Lacy Dog

Lacy was our dog and she was killed on New Years Eve. She was genuinely a part of our family, unlike any other dog ever was, or probably will be again. She went on trips to Las Vegas with us when we went to visit Heather's family. She went to Utah when we visited Brett's family. Although she would have preferred they leave her alone, all the children loved Lacy and she would put up with their "playing" with her. Sometimes she would hide from them, but she never was anything but gentle with them. This is her story.

Lacy came to live with us quite by accident. She wasn’t our dog, but was Hilary’s. Hilary, Paul and Nathan were going to Germany and Lacy was going to be going, too. Paul was already there and had secured what the military calls “Command Sponsorship” for his family, which, in layman’s terms means that the military is authorizing the soldier’s family to accompany him to an overseas assignment. The ideal way to obtain this travel is what is called “Concurrent Travel.” Concurrent travel accompanied by command sponsorship means that the family can fly together to the overseas assignment. Paul was unable to get concurrent travel, but did get command sponsorship, which meant he had to fly over first, and Hilary and Nathan would follow later.

Hilary, Nathan and Lacy came home to stay with us a few weeks before traveling on to Germany. Her route would take her from Killeen to Atlanta, then on to Germany. When the time to go came for her to go, Hilary was overwhelmed. She had all her carry-on bags, a 19 month old who would be very tired, a dog, and was very pregnant. Hilary also found out that once she got to Germany that Lacy would have to go into quarantine for several months, and it would be her responsibility to care for the dog while in quarantine. To a young wife and mother, the dream of joining her hubby was turning into a nightmare. The closer she got to departure time, the more she realized that she would need to pare down her travel nightmare.

In everything she was about to take to Germany, what could she leave behind and not cause a hardship either in the travel, or in Germany. The answer was easy …. Lacy. So with a promise that she would cover Lacy’s expenses until she returned, Lacy became a member of the Pritchard Household. It didn’t take long for Lacy to become part of the family; and it became evident early on that Lacy would never go back to Hilary.

Lacy endeared herself to us right away. She would sing when we encouraged her. Her place most nights was in bed with us where she would burrow under the covers and sleep. And she quickly became Scottie’s dog, and began sleeping in his bed. Over the years she lived with us, she would become many things to many people; a loved pet, a playmate, an entertainer, and a protector. I think she would be loved by more people for many reasons than any dog I have ever had.

She came to live with us when she was less than a year old, not much more than a puppy. She was very well behaved and loved anyone who paid her any attention. When swimming time came around she was right in there with everyone. She learned to dive into the pool when someone tossed her ball into the water. The ball would hit the water and Lacy would make a running dive into the pool. Her front legs would be forward and her rear legs straight behind her and she hit the water on her belly. She quickly got her bearings and went after the ball. She learned she couldn’t just climb out anywhere, so she would nose her self around the edge of the pool until she reached the stairs and climbed out. She then would bring you the ball and do it all over again. Lacy was a quick learner, and when we taught her to go directly from where she retrieved the ball to the stairs, she made a beeline to the stairs.

The favorite place for the toddlers to gather in the pool was at the stairs, and when we had the kids over swimming, they all were in the water on the stairs. Then came Lacy. She would weave her way around the kids and out of the pool. A couple of summers later, we taught her how to come out of the pool using the ladder. Once she learned that, then she would get the ball and head for either the stairs or the ladder, depending on which was closest. We had to pay attention to her, however, when she used the ladder because if the got herself in the wrong position, she could drown. Once she almost did, but one of us saw her struggling and helped her out. It only happened a few times, but it never dissuaded her from swimming.

When we would leave for a while we put her and the other dog or dogs, out in the backyard. We would come home and the sidewalk around the steps of the pool would be wet, and so would Lacy. When she got hot, she just got into the pool to cool off.

In the fall after she arrived I decided to hold a garage sale. I had quite a bit of stuff to sell, so I put it on the driveway rather than in the garage. I sat at a table in the shade with Lacy and we waited for our customers to arrive. When people arrived to the sale, they would park on the street and walk up the driveway. Lacy would walk down the driveway and meet the people and walk back up to the sale, at their side. She never barked. Once she was back in the sale area, she would either sit down next to me, or she would just walk around, like she was keeping an eye on things. One lady was really impressed with Lacy and asked me how old she was. When I told her she was about 18 months old, she looked surprised. She said that she had raised a lot of Dachshunds and never in all the years that she had them had she ever seen one as well behaved as Lacy.

