My Little Houdini

For those of you that don't know the story of how we got our beloved dog Lucy, here goes.

Three years ago next month, during my first year of teaching, I chaperoned the annual Halloween party at school. Afterwards, I went to pick up Kolby from his friend's house before heading home to our apartment. As we were pulling into our parking spot, Kolby noticed a dog walking up to him in the parking lot. I heard him say, "Hey Melissa, come look at this dog!" but before I knew it, the dog had jumped in the backseat of my car! I watched as she rolled onto her back for Kolby to rub her belly. She seemed sweet, but we had no idea who this dog was and where she came from! Naturally, I was kind of freaking out, and started running around the apartment complex asking everyone around if they had lost their dog. In the meantime, Kolby brought her inside and gave her a bath. Her fur was completely matted and she seemed like she was starving. After no success of finding her owner, I ran to Wal-Mart to buy some dog food since we decided to keep her overnight and call animal control in the morning.

Kolby's mom, Kolby, and I drove to animal control early the next morning to see if anyone had reported a missing dog. Since she had no collar/name tag, we were hoping she might have a microchip that would lead us to her owner. No such luck. Not only did she not have a microchip, no one had reported a missing dog that matched her description. Animal control told us we could leave her there for a week and if no one claimed her she was ours (or we could let them keep her). We just couldn't bear leaving this dog at the pound. It almost seemed like fate that she jumped into our car. She was so incredibly sweet, well-mannered, and from the looks of it, house-broken. We decided to keep her for the week and see what happened.

We also decided to hang up signs and put an ad in the local paper to see if we could find her owner. Over the next seven days, we fell completely in love with her. And to our surprise, on the seventh day animal control called to tell us that she was ours. We named her Lucy, and it's been pure bliss since. I can't imagine our lives without her, and no other dog could ever compare to her. She is the best dog I could ever ask for, and I am so lucky she "found" us!

Today, I went over to my parents' house for my mom's birthday. I was gone all day, but came home late afternoon to let Lucy go outside. To my amazement, when I arrived home she was sitting on the front porch, wagging her tail and happy to see me. I immediately freaked out. I thought that someone had broken into our house. I grabbed Lucy and ran inside, checking every room for any signs of a break in. Mysteriously, nothing was out of place. Naturally, I began to wonder how on earth Lucy managed to get outside on her own, since the front door was still locked and dead-bolted. Then, I saw it. The tiniest "pop" in the screen of our front window, just big enough for a Lucy to escape from. She loves to sit at the window and look at the rabbits and squirrels outside, and she must have seen one and became so excited that she busted through the window. I could not believe that she escaped, yet managed to STAY on our front porch for who knows how long! She could have been out there for hours, and yet she didn't run away, and if she did, she found her way back home. My adrenaline is still racing thinking about all of this. I am so relieved that she is safe at home, and am glad to know that she truly must love us and love our home to have stayed faithfully on our porch today. After all, she could have jumped in someone else's car today, or worse, been hit by one. I can't even begin to imagine what I would have felt if she had gone missing. It made me realize even more how important she is to me and how much I love her. Of course, I showered her with love this evening (and even "showered" her since she smelled like what I can only imagine the animals on Homeward Bound smelled like after their incredible journey) and told her how happy I was that she came/stayed (who knows what adventures she had today) home. I certainly do love my little Houdini, Lucy, and am so very glad she picked us to love.