When Kyle was six-years old we added Lucky to our family and this dog’s lovable goofy personality reflects a six-year old’s personality. His full AKC name is Lucky Rascal Thunder Goober because Kyle fretted over picking the right name. Lucky, Rascal and Thunder were the three choices. Goober was added after Lucky had demonstrated his gooberiness. He is after all a chocolate-covered nut!
When we arrived to the country house to pick out our newest family member, there were only two pups left. The couple who owned the house also owned the mama dog. She was a big yellow lab, a little older for a first litter. Turns out they had bred her to their son-in-law’s chocolate lab in order to get another yellow lab female. This litter was large… eight puppies… all male… all chocolate. Best laid plans and all!
Kyle picked Lucky because he was the runt. He was 12-weeks old and still had that yummy puppy smell, eyes still blue but getting ready to turn and big tummy. Turns out the big tummy was from worms and he also had tons of fleas. These people had a shed out back where the puppies lived and I don’t believe Lucky had ever been inside until we brought him home. He definitely had never climbed stairs and we lived in a 2-story house at the time. The poor thing could not get his back legs to coordinate with the front legs. We still have a good laugh at that memory!
Lucky also has his own theme song. We sing “Lucky Pup Tennessee” set to the tune of Rocky Top, which is the UT Vols theme song. I worry I may have crossed a line with that song. I’m not a native to TN and these people take their orange seriously in this state.
One of the best things about having a chocolate lab with the personality of a six-year old is that he is always happy. His tail is always wagging unless he is sitting on it or sleeping. To be kind let’s just say he doesn’t have a full bag of kibbles. For years Clark used his Gomer Pyle voice to vocalize Lucky. The running joke is that Lucky has two brain cells; one of those brain cells is powered by his tail and if you stop his tail you cut his intelligence in half!
We kennel our dogs and Lucky loves his kennel. When we moved to our new house we had trouble finding a place to set up the kennels for both dogs, so we made the decision to put away the kennels and just lock the dogs up in the boys' room. Lucky was lost. There were times when he would worm into the closet or under chairs to get that cave feel. So last year, Clark built a platform bed for Kyle's bed and put a kennel sized cave under it. Lucky is happy, except for when Ellie Mae steals the cave. She's such a bully!
Lucky has never met a person he didn’t immediately love. The whole world is his best friend, but his boy is his bestest best friend. With the kids gone in the summertime, Lucky mopes around the house, as though he realizes the passing of time and his boy has been gone a little longer than a couple of hours. Whenever Lucky spies a boy, he perks up and his tail goes crazy, but then droops a little when it’s not *HIS* boy. I know exactly how he feels. We’re both anxiously waiting next Wednesday when the kids return and Lucky is reunited with his boy.
¡Hasta pronto, mis amigos!
~N
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