Lucky's Page - www.luckydogtradingco.com

Entry 1 05/23/06

The story of Lucky dog started when my wife and myself got our first house. It had a
nice fenced in back yard. It seemed perfect for a dog. Besides I had always had a
dog so not having one really was strange. My wife was not so up on the idea since
she had just lost her dog and kinda wanted to wait awhile before getting another. So
anyway I was not really looking for a dog, but they have a tendency to find me.
Someone I worked with told me about a family he knew had picked up this cute little
puppy from the humane society. He said that the dog had some issues but he
believed it was due to lack of attention. The cute little puppy had grown up and was
not getting the attention it needed. So after a few days I said we would take the dog.
It was a 70 pound what I believe to be a Rhodesian Ridge-back without the ridge. It
had really strange hair that when hitting upholstery or carpet it would immediately
borrow it's way in like a porcupine quill.

So he brought Lucky over and she seemed like a pretty good dog. She was fine that
night in the house. The next day and several days after I would leave her out in the
nice fenced in yard where she had good shelter, plenty of water, food, and room to
run. About a week went by and I was talking to the little German lady down the
street. She said that my dog was out during the day. I thought she could not be right
since Lucky would meet me at the gate everyday when I pulled into the drive. She
said she even thought she might have been hit by a car, since when she talked to
the dog it would tilt its head. That sounded like Lucky because she would tilt her
head and wrinkle her forehead like she really was trying to understand you. But it
couldn't be. She was at the gate every night when I pulled into the driveway. Where
we lived the street curved 90 degrees and we were the second house after the
curve. About a week later I happened to look in the mirror before I rounded the
curve. There was Lucky hightailing it across the street behind me. Sure enough
when I pulled in the drive she was at the gate to meet me. We went to the next plan
for dog care during the day. But that will have to wait until next time.

Entry 2 06/09/06

Well we decided we would just leave her in the house. That was a little costly. She
did pretty good the first couple of days. But just starting out we had scraped enough
money together to buy a living room set. Nothing fancy. The whole set including
tables I think was about $500. But any way we came home from work one day to
find the couch in the middle of the living room with arm pretty well missing. Yet she
had time to also destroy the arm on the chair also. We were a little peeved about
this. But I was going to prove that I was more bull headed than the dog and I could
overcome Lucky's destructive force. So next was the basement. I thought there was
nothing she could destroy if we made her a nice bed down by the workbench and
chained her to it. I was wrong. First day she dismantled the drawers and doors on
the work bench. The second day she destroyed the dryer vent. That one still has
me puzzled since I cannot figure out how she reached it being on a chain. Well we
moved everything with ten feet of her. That was when she learned to slip her chain
collar. At the top of the basement step there was a hallway that was about twenty
feet long and three feet wide. It was carpeted. The carpeting stuck under the
basement door for about an inch. That was enough for her. She pulled the
professionally tacked down carpet loose for the length of the hall and pulled it
through the gap at the bottom of the basement door. Next day we adjusted chain
collar and back to workbench. We came home from work and she met me at the
back door. She had slipped her collar and made her own doggy door in the
basement door.

Entry 3 08/10/06

Well next we decided that our only option was a cage. So we went to Pet Smart and
bought the biggest cage they had. I felt bad enough about using a cage I at least
wanted a big cage. So we brought the cage home and assembled it. Put it in a nice
spare bedroom that had good light. Monday morning came and we put some water
and food in the cage along with Lucky and left for work. We both had this relaxed
felling about the house being protected, but worried about the dog. Well when we
got home that night Lucky met us at the door. She had not destroyed anything, but
the cage would never be the same. She had found the weak link. The top of the
cage and the back did not actually fasten together so she just push herself through
bending the back of the cage. OK I can fix that I thought. You realize that current
score is about Dog 20 human 0. So I bent the back of the cage back and got out a
light dog chain. I wrapped the chain securing the back to the top. Then I thought
well the front has same issue. So I wrapped the chain around that also. Tuesday
morning again with the water, the food and the dog. Left for work figuring that I
definitely had the problem resolved now. Came home from work and Lucky was at
the door to meet me. She had hit the door to a point that she was able to open. I
wish those little cameras were cheap back then. I would have really liked to have
seen some of this. So I figured I will resolve. I will wrap the chain around the door
also. I really did not think that she would be able to unwrap the chain from the door.
After all she is a dog. Next day just add another win to the dogs column. She met me
at the door. I finally won a round. It took a bolt, two washers, and a wing nut to keep
the door closed. And I had to tighten with pliers and screwdriver or she would still
get the door open. Of course that just upset Lucky. So she got her revenge one
day. The cage had a metal pan as a floor that could be removed for cleaning by
sliding out the front of the cage. You were not suppose to be able to slide it with the
cage door closed. Apparently Lucky did not know that and slid the metal pan out the
front of the cage. She then proceeded to attempt to dig her way out through the
nicest carpet in the house down into the hardwood floor underneath. That required
the old faithful, Duct Tape. I taped the pan of the cage to the bars at the bottom of
the cage. I finally had a victory. We had a few bent bars from time to time, but no
more escapes. About a year later we inadvertently resolved the problem. We picked
up an old beagle from a golf course that was going to call the pound on her. She
was a sweet old girl named Baby. That some ignorant waste of human flesh had
smacked with a golf club because her front teeth were all busted out. Apparently
the issue with Lucky was she did not like to be alone.

Entry 3 01/25/07

Now that Lucky is no longer alone she seems to have lost most of her destructive
tendencies. She did tear up a couple of rugs, a table cloth, and an afghan, but that
was spread over several years. There was one more escape that still has me
puzzled that occurred later. It was a beautiful day and we had a short day at work so
I thought we will put the Lucky and Baby (the old beagle) out in the yard. We set
them up on individual chains just close enough they could share the same water
bowl. We closed the gate and left for work. What could go wrong? We returned
home from work and neither dog was in the yard. Both chains were hooked together
and the dogs were nowhere to be seen. I called and Lucky came running. Still no
Baby. Well behind the house across the street was a mobile home park. We took a
drive and found Baby on the front porch of one of the trailers staring at the door.
Once we seen this it made sense. The golf course we had gotten her from had a
trailer set up there that an old woman had lived in. Baby was probably use to going
there to beg for food. So in the future it made it easy to find her when she did get
out. She would always go to the front porch of the same trailer. So anyway not to
stray too far away from the story we did not tie them out anymore