Last Saturday on September 15th we put our beloved dog Lucky down. We got Lucky when we first moved to Murrieta 7 year ago. I had just started teaching at Calvary Chapel Christian School and another teacher put out an email with a picture of this cute Jack Russel Terrier asking if anyone would like to have him. I immediately called Andy and we told her that we would love to have him. He has been the best dog we have ever had. He absolutely loved us both right from the start. We have been through multiple moves with him and he always adjusted easily. With every child we brought into the home, he was at first suspicious but then very loving. Our cat Sundae and him took a few weeks to get acquainted and became friends quickly after. She would slide up to him and lick his fur. He seriously would look at her like she was crazy but let her do it anyways.
He was our scrappy dog. He loved table scraps and any food the kids would drop for him. When we lived in Temecula we hung out a lot at our neighbors house and he would come and eat all the scraps off their floor too! Sometimes they would even call us and ask if Lucky could come over and clean their floor! He got into chocolate more than once and thankfully never had an adverse reaction. If there was any food out his little sniffer would find it and eat it.
He hated and loved baths. The actual bath he looked miserable but as soon as you dried him with the towel he would get this huge burst of energy and start running like a crazy dog! It was awesome!! We would yell, "Go Lucky Go!" and he would take off. The kids and all of us would fall over laughing.
He also loved to roll around in dirt. (which coincidentally led to more baths). Over and over again he would show up at the back door covered in dirt and with this huge happy grin.
He was our little guard dog. Every time we would open the front door he would bark. Anytime someone rang the bell he would bark. It was annoying at times but I always appreciated that he was looking out for us. He never ever bit anyone or was aggressive. Many people were scared of his bark though.
He slept in our bed for years. He was so small that he would fit right between Andy and I. In the early years he would even crawl under the covers all the way to the bottom of the bed and then halfway through the night he would crawl out panting because he was so hot. It was funny because he'd do it all over again the next night. In the past few years he started sleeping in the kids rooms on their beds. They loved it of course.
A few weeks ago Lucky started having trouble holding his urine. Andy was putting him out sometimes three times a night. Then he started peeing blood. We took him to the Vet and they said it was either Bladder Cancer or Bladder Stones, both of which are life threatening. We waited a little bit but he was getting weaker and weaker and bleeding more and more. It was such a horrible time because we love him so much and didn't want to see him in pain but we knew we would miss him so much. We made the decision to put him down and then bury him in my parents backyard (next to their cat Coal who had just a passed away a month ago, they were buddies too). We got a really special little grave marker and said our goodbyes. We will always miss Lucky. I hope and pray he is now healthy and running around Heaven.
