{"id":20259,"date":"2026-03-11T09:03:48","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T09:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/the-dog-of-my-dreams\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T06:09:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T06:09:39","slug":"the-dog-of-my-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/positive-living\/friends-and-family\/pets\/dogs\/the-dog-of-my-dreams\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dog of My Dreams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My 12-year-old dog Lucy was lying under the kitchen table, one of her favorite spots.<\/p>\n<p>She looked up at me with those intelligent eyes of hers\u2014one blue, one brown\u2014but I knew when she didn\u2019t get up to greet me that the day I\u2019d been dreading had come. I called the veterinarian, who\u2019d taken good care of Lucy ever since I\u2019d adopted her, and asked her to come over one last time.<\/p>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ada4f91 e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"ada4f91\" data-element_type=\"container\" id=\"home-banner-stn\">\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-72e6e8eb elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"72e6e8eb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Community Newsletter<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-261bcec elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"261bcec\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n<h3 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Get More Inspiration Delivered to Your Inbox<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9787b46 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget-mobile__width-inherit elementor-widget elementor-widget-wp-widget-ninja_forms_widget\" data-id=\"9787b46\" data-element_type=\"widget\" id=\"front-banner-signup\" data-widget_type=\"wp-widget-ninja_forms_widget.default\">\n<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<noscript class=\"ninja-forms-noscript-message\"><br \/>\n\tNotice: JavaScript is required for this content.<\/noscript><\/p>\n<style>\n<p>        \/* FORM STYLES *\/<\/p>\n<p>        #nf-form-5-cont {\n                                    background-color:#ffffff;\n                                                    border-radius:35px;\n-webkit-border-radius:35px;                    }\n    <\/style>\n<style>\n<p>        \/* FIELDS STYLES *\/<\/p>\n<p>        .nf-form-content .nf-field-container #nf-field-27-wrap {\n                                            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\/>\n                <script id=\"nf-tmpl-cell\" type=\"text\/template\">\n            <nf-fields><\/nf-fields>\n        <\/script><\/p>\n<p>        <script id=\"nf-tmpl-row\" type=\"text\/template\">\n            <nf-cells><\/nf-cells>\n        <\/script><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>I sat down on the floor next to her to wait for the vet, stroking her fur and thinking back on everything we\u2019d been through together. Lucy was part Australian shepherd, part Queensland heeler. A rescue, so you could say I saved her life. Really, though, she saved mine. That\u2019s why I thought of her as my angel here on earth.<\/p>\n<p>When I met Lucy at the Humane Society, I was living with my two children in an old farmhouse in Ojai, a laid-back California town with paths made for strolling, gorgeous sunsets and mountains all around. Although I worked in Hollywood, I didn\u2019t want my kids to grow up there. I wanted my daughter and son to have an upbringing more like my own back in Arkansas.<\/p>\n<p>The farmhouse had a curvy staircase and on Christmas morning, I insisted the kids come down it with their hands over their eyes. \u201cOkay, everybody, open your eyes!\u201d I\u2019d say. I loved to see them take in the presents, the tree, the lights\u2026the wonder of Christmas.<\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t take Lucy long to fit into our family. She decided her job was to watch over us, like any good herding dog. She claimed certain spots\u2014a particular section of the sofa, under the kitchen table, outside by the lavender, places where she could keep an eye on things. She snapped at bees and occasionally got stung. She even took part in our rituals, like coming down the stairs with the kids on Christmas morning (though she didn\u2019t put her paw over her eyes).<\/p>\n<p>One day I got home from grocery shopping and Lucy trotted out to the driveway to greet me. I walked slowly on the gravel because I couldn\u2019t quite see around the bags I was carrying. All of a sudden Lucy blocked my way. I moved to the right to go around her. She blocked me again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cC\u2019mon, these bags are heavy,\u201d I said. But she wouldn\u2019t let me pass. In fact, she started barking at me\u2014which she never did\u2014forcing me to back up. I lowered the bags. That\u2019s when I saw it. Right where I was about to step was an angry coiled rattlesnake. \u201cGood girl!\u201d I told Lucy. We made our way around the rattler and into the house.<\/p>\n<p>I gave Lucy a hug\u2014and an extra-large helping of treats, of course. And I thanked God for giving her to me. Not only because she\u2019d saved me from the rattler, but also because she was saving me from being overwhelmed by the tough stuff I was coping with.<\/p>\n<p>My father, whom I adored, had recently passed away. And although the divorce I\u2019d just been through had been amicable, I was still learning to adjust to life as a single mom. Lucy was there for my kids and me day in and day out, which made me feel incredibly protected and loved\u2014and hopeful that things would work out.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually they did. When Lucy was middle-aged I got another amazing and unexpected gift from God. I fell in love with and married Ted Danson, who is my dream friend and husband. There\u2019s never anything so wrong with me that he can\u2019t make me laugh. Our family blended amazingly well, and his two girls and my kids are hilarious and adorable and the lights of our lives.