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How’s That Chiots?

April 6th, 2010

It’s been a while since I’ve given an update on Lucy the garden namesake, I thought you might be interested in one. For those of you who are new, a little over a year ago she tore her ACL and wasn’t able to use one of her legs. We chose to take the least invasive method for treatment. No surgery, only therapy and dietary supplements.

She’s slowly gotten better and better and seems to be almost back to normal. She still can’t do really long walks, but she loves shorter ones. She’s also finally able to run a little bit this spring. She’s really enjoying the freedom of being able to follow me around the gardens again. Last summer she was still on limited mobility so she was only allowed to be outside if she was chained. This spring she’s been following me around as I work and is have a great time chewing on sticks and sleeping in the flowerbeds.

She just turned 8, so she’s far from the ornery little 10 pound chiots we brought home in a box from the pound so long ago. I remember her digging up all my plants, ripping out my clematis vines and running around the gardens like a crazy dog for several years. When she hit 2 she decided she was all grown up and became the best dog ever.

She isn’t destructive in the gardens any more, except for the occasional use of a flowerbed as an actual bed. She’s quite a nice gardening companion.

Do you have any gardening companions human or of the animal kingdom?

20 Comments to “How’s That Chiots?”
  1. […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by mark mile, Susy Morris. Susy Morris said: How’s That Chiots? http://goo.gl/fb/nprru #pets #lucy […]

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  2. Christine on April 6, 2010 at 7:02 am

    No real four-legged garden companions here. Our pet rabbit joins us outside occassionally, and our chickens, but their company isn’t quite the same :-/

    One day.
    .-= Christine´s last blog ..Making radish chips! =-.

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  3. Deborah on April 6, 2010 at 8:08 am

    What a BEAUTIFUL girl…her coat is so shiny! Looks so eager to HELP :) this post brought a smile to my face…

    Reply to Deborah's comment

  4. kitsapFG on April 6, 2010 at 8:54 am

    My cat Sid is my friend and companion in the garden. Follows me everywhere while I am outside and keeps somewhere close at hand at all times.

    Reply to kitsapFG's comment

  5. kitsapFG on April 6, 2010 at 8:55 am

    I hit ‘Submit Comment’ too fast! I wanted to say that Lucy is just a beautiful dog and she has aged quite gracefully.

    Reply to kitsapFG's comment

  6. Dave on April 6, 2010 at 8:56 am

    I’m glad Lucy’s doing better! Injuries and animals can be tricky to get through. The only garden companion on four legs in our garden are the occasional visits by neighboring cats. They are welcome to every vole and mouse they want!
    .-= Dave´s last blog ..Trillium in a Cedar Glade =-.

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  7. Melissa on April 6, 2010 at 8:59 am

    Lucy looks quite happy these days. Glad to hear she’s doing better. And puppies… two seems to be the magic number. We have a couple of pound puppies as well. Sammy is 2 1/2 and has mellowed tremendously from those crazy baby days. But Cocoa… Oh, my. Not so much. he’s just a little over a year old, and we’re hoping that his maturity comes sooner rather than later. He’s chewed our hammock, the seat off of our John Deer lawn mower, and he rips up my plants from time to time, too. Not funny. At all. ; ) Melissa
    .-= Melissa´s last blog ..The Perfect Easter Weekend =-.

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  8. Missy on April 6, 2010 at 9:19 am

    I remember when she was that small! How cute and annoying she was! hahahahaa Ollie misses her visits so much. I can tell every time you guys come over he’s hoping she’ll be there too.

    Reply to Missy's comment

  9. Michelle on April 6, 2010 at 9:32 am

    Lucy is such a cutie! My Camille is 10 1/2 now and still acts like a puppy at times. She makes me smile and laugh every day, and I bet your Lucy girl does the same for you.
    Have a wonderful day!

    Reply to Michelle's comment

  10. Melanie J. on April 6, 2010 at 9:58 am

    She’s beautiful! I look forward, in the next year, to a backyard and a nice-sized 4-legged companion. Right now, the most I have is a really squirrely indoor cat and a family of feral Muscovy ducks that decided to use our apartment porch as a nesting place. We’re about 2 weeks away from a pile of ducklings that will need to be negotiated off our 2nd story balcony.
    .-= Melanie J.´s last blog ..Spring =-.

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  11. melissa on April 6, 2010 at 10:22 am

    She’s beautiful. I had dogs until my divorce and they destroyed every bit of the hard work I put into my first large garden (unfortunately my lab never hit that point where she decided she was grown up). The reason I’m doing one this year even though I’m hoping to sell this house is because I no longer have dogs to destroy it. :P
    .-= melissa´s last blog ..home sweet oven =-.

