Lucy O’Neill

THE SADDEST OF NEWS (24.4.2010 – 9.7.2023)

On 9th July, a distraught Ian announced on Facebook “This morning, at 8.15am, our beautiful Luce peacefully drifted into her final sleep. She was just too frail in the end and we weren’t prepared to put her through any more pain. Carole and I are heartbroken and miss our noisy, sassy girl so much it physically hurts.

Thank you all for the love you’ve shown our girl, not just throughout her illness, but for her whole life. A dear friend said that Luce was truly a Queen amongst Goldens, and she was.

Until we meet again our darling girl”.

REMEMBERING LUCY

Seven days on, Ian told us more of Lucy’s story “It’s a week since we said goodbye to our Luce and it’s been tough. She’s been the dominant presence in our house since June 2011 and it all seems wrong without her. 

Henry and Rosy are quiet. I think it’s fair to say that Luce was at the centre of all the messing about. She was noisy and dominated when it came to the play fighting. We have many stories of her over the years but this is one that stands out:-

It happened back in 2015. When we lived in Buckinghamshire we often holidayed in Norfolk. We would take Murphy and Lucy with us. We would stay in a bungalow in Winterton on Sea. We loved it and so did the dogs. The beach was 5 mins walk away and there was a dog friendly pub across the road. It was ideal. 

One day, when we were walking on the beach, Murphy and Lucy were running in and out of the sea and having a great time. Suddenly, a Cocker Spaniel came charging at Luce and went for her. Now Luce was a friendly dog but would never tolerate another dog going for her, so she dumped the cocker on its back and held it down with her front paw. The Cocker lay on its back its little legs waggling in the air! 

The owner came running up full of apologies and when she saw what Luce was doing she was astounded. ‘She’s holding him down,‘ she said.

I said, ‘she’s not a violent dog but equally won’t stand for any nonsense.’

The woman got her dog back on his lead, and said, ‘ I don’t suppose I could borrow her so she can teach him some manners?’

‘She’s not for hire,’ I said.

This was typical Luce xx”

Queen of the Castle

A HAPPY LIFE ENDED BY A SHORT ILLNESS

Nobody can be in any doubt, Lucy was a lucky girl who had the most wonderful life with Carole and Ian

Always the protector and Keeper of the Door

She was a very happy girl who was more than happy to share her beloved Mum and Dad with her best friends, Murphy, Henry and Rosy.

Murphy had preceded Luce and the lovely big cuddly bear known as Henry had joined the family in November 2017 as a 3 year old. He had been  owned by another couple on the Golden Retriever GB group but, sadly, his Dad, Richard,  was very ill and knew he would no longer be able to look after him. Richard and his wife, Ann, had seen the clips of Lucy and Murphy’s trips to the beach and asked if they would adopt Henry so he could have the same brilliant  lifestyle.

Needless to say, the wonderfully kind Carole and Ian were never going to refuse and so two became three.

After the very sad departure of the inimitable Murphy Murphy O’Neill – Irish Retriever Rescue to Rainbow Bridge in 2019, there was room for one more and so the very special Rosy joined her forever family in 2020 Rosy O’Neill – Irish Retriever Rescue

The dogs always loved to chill together.

and they always asked very nicely for treats

They also liked to keep a close eye on any indoor proceedings

and try to be almost indoors whilst outdoors!

Fortunately, for her, Lucy’s illness had been sudden and, as it turned out, was destined to be short-lived.

On 4th July, a very worried and upset Ian had told all their many friends on Facebook “Our Luce has been very ill for the last week. It started with her refusing food. The vet investigations didn’t give us a definitive reason. We took her to a specialist vet near us in Somerset and they ran a series of tests. We learnt today that she has a liver tumour.

We knew it was serious but hoped we had treatment options. She is on anti-inflammatory meds that have given her a boost and some appetite so we have her home but how long for? Who knows?

For sure, she will let us know when it’s her time and, meanwhile, we’ll enjoy each day we have with her”.

A MESSAGE FROM LUCE

Pearl Small contacted Lucy’s Mum and Dad on Facebook to pass on some wonderful news.

She said “Hello Uncle Ian & Auntie Carole – it’s me, Pearl, here. I did has a dream last night that I was at the Rainbow Bridge an’ I met your Luce an’ she did give me a message for you. It must be true ‘cos, when I woke up, this was folded in my claws:-

Mummy! Daddy! It’s me, Luce, your darling girl
I’m sending you a message by way of Pearl
To tell you I’ve arrived at the Bridge safe and sound
And my sisters and brothers are gathered all around.
What a crowd! They all came out to welcome me,
A host of furry faces just like a golden sea,
And still more rushed out of their cottage doors
To hug me and wrap me in their loving paws.
So no more weeping and no more sighing,
Look at me! Through Fields of Gold I’m flying!
No aching joints or bones, free from pain,
I’m just like a young pup again!
In the still of the night I hear you sadly grieve,
But I had no choice, I had to leave;
It was my time,  that you know
And with love and kindness you let me go.
I’m still here. The brief touch of a cold nose at night,
That sudden glimpse of golden fur just out of sight,
That soft warmth resting gently on your knee,
I’m not really gone – they’re all just me.
And when the tears come welling up into your eye,
Let them fall but don’t forever cry,
Think of the lovely life that together we made,
And hold me in your heart where memories never fade.
All is well, I’m exactly where I ought to be
And I’ll wait here, content, until you come for me.
Your Luce xx
PS. And we’ve got sausages for tea!