Over the years we held several pool parties in our yard and pool. Usually the big ones were on the 4th of July and we had several families over. In every case, the kids fell in love with Lacy and were amazed at her ability to dive. Sometimes she would try to catch a stream of water from the hose, and would nearly drown. We would have to keep a close eye on Lacy during these parties because the kids would play too rough with her, or not give her a break. I actually caught one kid holding her under the water. When the kid’s dad found out, he put the kid in time out. That solved the problem temporarily, but I ended up solving it for good by not inviting that family back.

One summer Todd, Sunde and Brynn came to visit. Brynn immediately fell in love with Lacy, as did all the grandkids. Brynn and Todd spent a lot of time in the pool, which meant Lacy also spent a lot of time in the pool. And when she is swimming, she is unavoidably drinking water. After a few swims, she usually ran to the grass and relieved herself. But water keeps on working in the system. After the swim, Todd decided to lie on the couch and take a nap. He put Lacy on his chest and both went to sleep. A few minutes later, he woke up yelling. While she was asleep, Lacy peed on him!

Lacy slept with Scott every night. One night he noticed that Lacy was peeing in his bed. Of course, it made him mad, and he would rub her nose in it, and put her outside. But she didn’t stop. Then we noticed she wouldn’t swim very much. She would go in the pool after the ball, swim to the stairs, get out and go lay down. She wouldn’t bring the ball back to have it thrown back into the water. When the other dogs wanted to wrestle, her favorite sport, she would just walk away and lay down. I thought I had better take her to the vet.

The vet x-rayed her and found that she had a stone as big as the end of my thumb in her bladder. This was making her tired and causing her to pee. The vet didn’t know what caused it, but for the first and only time I ever owned a pet, I authorized the vet to operate and remove the stone. She had a quick recovery and soon was back to her old self. I didn’t like the amount of the bill for the surgery, but because of the role she would later play, I don’t regret having the surgery done. She was with us for several more years after that.

In 1998 my mother moved in with us and Lacy became her constant companion. Mom would sit in her sitting room in her recliner watching television, and Lacy would sit on her lap, hour after hour; day in and day out. Lacy became wonderful therapy for Mom. After a while, though, we noticed that Lacy was getting a little plump. Then we found out that when Mom would eat her meals she would give Lacy a little, too. More than once we would catch her at the dinner table giving Lacy a little something. We would tell her she shouldn’t feed her food from the table, but she kept doing it, and Lacy kept getting fat!

A few months after Mom moved in, she suffered a spontaneous fracture in her back caused by Osteoporosis. She would spend most of the next year in bed recovering. And Lacy would spend her days in bed, cuddled up by Mom. After a while, Mom could begin to get around using a walker. The doctor wanted her to take some walks as she could. So everyday the weather was nice, she would make her way down the driveway to the street with her walker, and then up to the corner and back again. This trip would take her a half hour or so. And Lacy was with her every step of the way. Mom would walk and Lacy was at her side. When Mom stopped to rest for a few minutes, Lacy would stop and sit down by her. Then after a minute or two of sitting, Lacy would get up and walk all the way around Mom, like she was making sure she was okay, and then she would sit down again and wait for Mom to start out again. When Mom resumed her walk, Lacy stayed right with her. Lacy never had a leash and never wandered off. I think after Mom died that Lacy seemed lost for a while.

Then Scott left on his Mission, and Lacy was really lost. She had the Schnauzers, but first Mom was gone, and now Scott. I don’t know what, or if dog’s think, but I do believe she missed both of them.

Hilary moved back to Killeen sometime after Mom died, and either shortly before or shortly after Scott left on his Mission. When they move back, they rented a house with a back yard. Hilary said Nathan wanted to have Lacy Dog back, so Lacy went “home” to Hilary. We told her that Lacy wasn’t used to being alone, and that she might have a hard time. Whenever Lacy was left alone other than at our house, she was mischievous. Once we left her at Heidi’s when we were visiting in Bryan, and Lacy tore up the blinds. Hilary was running into the same problem. One day when she came over I asked her where Lacy was. She said that Lacy was in her back yard on a chain. I told her that Lacy had never been on a chain in her life, and to bring her back home! She could come visit Lacy whenever she wanted; Lacy was no longer her dog.

When Scott arrived home from his Mission, he was reunited with Lacy. However, a dog wasn’t the first thing on his mind. And Val became more important than Lacy. After Scott and Val were married, they bought a house a short time later. He wanted Lacy to come live with them. We told them that Lacy needed another dog because she wasn’t used to being alone. So they went out and got Cali. Then on New Years Eve 2006, Lacy got out of the yard and didn’t come home. The next morning we found her where she had been run over and killed. We brought her home and buried her near her most favorite place in the world, the back yard at the Prather house, near the pool. And her spirit? She is sitting in Grandma’s lap or taking a walk with her around the block; diving in the great swimming pool above, and just waiting for the rest of her family to join her.