Lydia's Happy Welcome to the Family Day

Lydia Joy

I was sitting at home watching Harry Potter... (Don't all good stories start this way?)

...waiting for it to be time to go to church, when I heard a whining and scratching at my door. I immediately did a head count thinking one of my dogs had gotten lose. Finding everyone present and accounted for and still hearing whining and scratching at my door, I opened it and discovered a puppy hiding behind the front tire of my truck.

Well, me being me, I coaxed the puppy to me and brought her into the house.

Upon close examination...

...I learned that she was bloated, dehydrated, hungry, and covered in fleas. I brought her into the kitchen, gave her some water, and prepared some food for her; dog chow with canned food and hot water well mixed to a semi-soft texture. As she finished her meal I prepared a bath for her.

I bathed her in a mild soap, wrapped her in a towel, set the kitchen timer for 10 minutes and we sat and watched Harry.

When the timer went off I rinsed her off only to discover all the fleas had migrated into her ears!!!

So, back to the sink for another bath we went. This time I washed her whole body; face ears and all. Set the timer for another 10 minutes, and returned once again to Harry. This time I looked down and examined her face. Because of all the soap I had put in her ears the fleas were fleaing (pun intended) for their lives. It was like a scene from The Mummy where scarabs by the droves came up out of the ground only in this case it was fleas from a puppy's ears! GROSS!

I rinsed her again, then seeing it was time to go, took her into my bedroom; not knowing any more about her or her health, and having other animals, I didn't want to expose anyone to anything. I brought her food, water, newspaper, and an old pillow to lay on.

I wish we had some puppy pictures of her, she was ADORABLE. But that was 11 years and several moves ago...

Before leaving the house I left a note for my daughter on the tea kettle. Here's what it said:

"Monique, Please don't be mad at me, but there is a puppy in my bedroom. I promise I will ask at church if anyone wants a puppy. See you after church. Love Mom"

Fast forward eleven years and I still have that puppy.

Her name is Lydia Joy and she has since gained Service Dog status, has a passport and has traveled to 4 different countries. Better qualified and more experienced than some people I know!

Lydia on the plane over the Atlantic

It was a long flight...