 

LUCY’S STORY

(Lucy O’Neill, 24th April 2010 to 9th July 2023)

Dad, Ian, recounts the tale …. In February 2011, we lost our old boy, Rory. He was just four weeks short of his fifteenth birthday. We still had IRR Murphy who’d been with us since October 2006. We decided to give ourselves a few months before we considered having a brother or sister for Murph.  

In June we felt ready and our search began. We felt that it would be nice to have a puppy in the house again so we looked into local breeders in Buckinghamshire. We found a lovely lady in High Wycombe and one Saturday afternoon we drove across to see her. We took Murph with us and we were delighted to find that she had eight Goldens.

Murph was in his element playing with them in her garden. She had one bitch who was due to give birth the following week and she still had one puppy left from her last litter and he was due to be picked up by his new family the following day. His name was Hamish and he was lovely. She’d just mated another of her bitches and she was due to find out the following week how many puppies there were. So we put our names down for one of her pups and left full of anticipation for good news the following week.

She called on the Thursday of the following week. Bad news, her bitch had had a phantom pregnancy. In twenty years as a breeder it had never happened before. And the news was worse still, she wouldn’t be mating any of her bitches for at least six months. We were both really disappointed.

Then Carole said, why don’t we ring IRR? They may have a young dog coming over soon. So I rang Lorraine. I was surprised that she remembered me from when we had adopted Murph. She made me laugh when she said, ‘Murphy O’Neill had a ring to it and it stuck in my mind!’

‘Have you got any young dogs looking for adoption?’ I asked.

‘We have a one year old called Lucy coming over on Friday evening. She’ll be in foster care at Kidderminster on Saturday. Are you at your computer?’

‘I am,’ said I.

She sent me our first picture of Luce. She was beautiful.

I’ll have her!’ said I.

‘I’ll get the foster carer to ring you tomorrow to arrange collection.’

Carole and I were delighted.

On the Saturday morning, we drove up to Jane’s house to meet our Luce for the first time. When we arrived, Jane said the immortal words, ‘she’s a bit lively!’

For the whole hour we were there, Luce was in overdrive. We had a walk with her around the garden and Luce was full on play. You would’ve thought that after a night travelling she would’ve been tired. Not a chance! We were soon to learn that wasn’t Luce’s style.

We drove her back to Buckinghamshire and Carole sat on the backseat with her for the whole journey. The irony of this being that the next time this happened was yesterday when we took her on her final journey to the vets.

We planned to let Murph and Luce meet outside our house and take them on a walk so they could acclimatise to each other. But, when we arrived home, the heaven’s opened so we took her straight into our house and into the kitchen where Murph was waiting. Well the two of them launched themselves at each other and Murph ended up getting flattened by Luce! He was so small and light in comparison to Luce that the poor little sod had no chance!

Well, that settled the pattern of their relationship. Poor old Murph never won a game of tug with a rope or toy, and was constantly getting duffed up by Luce! But it was never done nastily and they had a lovely relationship right up until Murph left us in November 2019.

Murph taught Luce to bark, which she did with great gusto. She chased cats, squirrels, rabbits, anything that ran. There were no half measures with Luce. Everything was always full on. Her reputation spread as far wide as Yorkshire, Wales, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Somerset, Dorset and Cornwall. Once met, never forgotten.

I’d never had such a healthy dog. She was rarely at the vets. She never had an operation in all her thirteen years. There were no visible signs of arthritis and there were no lumps and bumps on her, which made her recent illness so much harder to take.

In two weeks she went from a healthy and vibrant dog to an old lady, and it broke our hearts.

The last seven years of her life were spent in Somerset and Dorset where she loved playing on the beaches. Her favourite pastime was pinching other dogs’ tennis balls and refusing to give them back! What a great time she had.

We’re still coming to terms with her loss but hope that in time we’ll be able to look back over the 12 years she was with us and remember the wonderful times we shared.

I should thank the breeder in High Wycombe for the phantom pregnancy as without it we would never have got to meet the irrepressible, uncompromising, stubborn, noisy, energetic, loving, playful, Lucy-Lou!

Run free crazy girl… Until we meet again.

HISTORY

LUCY WENT TO HER FOREVER HOME (12th JULY 2011)

Ian and Carole wrote “Lucy is really settling in well and quickly. She and our Murphy are already starting to look like good mates. Between them they have managed to destroy a brand new rope toy in just a few days.

We think we have quite a lot of work to do before she settles down with the lead – we are using Sonny’s old Halti at the moment – but we’re sure she’ll get there.

When she’s not sunbathing that is!!”