I hope you got my ball in the big dog park in the sky

“I was new to the dog park – just a small puppy and a little overwhelmed by everything. All the other dogs were hyper and a bit overwhelming for me, and I liked to hide behind my master’s legs. But then I met Lucy.

Lucy was out in the park with her owner at the same time I got taken there every day.

Lucy loved chasing her ball around the park and chewing sticks as much as I did, but more importantly, she was very gentle. She let me sniff her and jump around her and she never told me off. And even better, she seemed to love sharing.  She had the coolest ball, an extra squishy glow in the dark yellow one that made a delicious squooshing noise every time I chewed it.  At that time, I just had a boring old tennis ball, and every day, I couldn’t help but run over to Lucy and steal her ball, and she would happily take my tennis ball in exchange.

Soon my owner got me a ball upgrade – now in  my possession was a fancy new blue aqua ball that was every dog’s favourite and other dogs kept trying to steal it. I tried not to let anyone have it, except I never minded Lucy borrowing it, since she was always so nice to me.

Once I got a little over zealous with my chewing and I ruined Lucy’s ball. My owner bought Lucy a brand new one to replace it, and chose the exact same ball that I had! Still, even though we had the same one, every day we’d greet each other in the park and trade  – she would give me hers and I would give her mine.

I loved those mornings in the park. Some mornings we’d get there before Lucy, and I would just stand at the edge of the park waiting for her to come. There were other times she got there before me, and she would rush to greet us before I’d even been taken off leash.

It had been a few weeks since I’d played with Lucy in the park, and I was worried. We’d had two years of play dates together and she rarely missed them.  That’s when I found out the horrible news that she’d gotten cancer and had to be put down suddenly.Lucy was a great dog – great with kids, with humans and dogs, and she even liked the occasional cat. She had some knee problems but she never let those get to her – she was always out running and making the most of every day, with a big sloppy doggy grin on her face.

She was my best friend and I’m going to miss her terribly, but I know she’s playing in the big dog park in the sky. I just hope she’s got my ball up there with her.”

From Jack, a two year old Blue Heeler/Border Collie Cross, written about Lucy, a 10 year old Lab/German Shephard cross who was put to sleep on Friday, Feb 19th and will be sorely missed by her human and canine friends alike.