RIP Lycos

1-14-14

Goodbye my sweet Lycos.

It was about as I had expected. I did keep thinking Doctor Steinam was going to look at us confused when he was checking for life. That old pup has fought death so many times I just expected her to not succumb to the lethal cocktail injected into her arm. She went peacefully and Ken, Luna and I said our goodbyes again before we quietly left MBAH. When we had arrived, there was a couple saying their goodbyes to a cat in the other room. It was a somber office yesterday afternoon.

When we had dropped off the boys to my folks’, they both started crying again. It was clear that the trip from their school to Gramma’s was all four of us being brave and not talking about what all of this meant. Dax hugged and kissed Lycos. Bobby didn’t know how to cope. My dad looked teary, too. I led the boys in and we left quickly to not prolong the day. In some ways I really just wanted it to be over.

I am now in strange place emotionally speaking. On top of sadness I am experiencing several other conflicting feelings that are colliding with one another at a startling rate. Guilt, worry, giddiness, affection, excitement, trepidation, and probably many others that I could find in the thesaurus.

The search for a new dog started months ago. I have talked to breeders, shelters, rescue groups and everything in between. I have dedicated searches that rivaled the intensity that I looked for houses with. Friday was really supposed to go better, but sadly it didn’t work the way I had hoped. Sadly, it worked out the way I expected.

Yesterday I once again checked all my sites, looking for pups that might work well for our home along with specifically for Luna. That dog needs someone to play with during the day. She always tried to play with Lycos. Side note-I didn’t like having to write that sentence in the past tense. Poor Lycos just hasn’t been able to keep up in a couple years. A pup that would come into our home would almost be as much Luna’s pup as it would be our pup.

I found an ad on Craigslist. It was a gentleman who had a black golden retriever. I know, that sentence makes no sense. Apparently he owns a black shepherd looking pup, who was like a lab mix of sorts. Fluffy, and very Luna like. The only difference is that she is black. The dad dog was a golden retriever, who was a friend’s dog who happened to be visiting. Neither dog was spayed or neutered, and both relatively young. Next thing you know, there are puppies.

I emailed the guy along with doing extensive net stalking to ensure this wasn’t some kind of scam. I couldn’t find anything to indicate this and the man emailed me back some pictures and information. I didn’t know if it would even come to a visit. He emailed me right after we picked up the boys saying they were available last night. We took a chance.

He was in a really nice area of Downey. Gorgeous ranch style house across from the golf course with a sweet family. When we knocked on the door, we were greeted by their daughter who couldn’t be much older than 5, carrying the pup who was almost as big as her. I scooped up this squishy pup and seriously, adored her. She was sweet and gentle, but with mischief oozing from her.

We were able to come in and meet the mom dog along with the sibling which was a standard golden that they were keeping. It was a house with 3 kids who were clearly very active with the pups. The little black one kept following Bobby with great interest.

We took the pup out front where Luna was able to meet her. Luna normally is standoffish with new dogs, but she was shockingly excited to meet this dog. They did the standard smell-fest and seemed interested in getting to know one another. It then started to get chaotic, what with Luna, two puppies, three little kids and giant leaves that the puppies were fascinated with.

It was decided we would get this puppy. I went back and forth on it for numerous reasons. Ken and the boys however gave me more good reasons which outnumbered my concerns. Ken pointed out that I wasn’t rushing. I have been looking and sending him links for dogs for a while now. It just so happened that this one was on the day Lycos passed away. Was it unfortunate timing? Probably, but is there ever a really right time?

Lily is now the newest Brenan member. She is really freaking cute. She slept a lot on the way home, curled up in my lap. When we got to Steve, she and Luna did the backyard exploring, which was sort of bittersweet. There was still some Lycos poo which must have been confusing for Lily, but at the same time possibly sad for Luna? Not sure, but it certainly was odd.

Lily introduced herself to Lucy and Breezer by walking up to the sliding screen door. Both the oranges looked at Lily, then at each other, then back at this cute little black nose and didn’t know what to do with themselves. It was at this point that Monarch sauntered up and simply let out his standard annoyed meow.

I brought Lily in so she could meet the rest of the crew. Trixie was shockingly curious. In fact, she almost seemed annoyed at the idea of someone else being the baby of the family. At one point, I was sitting on the floor with Lily and Trixie eyeballing one another with this odd desire to be friends, but it was as if they were really unsure on what to do with this desire. Trixie also decided at this point that Luna was not evil anymore. She approached Luna and even touched noses. It was odd, and endearing.

Luna was funny with Lily. Lily discovered Luna’s bed and thought that was cool. She at this point started playing with one of Luna’s toys. Luna seemed confused. She gently took away the toy which I think she seemed upset that Lily was playing with, but then later brought in all of her other toys as if to show Lily what they had. Considering these critters only had maybe a couple hours to get to know each other, I get the sense it will be a beautiful relationship.

Lily did better in the crate that she could have. At first she was upset, but she spent long times in there without complaint. I had a hard time getting to sleep and subsequently I am pretty dead on my feet this morning. Lack of sleep, draining emotions and having to deal with work will do that to a girl.

Thankfully today there is no soccer or other outings. I can get home and get to know our new family member along with making sure all the existing ones are ok with the new. I also can regroup from Lycos’ departure. Today will be long at work, but hopefully it will make my return home all the sweeter.