The Odd Couple
Now, I love my dog, Lucy. Love her. But as much as I love her, Lucy is sort of the black sheep of our family. She is grumpy, and is sort of like living with a cranky old lady. She doesn’t like loud noises, being woken up, staying up late, or sharing. We’ve thought seriously about giving her away to a different family. She really would be better in a home with no other animals or children, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. She just likes her peace and quiet.
While Lucy would definitely maul another dog, she is very friendly with people. But she doesn’t want to be messed with. She likes people to admire her from a distance. Which means, we’ve taught the kids that they shouldn’t bother her much. She has snipped at Bean before when he has snuck up on her, and so he usually just ignores her most of the time. And Gracie never showed much interest in Lucy, either. Which suited Lucy just fine. Children are permissible, but only if they don’t bother her.
For the past two weeks, something weird has been happening, though. Gracie has been playing with Lucy. Like, really playing with her. Like, how a child should be able to play with a dog. Which is strange for Lucy because I’m not sure she knows that she is actually a dog…
It started with Lucy showing an interest in Gracie. She started following Gracie around the house. Wherever Gracie was playing, Lucy was sort of hanging out near her. I know that sounds like normal dog behavior, but you have to know Lucy to know that she is anything but a normal dog. No, this was very strange behavior.
And then one day, Gracie just sat down and started petting Lucy. Which, again, sounds like normal dog behavior, but this was TOTALLY weird for Lucy. And as if that wasn’t weird enough, Lucy seemed to LIKE IT! My world was spinning out of control. What was happening here?!?!
A few days later, I came into the living room to find Lucy sitting perfectly still while Gracie put about 20 stickers all over her. I wish you all knew how incredibly, earthshatteringly STRANGE BEHAVIOR this is for Lucy. She is not a patient dog. She is not the kind to just sit while you adorn her with stickers.
And then the strangest of strange things happened, which is what these pictures are from. If Lucy somehow does allow someone to pet her, she will crawl away under our dining room table when she has had enough. And you are not permitted to enter the dining room table area or else she will growl and snap. That’s her space. No humans allowed. My sister says she’s like a troll under a bridge. But on this particular day, Gracie had been playing with Lucy (WHAT?!?!?!), and then Lucy sauntered off under the dining room table. AND GRACIE BEGAN TO FOLLOW HER!!!! I pulled Gracie out from underneath and explained that she couldn’t go under there with Lucy, but Gracie started laughing and crawling back under, saying, “Juicy wubs Gaycee!” (Translation: Lucy loves Gracie.) She sure enough, Lucy let her crawl under there with her! Gracie crawled right up under the table and petted “Juicy” and talked to her for a few minutes, while “Juicy” just hung out with her, like it was totally normal for a HUMAN BEING to be in “Juicy’s” fort. After a couple minutes, I pulled Gracie out from under the table, in case Juicy’s patience started to wear thin.
Today, the two of them were sitting on the couch together, and Gracie accidentally sat on Lucy’s tail. Lucy barked at Gracie, and I thought, “Here we go…” and I went to pull Gracie away, but before I could get there, Gracie popped Lucy on the rump and shouted, “No, ma’am, Juicy!” and then they continued to sit there together watching Cinderella, like a little old couple.
I am not sure what is going on, exactly, so I’m keeping a really close eye on things. But so far, it seems like these two are forging a very unlikely friendship. Which is just about the strangest thing I’ve ever seen!
21 Comments
momiss
It’s also one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen! Here’s to Juicy and Gracie!
Rhea
That’s adorable! I love how Gracie reprimanded her. “No ma’am”, too sweet!
Beth
Oh my gosh. The “No, ma’am, Juicy!” comment is hilarious!!! Too cute!
Amanda
“No ma’am Juicy” I love it!
Catherine
I love an animal history and this post kills me. Juicy! Hilarious. All the best to Lucy and Gracie!
Diane
Well first, I think Juicy has a new name… And second, I think they understand each other. It sounds like they both have their little ways about them and they have found the one that can relate!! Good for Gracie, good for “Juicy”… Good for mama!!!
Katie N.
Love this story! They’re totally kindred spirits 🙂
Christy
It sounds like Gracie has exerted her dominance over Juicy. She’s the alpha dog, the Juicy whisperer.. This post is awesome!
Candice
Awww, Gracie is clearly Lucy’s human – I think all dogs pick one family member they love the most and Gracie’s it for Lucy. Maybe she sees Gracie’s spunkiness as a kindred spirit. 🙂
Janna
So, you’re going to teach her that it’s not ok to hit the pets, right?
Alaina
Kindred spirits, huh? Too cute!
Tawny
Gracie has definitely shown herself as pack leader. You have a little whisperer on your hands.
Alex
What a great post. This only confirms what we know about dogs, they have a way to know a human being. She understands Gracie and Gracie understands her…lovely!
Ann @ Such a Mama
We had a cranky old cat that never wanted anything to do with people, until my little brother was born. That cat couldn’t get enough of that boy and vice versa! To this day, my 26 year old brother can’t talk about Harold the cat’s death.
Sara M
Cute post, but what cracked me up was Ginny’s comment about Lucy being a troll!! HA:)
Lindsay
Hilarious!
Christina
Oh, that Gracie! She reminds me so much of my spunky Amelia. I love your posts about Gracie because they take me back to the days of toddlerhood with my girl (she’s 7 now). Those spunky girls definitely keep you on your toes and they do seem to have a way with animals and old people! My Amelia can make even the grumpiest of old people just a total ball of sweet mush and animals love her!
LIssa
cute story…loved the troll analogy 🙂
Rachel @ The Ongoing Planner
That is precious! You did say Gracie is a charmer 🙂
Jenna
“No ma’am, Juicy!” Ha!!
Rebecca @ The Reluctant Housewife
We have a dog that’s so like Lucy! When I filled out the pet application for our rental and they asked her personality, I literally wrote “grumpy old lady”. My husband says that she’s just waiting for the joke to be over because it used to be just her and brad, then I came with my 2 cats, then we got a Great Dane, then a baby… then another baby! She practically hated life there for a little bit. Now that she’s an only pet again, sometimes she’ll go up to Zoe and ASK to play, which never fails to baffle me.