Listen to Terri’s touching story about how Lucy protected the kids throughout her entire life.
Transcript
Julie Jackson 0:02
Hey, welcome to Happy Tales of Happy Tails, the podcast where you’ll hear stories of the way pups have touched our hearts and our lives. So for the next few minutes, let everything else go and just listen and smile. I’m your host, Julie Jackson.
Hey, friends, thanks for being here. I am so pleased to have my friend Terri here today. Terri has made a career out of helping people and taking care of people at work. And then she raises wonderful people who also take care of critters and she cares for a really cool menagerie of critters herself at home. And so I’m just really grateful that she took some time to chat with me. And I know you’re going to love the sweet story she shares that just really reminds us how our pups are always looking out for us. So y’all sit back, relax, and have a good one. Tell me about who we’re going to be we’re going to hear about today.
Terri 1:02
Well, we’re gonna hear a story about you know, of course, my Lucy. She was with us the longest. And yeah, she she was she was our little pit mix. And you know, she was just all the way with the kids since they were babies really up until all of them graduated.
Julie Jackson 1:19
Oh,
Terri 1:20
She saw ’em through.
Julie Jackson 1:22
So tell him tell me about Lucy.
Terri 1:24
Okay, well, well, let’s see well, she, I got her actually in 2005. And she she’s (chokes up)… kinda hard. Sorry.
Julie Jackson 1:39
No, you know what? I It’s funny, because I totally get it and every one of these so far, my family’s, “you know, you can’t cry and all these right?” And I was like, “Oh, no, I can. Watch me.” It’s okay. So yeah, no, I get it. I get it. Because they’re just like, they’re… it’s amazing how, what they are to us. Yeah.
Terri 2:05
Oh yeah. She, unfortunately, she had to leave us in 2018. So right before that, you should have been 14.
Julie Jackson 2:16
Oh, yeah.
Terri 2:23
I can’t help myself, it’s been, it’s been that long, was five years. I still get crazy.
Julie Jackson 2:29
No, yeah, no, I understand.
Terri 2:34
But now she, she was funny. She oh, she took care of the kids. She was a great babysitter. And the one thing about her is one story I wanted to share with you. It rode for. I think it rode with the family, including my mom and dad, until my dad finally had to tell her not to do it anymore. But, you know, I have a sister. I have an older sister. And she hadn’t seen my kids or anything. She’d never met my kids up until Katie, the youngest, which now she’s 22. I’d say she was about six or seven years old. And it was right when we moved back to Texas. And my sister and her husband at the time decided they were going to come up and see the new house and you know all that. And finally meet the kids, you know. And well, my sister came in, she met everybody and Lucy, she was just watching her because you know, Lucy had never met her. We got her when I think Katie was like, two, two and a half, three years old. She was in the kitchen. And Katie was facing the counter to get something off the counter. And Kim runs up behind her and grabs her and kisses her, picks her up. Lucy went after my sister. Because you know, like I said she never met her, never dealt with….she’d never seen anybody grab the kids. She’s never let anybody grab the kids. And her hair was full on, teeth showing and I had to get her off of her. Well Lucy, of course being a good, you know, good listener and she behaved well. She went back over to her bed and she laid down but she never took her eyes off of my sister. And from that day on, I would say for a good two or three years, you could say. “Aunt Kim’s comin'”, and she would growl, bark and go sit at the window. And she would or you could say even the word “Kim”. She would, “grrrrrrrr”, she would just sit there and growl. And I don’t know what it was, she knew it for longest. And we went you know for, for family gatherings. She would, at my dad’s house, you could tell her that my sister was coming, grow, go to the porch, sit on the porch and lay down and watch the cars go by and wait. And it was the funniest thing because she was dead serious. You can like I said, you could mention my sister’s name. And she would just growl and go and watch.
Julie Jackson 5:24
Don’t you wish you knew what they were thinking? When they do stuff like that?
Terri 5:28
I know what it’s like. I’m like, Well, you know, I tried to, you know, I had to explain to my dad, I said, she walked up behind Katie. And she grabbed her and she’s been their protector, their whole lives, basically. And she’s never let anybody touch them outside of me and my husband. And she just she never forgot that she grabbed Katie. And she hugged her and kissed her said, Katie, and after that point it was about three or four years, I would say, that she, my dad finally said, “Lucy, that’s enough. Don’t do it anymore”. And she never did. She would just give her the side eye. When was at my dad’s house, she would just go lay down on her bed and she would just give her the side eye, like, “Mmmmmm hmmmmm. I’m watching”.
Julie Jackson 6:15
Like, even when your sister showed up, and she was on guard for her, she was fine, like she just watched her the whole time? But she just was like, “Hmmmm mmmmm, don’t trust you”.
