Lucky in 2014
My dog is named Lucky. He's actually my nana's dog but I also consider him to be our family dog. We adopted Lucky over 10 years ago. My nana lives in an ADU behind my parent's house, and we thought it would be good for her to have some company. (Also, my sister and I wanted a dog.) Initially, Lucky was very anxious and could not be away from my nana at all. When she left the house, Lucky would scratch up her door so much that the bottom right corner of the wooden door is now partially hollowed out. We decided to leave him outside, instead, so that he would not scratch the door when she left. This way, whenever she would leave, he would just stick his nose through the gate and wait for her to return.
Over 10 years ago, circa 2014-2015, my family was at the SPCA together looking for a dog for my nana. It is always exciting to get a new pet. When we were at the SPCA, we did a couple "test walks" with dogs to see which one would be a good match. A few of us were walking one dog around the block. When we came back to return that dog to the SPCA, we saw another dog, sitting next to my nana, who had been waiting inside the building. It seemed that this dog liked my nana, and that she liked the dog. If I remember correctly, his name was "Milk." My nana decided, boldly, that he was lucky to have found us. From that day forward, he was called "Lucky."
As previously mentioned, Lucky can be super anxious, which makes sense. We have no clue what he experienced before he was rescued. It's possible he had been abandoned by his previous owner. His anxiety can make it difficult to bring him around other dogs, and sometimes people, too. When we first took him on walks, he would bark at other dogs. Even now with humans, he gets anxious. For example, when people come over to my nana's house and he doesn't know them very well, he starts to bark at them whenever they go into the bathroom or her bedroom. I've wondered if this is because he can sense that these spaces are where we are most vulnerable and he is trying to be protective. I understand his instincts, but sometimes his reactions can make things more stressful.
That said, here are the things I like most about Lucky:
We actually do not know what kind of dog Lucky is. He was a rescue, so all we can do is guess. He has curly white fur and is small. When we first got him, his fur was long, tangled, and a bit dirty. We think that he is a mix between a poodle and a terrier. Apparently, there are many different kinds of poodle-terrier mixes. Here is a list of the most popular poodle-mixes. I often see "Goldendoodles" and "Labradoodles" around the neighborhood. Based on that website, it's possible that Lucky is a "Westiepoo," which is a mix between West Highland White Terrier and Poodle. One benefit of poodle-mixes is that their fur tends to be more hypoallergenic than other dogs' fur. This is good because I am slightly allergic to dogs.
| Lucky's Age | Energy Level | Wisdom Level | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | Extremely High | Extremely Low | ||
| 3-5 | Very High | Very Low | ||
| 5-7 | High | Low | ||
| 7-9 | Medium | Medium | ||
| 9-11 | Low | High | ||
| 11-13 | Very Low | Very High | ||
| Projections | Row 7 - Cell 2 | Extremely low energy, Extremely high wisdom |
||
| Expected Energy and Wisdom Levels at ages 13+ | Row 8 - Cell 2 | Row 8 - Cell 3 | ||
| Source: Personal observation of Lucky. | Row 9 - Cell 2 | Row 9 - Cell 3 | ||
Not long ago, I was walking Lucky and an off-leash pitbull attacked him. Fortunately, Lucky is OK, but he had to get some stitches and take antibiotics. He was moving very slowly and lethargically after we took him home from the pet hospital. He couldn't really go up and down the stairs. Usually he would sleep at my nana's house, but we decided it would be better to keep him at our house while he recovered. We didn't want my nana to accidentally walk into him, since he was moving very slowly and she has limited vision. The attack was kind of traumatic and now I don't think Lucky wants to go on walks with me anymore. Either he doesn't trust me or maybe he can sense how anxious I am about walking him now. Even when I am not walking him, I now get very anxious whenever I see pitbulls and whenever I see off-leash dogs.
Lucky is an elderly dog now. We don't know how old he actually is, since he was a rescue. The vet estimated that he was around 4 years old when we got him. They guessed that age by looking at his teeth. For a few years now, he has had a cough. Apparently it is some kind of trachial irritation. It basically sounds like he's gagging all the time. He doesn't seem that fazed by it, but it can be hard to tell what animals feel. My mom just ordered him an inhaler, per the vet's recommendation. She had to order it from Canada, since it was exorbitantly expensive in the U.S.
As Lucky has aged, his eyes have developed a bit of a greyish haze. We think he might have cataracts. He cannot see other dogs as well anymore, so he is generally less anxious than he usually would be when he goes on walks (at least before the attack). When we first adopted him, he could see a dog across the street, and he would start huffing harder or kicking up dirt with his hind legs. Sometimes he would bark at the other dog. He used to be excited about going on walks, but now the dogwalker has to pull on him to get him out the gate and down the front steps. I don't know if he is tired or if he is anxious, or both. He also walks a bit slower now. However, when he gets through the gate, he still shoots down the path to my nana's ADU, scratching at the door to get inside.