Lexie’s Story

This is Lexie and she is my world.

Expect to see her face often.

I was in no way looking for a dog when Lexie came along, she chose me, and I am so lucky that she did.

It was Christmas Day, 2008 and there were some large dogs running around loose in my parent’s neighborhood. As he always does, my dad fell in love with them, and decided to house them in our yard until the owners turned up. My mom wasnt too fond of this idea, so the neighbors took them in, and my parents went to the SPCA to let them know where the dogs were should anyone come looking.

Thats when they saw Lexie.

She licked his face and he fell in love. At Christmas dinner that night, my dad announced that we were getting a dog.

We already had a “family” dog, but she hated everyone in the family but my mom. My dad has always wanted a dog of his own, but since he has made this same announcement many times in the past. I didnt get my hopes up.

I still didnt believe him two days later when we were driving to the SPCA to adopt her.

Next thing I knew, my mom was filling out paperwork, and I was sitting on the floor playing with my dad’s new dog. She sat on my lap as my parents dealt with the adoption, and stayed on my lap for the rest of the night. She has remained there ever since.

My dad’s dog turned into my dog in a matter of hours.

Its not like she doesnt love my dad, he’s her second favorite, but Lexie decided from that start that she belonged with me. Or maybe I belonged with her.

We knew very few things about Lexie when we got her.

We knew she was from an abusive home, and was afraid of men (which makes her licking my dad’s face that day very out of character). For months, we couldnt even lift the tv remote without her running for cover.

We knew she was a water spaniel, daschund cross (thats hates the water btw).

We knew she had abandonment issues – which became very evident the night we brought her home. I tried to have a bath, and she laid beside the tub howling because she couldnt see me. She even tried to climb into the tub she was so upset. My heart absolutely broke for her. And we knew she was cute. Everything else is a mystery.

The SPCA was told that she was 8 years old, spayed, and good with other dogs. Turns out she was none of the above.

After the first time she went into heat (SURPRISE!), we had her spayed right away. The vet removed 3 cysts and a tumor. He also estimated her age at about 4 or 5, and said she would have only had about 6 more months had they not done the surgery.

Turns out she really was a rescue.

Lexie has come a long way since we first got her. She was skinny, and wouldnt eat unless I sat beside her bowl, and now the vet keeps telling me to put her on a diet.

She was nervous for a long time, and constantly on her “best behaviour”. I dont think we even heard her voice for 6 months.

Now, I wish I could get her to shut up.

She’s gained so much confidence, and has complete trust that I will never steer her wrong.

I know that everyone thinks this about their pets (and I know its true about all of them), but Lexie is a very special dog. She has added so much to my life, and I dont know what I would do without her. Its true what they say, she is my best friend.

Recently, we had a pretty intense health scare. Lexie had 5 tumors removed. Four from her mammory glands, one from her eye. One of them was cancerous. We were lucky because it was only stage one, and had not spread. When I found out how much the surgery would cost me ($1300) I may have cried a little. But it saved my dog, and was worth every penny.

To read about Lexie’s surgery, click here.

Because if you cant already tell, I kind of like my dog.

But she likes me too.