If only it had been this easy.
This weekend was absolutely beautiful. And by beautiful, and after this winter, I mean, it was above freezing. So, that's nice. We've been going on lots of bike rides to the park. Max can ride. He's ridden his bike so much, he wore it out. Really. He did. The other day, his pedal fell off. This was after two weeks of us conferring that he needed new tires. The threads were showing and he was enjoying lengthy skids on our driveway. So, he literally earned himself a new bike this week.
Lucy, on the other hand, bikes about half the time, and takes great pride in walking the dog the other half. A 5-year-old walking a 120 pound dog says what? I know. Lucy is weighing in at a whopping 50 pounds. She stands at 50" tall. Just tall enough to walk the dog, I guess. Those two have always had a little bond. I think Farley the Wonderdog likes Lucy because he can get to her snack first.
But when we let Lucy walk Farley, it's like he knows. He never pulls like he does with me. So, when we left the park yesterday, Max went flying over a hill while Lucy ran with Farley. Ricardo and I stuck back and commented on how good Farley was with Lucy. And when we smiled at our lovely little family, then looked up to see Farley in a dead sprint to go meet another dog, and Lucy's legs running faster than they ever should have, and then, out from under her. Ricardo sprinted down to help Lucy, and then we got Farley from the dog, tending to Lucy and the miniature dachtsun's owner.
"We're so sorry ma'am."
The lady was extremely generous. Ultimately, Farley is a lover, not a fighter, and just wanted to make friends.
"That's okay. Are you okay sweetie? You did so good with your dog. You did everything right sweetie."
That was so nice. So refreshing. Because the other day, when we were walking home from school, and Farley tripped a kid who CLEARLY had a snack in his backpack. The response when I checked in on them and apologized was to ignore me. So, this lady was nice.
I had Ricardo take Farley while I checked on Lucy. She was a bit in shock that her dog would do that to her. I mean, he's an ass to me, the shit ate EIGHT PIECES of leftover Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake the other day. But he doesn't do that to her. He sleeps in her room, he wakes her up when he needs to go out early in the morning.
"Lucy, you okay sweetie?"
"My hands and knees are BLLLLEEEEEDING!" Big tears. She's so sad, so betrayed.
"Aww, I know sweetie, we'll go home and clean it up and get bandaids on it. You want a piggy-back ride home?"
Sniff. Sniff. "Okay."
I get her on my back. "Hey Lucy, I didn't see how you fell. Did you land on your side or your front?"
"On my front because when I got up, I had a mouthful of grass I had to spit out."
That damned dog.
That's how I roll.
Also... the next day, Lucy was not afraid to walk him again, and she did! She's a trooper!
Also, I want to comment on how sweet max was. he was so concerned about her and wanted to make sure she was OK. And when Lucy does ride her bike, Max loves to tell her "Lucy, you are doing so well riding your bike, Good Job!" I hope he always takes care of her like that. They are the best of friends! (Most of the time)
Poor sweet Lucy! She is a tough one! I think you should saddle Farley up and put those kids on him! Make him earn his cheesecake. That Max is a cute as it gets. He will make a great son-in-law!
I just KNOW that Farley is sorry. He's really a good dog, and loves Lucy.....and cheese cake.
Max is so good to take care of his sister the way he does. He probably always will.
Hope Lucy got the best and cutest bandaids.