We worried early on that she was ill because she didn’t want to do anything except lay around and feel secure. We took her to a vet, who assured us everything was fine, it’s just the nature of Newfoundlands to be lazy! She loved being in the car but never did the head out the window thing, and she would play ball in the sock for a few seconds before she laid back down. We initiated a regular walking program with her; she reluctantly complied but it was like she was thinking, “what did I get myself into?” I had never known a dog that had no enthusiasm for a walk. Nevertheless, we did 2-3 miles a day, and over the years that totaled (literally) 1,000s of miles.

She would become enormously excited about seeing other animals, anything from rabbits to chickens to horses to bears. We had lots of deer and she would take off after them (not that she came close to catching them, she was the slowest dog I’ve ever known), but after a few seconds she would stop, asking herself, “why am I running when I could lay back down?” Once she encountered a raccoon who couldn’t run away so it attached itself to Lucy, who proceeded to freak out; I had to use a shovel to pry the raccoon off, who safely escaped up a tree.

Her aggression abated gradually except for when she was in the car, which she would defend ferociously from people or other animals coming near. Fortunately is was never more than a show of ferocity; she never bit anyone except a friend of mine who arrived on a noisy big black motorcycle wearing the full complement of black protective leather clothing (which protected him from Lucy’s one nip). We rarely left her alone, and over the years she traveled with us to points as far away as Chicago and Wisconsin, Ontario, New Jersey and Virginia, and Massachusetts. In June 2013 we put her in a Boston area kennel for one night to attend my son’s wedding. When we picked her up the next day she was withdrawn and depressed, and not exited to see us. It was if we betrayed her…”you promised you would love me and not abandon me!” We never left her in a kennel again.

Newfoundlands typically live in the 8-10 year range, so we figured we would give her a happy life for the 5-7 years we anticipated having her. When she got toward 12 we dug a grave for her simply to be ready for the inevitable; that was four years ago. About three years ago, Spring of 2020, Lucy began her decline. She couldn’t keep a normal walking pace and we gradually walked her shorter and shorter distances. On Christmas Day 2020 she collapsed and seemed to have a seizure, and we thought, “This is the beginning of the end.” But she perked back up and returned to normal. The last time we left her alone for any period was in the Spring of 2021. We came back after an hour or so of visiting a neighbor and Lucy was frantic, hyperventilating and gasping for breath. This was not a respiratory issue but a panic attack, and she’s never been left alone since for more than 10 minutes of so.

As was inevitable, Lucy lost her ability to walk and became mostly incontinent, which requires diapers and “pee pads.” As a young adult I had a minimum wage ($2.33/hour) orderly job at a nursing home and later became a nurse, and my wife is a retired speech therapist who worked with total care patients, so taking are of a total care dog is not a huge challenge. We still make her get up and out, though I bear most of her weight using a leash attached to a harness and a belt in her hip area. She’s been deaf for a while but sees surprisingly well despite cataracts. We decided at the beginning of her decline we wouldn’t put her down as long as she eats well, is free of pain, and appears content, all of which has proven to be the case. Actually in “retirement” she’s living the dream of being able to lie around with the knowledge that everything is safe and secure in her world.

Lucy has kept in our own personal “lock down” for two years, and we admit we, with some guilt, look forward to life after Lucy. Our hope is that she’ll go to sleep happy and pain free and simply not wake up. Our great fear is that she’ll be in pain in her last few days. Recently I visited a nearby large animal vet and explained about Lucy, and she said she would come to our house to put her down if it becomes necessary to avoid any suffering. What a relief!

A note about the cat in some of the photos: soon after we adopted Lucy in April 2012 a stray kitten showed up and adopted us. He was oblivious to the fact that Lucy was aggressive and would have gladly eaten him. Fortunately it didn’t take too long for Lucy to accept the cat, and since then they have been best friends, almost as if the cat thinks of Lucy as her mother. To this day, the cat will snuggle up to Lucy and lie within her paws.

As I write this Lucy is estimated to be 15 years, 8 months old. The record for longest living Newfoundland that we can credibly find was a dog named Katie Lou Bugum, who lived to be 15 years, 9 months. If this is correct, Lucy is 4-6 weeks away from becoming the oldest living Newfoundland in history. Below are fairly recent photos of Lucy, the BIG and OLD Newfoundland.