rushed to Jay’s office to see the puppy, who needed to eat when you were in love?  So by the end of this Friday afternoon in March, I had a new best friend and the world’s cutest beagle puppy. 

When we got our orders, one question that was frequently asked (especially by the people who knew Lucy)  was "what we were going to do with the dog?"  I had four offers from friends and family to adopt her.   Of course, I was not prepared to leave her behind.  I imagined that it would be tough to have a dog in Italy and that some of our travel might be limited by the dog (I am REALLY hoping that we find another family with dogs that wants to travel every other weekend and trade dog sitting).  I thought about how she and my dad would have a great time together going on walks through the garden and sleeping on the couch together but I just couldn’t do it.  So instead I had to prepare myself for putting the dog in cargo for a cross country flight and then an international flight. 

Lucy is a very adaptable dog because she has moved a lot.  In Raleigh, we moved every year and twice one year (Tanis and I are not allowed to speak about why we moved out of our first Cary apartment).  She has lived mainly in apartments with no backyard and several times lived with other dogs.  She made lots of 4.5 hour road trips to Maryland during the long distance part of our relationship with Matt.  She even made a cross country trip in the front of the Penske truck.   All of this with no complaining and no meds!  Even though I was terribly nervous about the flights, I knew she would be okay.  It is expensive to fly dogs and there are lots of guidelines, such as a weight limit.  If the dog exceeded the weight limit, we would have to pay double to fly her!  Lucy and her kennel were exactly 50 pounds on the flight from California.  This meant that in the two months that we were on the East Coast, she could not gain a fraction of a pound.  As I mentioned earlier, Lucy loves to eat.  And her grandmothers and Uncle Jay LOVE to feed her.

The dog was so stressed during the East Coast visit that even with all the people feeding her, she lost three pounds!  Poor Cucciolo!

As soon as we go to Napoli, she had to go stay with another family who had two dogs because the hotel didn’t have enough dog friendly rooms.  But Lucy is adaptable.  And smart.  She can do lots of cool tricks: shake, high five, sit, lie down, play dead, crawl.  She can recognize homes and cars.  She was able to find my friend Nicole’s apartment on a hall with 20 doors that looked exactly alike.   She knows how to not wrap around the tree with her leash and understands “around the tree.”  Usually when I give that command people look at me like I am crazy until she walks around the tree.  She can find food anywhere and remember every spot where she ever found food!  But for some reason, she can’t find our temporary home.  It might be because this is the third place apartment she has stayed in while in Napoli, in two different buildings.  Every time we come in the building after a walk, she tries to go to an apartment on the first floor, both sides of the second floor, until finally coming to the third floor where we are actually staying!  She can’t wait to move to our Napoli home which will have a yard for the cucciolo!