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  12. Michelle on April 6, 2010 at 10:31 am

    She is so beautiful! And not to mention, very photogenic..:) My dog joins me now and then…but he has a tendency to think that everything is HIS, if you know what I mean…so I have to keep him outside the garden gate. But he’s OK with that…usually!
    .-= Michelle´s last blog ..Brainstorming. =-.

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  13. Kelly on April 6, 2010 at 11:26 am

    I have two little boy-men who try to be my companions in the garden. In the spring they race around like crazies, ecstatic to be outside, and mostly playing in the sandbox and using it to supplement the garden boxes (ahem). In the Summer they marvel at the growth of things with me, they help me harvest and only take a bite out of every other thing they pick. Fall means they get to play in the freshly dug beds and plant peas and beans (extras forgotten on the vines) wherever they want. They’re also allowed to dig and drive trucks and “keep the dirt *in* the garden!”.

    They’re amusing, so I keep them.
    .-= Kelly´s last blog ..Mortgage Milestone =-.

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  14. MAYBELLINE on April 6, 2010 at 3:19 pm

    One of my cats, Pumpkin, follows me around in the garden. We’re planning of a puppy this summer.
    .-= MAYBELLINE´s last blog ..Wait A Pea Pickin’ Minute =-.

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  15. Amy on April 6, 2010 at 4:10 pm

    I have always dreamed of one of my 3 children gardening along side me…..I have bought all sorts of plants that were said to appeal to children, giant sunflowers, enormous or petit pumpkins, highly scented, colored or unusual plants but none of them cut the mustard.. I longed to have a Mary Jane Butters or Martha Stewart garden experience with my children;) Not to be.

    I had given up this dream when just this past weekend this little pixie of a child bedecked in pink tutu and ballet slippers made her way over to my home. Her parents don’t really garden but apparently she does. She is 5. I was working on the onions when she came skipping over to show me her tutu when she spied the onions. She asked if she might help and I thought sure kid you will slap in 2 or 3 and then frolic off to something infinitely more entertaining. Not so. She planted 40 onions, 35 cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower plants. Then helped me “put to bed” several rows of potatoes. She was careful and precise and exquisitely curious. And I wondered after 5 minutes then 10 then 15 if I would be able to tolerate “all of this observance to detail” but she pressed on and ignored my attempts to divert her attention elsewhere and overcame this old stick in the mud gardener~ that is me.

    It is ironic I have always wanted a helpmate in the garden. I am sent one and then become discombobulated~ initially. Because darn it I was on a schedule and it looked like rain and that isn’t how I do it……Thankfully….I learned a lesson this weekend…..if you want children or anyone else to garden with you…..then you must be gracious, patient and willing to do things at a slower pace and in a different manner. What is a garden for if not to slow down and appreciate it and enjoy it. It took a 5 year old pixie to teach me that :)
    Sorry I wrote so much. I just couldn’t fit it into a smaller thought.

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  16. Allie on April 6, 2010 at 5:42 pm

    She is so beautiful!!! Glad to hear she’s on the mend!

    Reply to Allie's comment

  17. deedee on April 6, 2010 at 7:50 pm

    i can’t believe she’s 8 already! she looks great! we just got home from work and noticed blooms on our fruit trees… joey (3) was going crazy! and then he had to look at our flower bed to see if anything has changed…. luke (6) likes to help in the garden for about 5 minutes, so we’ll see this year if joey is “the one”!
    as far as the dogs go…. the garden is outside of the fence, and they’re not trustworthy to run loose. so they aren’t my helpers there… but they sure do like to dig holes and catch bugs & toads in the back yard!

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  18. Dan on April 6, 2010 at 10:53 pm

    My garden is pretty much my domain. I get the odd neighbor (yes odd in an odd way) and my sister poking around at times but that’s about it. It’s like my temple and creative outlet.

    We have had no pets for a few years now. I do think often of getting a dog again but then quickly gets thoughts of the first two years of digging :-)
    .-= Dan´s last blog ..Outdoor upate =-.

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  19. Sherri on April 7, 2010 at 8:13 am

    So glad to hear she’s doing so well! We have our two labs, Bailey and Zoe, and a cat, though we don’t let her outside. Our dogs are also getting up there – they’ll both be 8 this winter.

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  20. lee on April 7, 2010 at 12:07 pm

    Lucy is looking good. I’m so glad she’s doing well. Some of my cats like to follow me around when I’m doing some work but instead of helping me they just make things worse.

    Reply to lee's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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