I would say we had a busy week, but I seem to say that every week. So I will just concede that we have a busy life. Most of it self-induced, but so be it.
I will get to Lucy's adoption story one of these days, she is too cute for words.
In trying to give this new dog a stable environment (which reads "I don't want her chewing things while we are out of the house"), Lucy, Jackson and I took a trip to the pet store to buy a crate and a few other things she desperately needed (the knit sweater is an absolute must for a short haired, underweight dog in the winter!).
As soon as we arrived at the automatic doors I realized she probably has never been shopping (how uncivilized!). Skittish and pulling in the opposite direction were good indicators.
We managed to get through the doors and she actually seemed to enjoy the outing. All kinds of people petting her, dogs wagging their tails at her and picking out new toys had her relaxed a bit...until we had to walk through the doors again.
This time the doors freaked her enough that she got in the way of the shopping cart. So jumpy, she pulled her neck right out of her collar and ran right across the parking lot. Heart pounding I yelled her name, but why would she come to me? I am a perfect stranger to her, I have traumatized her and she has only been called Lucy since August. I am sure she keeps looking at all of us calling her this and thinking, "Who the HELL is Lucy??!!"
Telling Jackson to stay by the cart on the sidewalk, I walked quickly across the parking lot to the little spot of grass Lucy had found and is sniffing (thank you town of Leesburg for perfectly placing that fire hydrant!). I grabbed her by the skin of her neck, put the collar back on and dragged her to our car. While I am opening the car door and getting her situated, I see my little man strolling up behind me.
My three year old crossing the busy parking lot, I nearly fainted. I closed the door to keep the dog in, hugged little man tight and just kept asking him, "did you even look for cars?" And then saying "buddy, you can't cross streets like that by yourself."
Pretty much in shock over the entire situation, this elderly woman walked by shaking her head at me and my stellar parenting skills and muttered, "he didn't look, you know."
Thankfully, thankfully, I believe the good people outweigh the bad. As I am in disbelief that this woman just said this to me, another woman is pushing my cart across the parking lot over to my car, asking me if everyone is ok. I almost cried and I almost hugged her. Thankfully we are all ok. A little rattled, but ok.
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Oh my goodness! What a story, Susan! It is SO hard orienting a new dog, especially a rescue dog used to a new routine (and a new name).
ReplyDeleteI picture that judgmental woman looking like Mrs. Gulch from "The Wizard of Oz!" That really makes me sad that someone could live so long and learn so little about putting yourself in another person's shoes. Even an adult might forget to look both ways before crossing the street when his or her dog was running loose!
Speaking of shoes, recently, I was in Wegmans' and I saw a very nice, attractive, well-dressed woman with a little girl who was appropriately dressed for the wet weather--except for the fact that the little girl was missing one shoe.
Trying to be helpful, I said: "She's missing..."
"I know," said the mother. "Thank you, but I know."
Sometimes, it's just a one-shoe kind of day.
Looking forward to more posts about the new dog and the kids!