<\/p>\n<p>Ted and Lucy, of course, fell madly in love. The only time she put up a fuss was when he and I started dancing around the living room. Something must have triggered Lucy\u2019s herding instincts (maybe we were moving like unruly sheep!) because she tried to tackle us and knock us over. Did I mention how she made us laugh?<\/p>\n<p>Now I couldn\u2019t hold back my tears. The vet was here. I stood to talk to her. Lucy slowly got up too and walked over to the doctor. Then she sat down and looked at me, her gaze steady and serene, guiding me through this moment as she had so many others. She was telling me, <em>It\u2019s time to say goodbye.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I knew she was right, but that didn\u2019t make losing her any easier. Every day for weeks afterward, I\u2019d glance at the sofa or under the kitchen table, expecting Lucy to be there. We still had a dog in the house\u2014Roxy, the pug we\u2019d given my son for his fourteenth birthday. She was funny and quirky and had quite the talent for hypnotizing us into thinking we hadn\u2019t fed her. I loved her, but there wasn\u2019t that soul-deep connection I\u2019d had with Lucy.<\/p>\n<p>Ted could tell how much I missed her. \u201cMaybe we should get another dog,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not ready,\u201d I said. I didn\u2019t know what I was waiting for. Some sign, maybe, that it was okay to move on.<\/p>\n<p>Three months after Lucy died, Ted and I took a trip to Todos Santos, Mexico. One night the image of Lucy came to me in a dream, looking right at me. I got a message: <em>You\u2019ll meet your new dog tomorrow.<\/em> As soon as I woke up the next morning, I told Ted, \u201cLucy\u2019s going to help find us a dog today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He groaned. \u201cHow? And where? We\u2019re supposed to be on vacation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d I said. \u201cBut it\u2019s going to happen.\u201d I was sure of it. We saw dozens of dogs that day\u2014napping in doorways, roaming the streets. Each time I wondered, <em>Is this the one?<\/em> But none gave me the certainty my dream had.<\/p>\n<p>We ate at a restaurant and were driving back to the hotel when I saw a little white head pop up from a hole in a crumbling wall. A terrier mix. Her eyes locked on mine for a moment before she dropped out of sight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStop!\u201d I shouted. \u201cThat\u2019s the dog!\u201d We got out and tracked her down. She was with a pack of street dogs. She was scruffy, malnourished, covered with fleas and ticks\u2014the most pitiful-looking dog I\u2019d seen all day. Maybe ever. If it had been up to me, I wouldn\u2019t have chosen her. I like bigger dogs. And she didn\u2019t seem healthy. But the choice wasn\u2019t mine. I was being guided. This dog needed me.<\/p>\n<p>I approached her slowly, not wanting to scare her. When I got close, she sat down and gave me a look that said, <em>I know you\u2019ve come to get me. I\u2019ve been waiting<\/em>. She let me pick her up and put her in my beach bag. \u201cYou\u2019re coming home with us,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n<p>She lay absolutely still as if she understood. That\u2019s how I was able to sneak her through the hotel into our room. We had a patio with an outdoor shower. It took me two hours to clean her up and get all the fleas and ticks off her. \u201cWe\u2019re naming you Lulu,\u201d I said, \u201cafter Lucy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The next day I took Lulu to a local vet. He was bewildered. Of all the strays to adopt, why this one? He said she wouldn\u2019t have lasted another week, she was so weak from starvation.<br \/>\nTo me, that was another sign that this little dog was meant for us. Lucy had come to me when I needed her most, and we\u2019d come for Lulu when she needed us most. There was a wonderful spiritual symmetry to the whole thing.<\/p>\n<p>We brought Lulu home to Ojai, and she hadn\u2019t been with us long when I noticed something amazing. She was drawn to the exact places where Lucy used to hang out, places that our pug totally ignored. I\u2019d find Lulu lying under the kitchen table, sleeping in that same spot on the sofa and outside by the lavender, snapping at the bees and sometimes getting stung.<\/p>\n<p>Like her predecessor, Lulu is very smart and loyal and watches over our family, which now includes an Australian shepherd named Arthur. She charges ahead of him on our hikes, as if she\u2019s blazing trail for him. She and Arthur walk down the stairs in front of our pug, who\u2019s elderly now, guiding her so she doesn\u2019t fall. She hasn\u2019t had to rescue me from a rattler, but if anyone tried to hurt me, it would be Lulu who\u2019d protect me.<\/p>\n<p>She sets the tone for our other dogs and shows them how to behave. I like to think of her as an elegant Spanish lady. You have to take care not to offend her dignity. If she\u2019s trying to jump onto our bed, I won\u2019t lift her up. She\u2019s perfectly capable and doesn\u2019t like to be helped.<\/p>\n<p>Yet Lulu always knows when I need help. If I\u2019m feeling out of sorts, she\u2019s there in a heartbeat, letting me know how deeply I am loved. Of all the gifts our four-legged angels bring us, I think that may be the greatest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My 12-year-old dog Lucy was lying under the kitchen table, one of her favorite spots. She looked up at me with those intelligent eyes of hers\u2014one blue, one brown\u2014but I knew when she didn\u2019t get up to greet me that the day I\u2019d been dreading had come. I called the veterinarian, who\u2019d taken good care [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[201],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[1309],"class_list":["post-20259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dogs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Dog of My Dreams - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Dog of My Dreams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My 12-year-old dog Lucy was lying under the kitchen table, one of her favorite spots. 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