Lucky was a present to me from my parents when I managed to get into the high school they wanted me to get into. My mum found the ad in the paper, "Dalmation Pups for Sale", and I remember clearly the night we all drove to the breeder's and chose him. We picked him out straight away. He was being greedy and had taken up an entire side of teats for himself, and was jumping up and down. My mum pointed at him and said to me choose that one choose that one. I remember taking him home in the car, and he whined the entire way back.
Lucky was my best friend. He was obsessed with food, chased after motorbikes and the postman, barked at white cars (namely vans and utes) and garbage trucks, was scared of little dogs and picked fights with big dogs. If you sat down and you patted your lap, he'd jump up and and put his two front paws on your leg and sniff your face. He was the most energetic, happy and joyful dog. I used to ran with him, and instead of taking him a walk, he'd often be taking me for the walk. He loved chasing rabbits, and the one time he caught one, he brought it over to me. When I started screaming, he dropped it, realized that he'd dropped it, and ran off again trying to catch it. He loved chasing birds, especially magpies. Everyone that met him couldn't believe how old he was. He stayed a puppy his entire life.
On 9 April 2011, my mum took him for a walk in the morning. After they got home, he slept. I remember that I had planned that I would take Lucky for a walk that morning, but after finding out that my mum had already taken him for one, I just went to the gym. I came home from the gym and I sat down and patted and played with Lucky. He was tired as he usually is after a walk, and I took photos of him stretching his neck out as I scratched. He was fine, he was normal. Later that I went to work, and I didn't get home until 7pm. My relatives and my family were going out for dinner, and when my relative came over, he said, lets see Lucky. I hadn't seen him since the morning, so I said ok. I went to the gate and called out for Lucky. He normally comes running to the gate as soon as he hears the garage door open, or any sort of noise. But he didn't come. I kept yelling Lucky, and he still didn't come. So I went in, and he was in his kennel. It was dark, and I couldn't see anything. I opened the flap and I called for him. He stumbled out, and his stomach was twice the size it normally was. He stood there gasping for air and I started screaming and crying. Everyone came into his enclosure and as we watched, he just collapsed to the ground. We rushed him to emergency, and I couldn't stop crying and screaming as his eyes rolled to the back of his head while I was at the back of the car with him. When we got to emergency, they told us he had a twisted stomach. I immediately consented to surgery straight away. They told us he might not survive surgery. He survived surgery, but he never recovered. He had coagulation problems, and we euthanased him 5 days later in intensive care. I'm in shock, I still am. Just a day before this happened, I had run 10km with Lucky.
Lucky, I'm so sorry for all the times I cut your walks short because I had somewhere to run to. I'm so sorry for all the times I told you to shoosh when you wouldn't stop whining. I'm so sorry for not playing with you enough when I was younger, and just an ignorant brat in high school. I'm so sorry for not taking you to the beach.
I just love you so much. I'm barely surviving at the moment. You were with us for 10 years and you were just gone so suddenly. I'm desperately looking for everything I have of you; photos, everything. You were the most handsome, loyal and gorgeous dog and I miss you so much. I miss seeing you at the gate everytime I come home. I miss hearing your back. I miss scratching your ears and playing games with you. I just miss having you.
I hope you are happy now, and you have all the bones eat and grass to roll around on. I can't wait until I see you again, and feel your ears in hand and squeeze your cheeks. I will always love you and will never forget all the joy and happiness you brought me. I love you Lucky.