Terri 6:26
She sat where she could see Kim at all points. And if Kim went into another room, Lucy would sit at the end of the hall or wherever, and she would keep an eye on her. She would take note of where the where the kids were. And I’m like, “Kim” I said, ‘you grabbed one of her babies. And she’s not she’s never allowed anyone to do that”. And it just dead set in her mind that Kim grabbed her baby and she was not gonna let her do anything to her.
Julie Jackson 6:55
It’s so sweet too though. And it’s so amazing that she knew what “Kim” meant from that point on. Like she knew who that was.
Terri 7:06
Yes, ma’am.
Julie Jackson 7:07
They’re so smart!
Terri 7:09
They are! And she was, you know, of course we all think our dogs are the smartest in the world. You know. But she she really did. You could say the word “Kim” and you can hear she could be dead asleep and you just hear go “Grrrrrr”. Just growl under her breath. She was dead set against my sister doing anything going near the kids. I was like I would laugh. But it got to a point to where my dad said, you know, she can’t keep doing that. My dad, of course, she always listened to my dad. And he said “Lucy, you can’t do that no more. We’re not gonna do that”. And after that the side eye came in.
Julie Jackson 7:45
Isn’t that funny. She’s like, Okay, I’ll look but I’ll obey you.
Terri 7:52
I’ll behave for the weinie you’re gonna give me, Poppa, but give me some turkey weinies, I’ll be good, you know.
Julie Jackson 7:59
But I’m still watching my babies.
Terri 8:02
Exactly and she had you know, she had a history of that, she was always I was never afraid to if the kids went outside, I sent Lucy with them because Lucy would never leave without someone with her. I never had to train her that she just knew. Stay with the kids. Don’t let them go past this point. And whenever they would go outside, I’d say here just put a leash on her, just in case. You know if there’s another dog that comes round she’s going to tear ’em up. She liked other dogs. I’d say she tolerated ’em. But she knows if they had bad intentions, she was gonna get rid of ’em real quick.
Julie Jackson 8:37
Yeah, she was protecting.
Terri 8:39
Exactly. And she would not let the kids get in any kind of bad situation. I always sent her out with them. Hey, keep an eye on the babies. And she did. She made sure everybody was back in the house.
Julie Jackson 8:51
Oh, that’s so sweet. It’s funny, when Landry was born, we had four dogs at the time. And, you know, of course, there’s some people that were “Oh my goodness, you can’t have a newborn”. And we laugh because they all four had very different reactions to her being in the house. All of them were positive. Like none of them had a negative reaction. But the one that always I thought was the sweetest is we had a little guy who was a border collie. Probably lab mix. And we rescued him and he I think someone had not been very kind to him because he was kind of skittish, you know, and a little timid waiters, gentlest personality, but it was funny because at first we thought that he really just didn’t even notice she was there. And then all of a sudden, after we had her home for a day or two, I realized he never got too close to her. He never messed with her too much. But then I realized that he laid across the threshold of the door of whatever room she was in. Oh, and he didn’t he didn’t mess with her. He didn’t act like he was jealous. He also didn’t act too curious. about her, but, but he like, within a day knew I No one’s getting to her without passing by me first.
Terri 10:09
Yeah, he was protecting her. He did take care of the little one.
Julie Jackson 10:13
Yeah, yeah. And he and that’s where anytime if we couldn’t find Murphy, we’d look and Murphy would be laying, you know, he’d be right outside the door or if the door was open, he’d be in the threshold. And you would have to step over him to get into the room if she was in that room.
Terri 10:27
Oh, wow, what a task time get past him if he didn’t.
Julie Jackson 10:31
I mean, and you know, he never like there was never a situation I guess where he felt like he was one was a threat to her because he never got aggressive with anyone about it. But he he was going to make sure that he knew everyone that like no one was going to get by him without him approving first.
Terri 10:46
Oh, of course. There’s absolutely I think that everybody has that one dog. You know that one, buddy? Yeah, it’s there’s no comparison you know after they leave. I think that’s the problem. Like what I had is like comparing other dogs to Lucy. That’s why it fails, you know? And I finally found the munchkin I got now I’ve had to put her out there because she won’t let me put her down.
Julie Jackson 11:16
She’s welcome here too obviously.
Terri 11:19
Yeah, she’s I think she’s up to three pounds now. She’s a little bitty thing. And she’s a mess. She gets the zoomies now, she’s gotten to where she can walk and run good. So but yeah, it they’re, they’re awesome. And basically, Lucy helped raise the kiddos and they loved her from the time she came in our family to the time she left.
