Dog Gone It

Sigh.  Lucy’s gone.  She went today, after we looked after her about a week.
It is not like we are saying we gotta get a dog as a result of this experience. But we do love Lucy, and she loves us.  Well she probably loved the ball more.  Though we fed her, so it would have been close.  As long as she had food and water, then the ball came first.
We know though that she did pine for us by the fact she took up residence next to the door, whenever we were out.  Also, no matter what, she was always glad to see us, judging from the wagging tail.
There really is something about a dog’s greeting.  It does not matter how I feel, what sort of a day I have had, or what I have done.  The dogs greeting is consistently welcoming.
The yard was hers.  She would have scored so many goals if the shed or the bird bath were a goal.  Constantly, we would hear bang, bang, bang as the ball was pushed at pace into to shed.  For her it just meant a change of direction.  A crunch generally denoted the ball had gone into either the broms, or the bird bath area.  With her being black, sometimes at night, only what we heard told us where she was.  The rasping sound was the garden edging, or the sound of a ball rolling and hooves, told us she was going by chasing the ball.  Sometimes the automatic light in the carport came on, and that told us she was in that general area.
There is no doubt she was queen of the yard.  The birds very tentatively went to their feeders.  However if she saw them, and she was so inclined, she would do a run that scattered to birds and sent them, well, flying.
She was always up for a game.  As long as in involved a ball and a chase.  Often we would throw the ball for her.  It felt like a real honour when she gave us the ball, to be thrown for her to chase.  It was like she was giving us her most prized possession.  She was very intense, waiting for you to throw it, but she invariable brought it back.  She would retrieve the ball, and then have a really good sniff around before bringing it back.  She acted like she was smelling scents here for the very first time, even though she must have smelled them many times.  I was going to say she must have smelled them a million times but that would have been an exaggeration.
When it was time to bed down for the night, she never put up a fuss.  After all, it was not that she alone was bedding down, and that being where she was, she was going to miss some important action – like changing the tv channel, or moving from here to there.  We were all turning in for the night, and “all” meant people and dogs.
There is no doubt we miss her, but we have a feeling it is not mutual.  She would be really glad to get back to her family and familiar surroundings, but I have a feeling, that as long as she is loved, has food and water, and something to chase, she’ll be right. ​