Julie Jackson 11:44
Yeah, well, thank you. And you know, it’s funny, because different people refer to it and I get it, they talk about how you know, you have that one that’s like your heart dog. And sometimes over a lifetime, you know, you have several that like you said, you kind of tend to compare or whatever. But it’s funny, because I think about it. And I was like all of them that I’ve ever had that have rescued me. All of them. I love them all. Like anytime, if they’re gone, you’re just so sad. But I was like you have those ones or I said it’s almost like your family or your story is a puzzle. And all of them are a piece of the puzzle. And the picture wouldn’t be complete. But there are some of them that are the piece that fits right into your piece.
Terri 12:25
Exactly. Yeah.
Julie Jackson 12:27
You know, that they just like, they know when you’re sad. They know when you’re happy. They’re they know where you where they need to be when you need them to be there the most. You know, it’s just like you’re in sync with them. And, and then the thing too, is that sometimes, you know, you get the new ones and they’re little and they’re fun. And they’re you know, kind of like with the floofs. The floofs are too now. And they’re still ridiculous. But I laugh because now we’re seeing them becoming even more and more snuggly and more and more affectionate. And it’s like they’re even figuring out more when Oh, maybe I need to stop tearing this up and come over there and snuggle you maybe you need a snuggle right now, you know.
Terri 13:07
You have a better choice on the other side besides the one choice.
Julie Jackson 13:14
So well. And thank you so much. Lucy was beautiful.
Terri 13:19
You saw the frog cat but she let the kids dress her up.
Julie Jackson 13:24
Yes, I saw that. I was like, Oh my gosh. So yes, I will definitely share the pictures of Lucy because and the sweetest face just the sweetest face.
Terri 13:32
Yeah, she really was, yeah.
Julie Jackson 13:34
Well, okay, you know, now that you have the new little peanut, you’re gonna have to come back and share those stories.
Terri 13:41
Oh, yes, ma’am. I sure will. Yeah, she’s, if I could just get her off of me for five minutes, I might get some good stories.
Julie Jackson 13:49
I know. I know. They’re so the best though. You’re just like, it’s so funny how you go through that cycle of like, when they’re little, you’re just like, Oh, my goodness, it’s so much work. And they’re like a little baby. And then all of a sudden, the I mean, you know, the days are long and the years are short. And then all of a sudden you’re looking and like mine are my oldest twins are at my feet right now. And they’re both going to be 13 this year, you know, and
Terri 14:16
The gray starts to creep being on them. You know
Julie Jackson 14:19
Frosty faces. I know. I always say though, it’s a privilege to earn a frosty face.
Terri 14:27
Yes, it is. Yes. I totally agree. I loved Lucy’s little frosty face.
Julie Jackson 14:32
I know. And then you think, oh, what I… of course, you know, most recently for me, my little Roscoe and I think what I wouldn’t give just to be able to kiss that little nose one more time.
Terri 14:41
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So, hey.
Julie Jackson 14:46
Well, Terry, thank you so much. I sure appreciate you.
Terri 14:51
You’re welcome. And I’m so glad to see you and hear from ya.
Julie Jackson 14:54
I will talk to you soon. Have a great weekend.
Terri 14:56
You too. Thank you.
Julie Jackson 14:57
Thanks. Bye!
Terri 14:59
Bye bye!
Julie Jackson 15:00
Thank you so much for joining me today. I know that you are busy and I really appreciate that you chose to spend some of your time with me. So let’s do a little bit of bookkeeping before we head out. If you enjoy this and you would like to receive the episodes automatically without having to seek them out, then in your pod catcher, follow or subscribe. And that way every time an episode drops, it’ll show up for you. And you’ll know that it’s there makes it super easy, you don’t have to think about it. Please go visit the website. It’s really cute. It’s got puppy pictures. Also, I’ve got a free gift for you over there if you will check it out. And if you would like to message me if you have any suggestions, specific pup stories you want to hear. Or even better. If you want to share a story, you can message me right there from the website. That’s the best way to get to me for that. Check us out on all the different socials, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, all of them. That’s where you’ll see pictures of the pups that we talk about each week. Also, just other fun pup things. I’m going to put episodes on YouTube as well. Sometimes the episodes are recorded via zoom. And so there’s video, a lot of times it’s just us talking, but every now and then there are some fun cameos from puppies or their shenanigans in the background. And you can catch all that on YouTube. If you want to help me out if you would leave a positive review and share the podcast that would be fantastic. I would be really grateful. And once again, if you want to help me out, I would love to share your story. So please hit me up and let’s schedule a time that we can talk. Some people have shared their stories in writing. Some people have gotten on the phone and done a chat with me so we can do whatever you are most comfortable with. Finally, do not forget that you are as great as your dog thinks you are and go smooch your pooch. Thanks, y’all.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai