Lucy was my third rescue and my biggest challenge at the time. She was also born on the wrong side of the tracks as she was born in an Amish puppy mill. 

She came to me weighing 32 pounds and looked like death. She was very sick with tapeworms, anemia, her pancreas had failed, she had sores all over her body, she was almost bald and she had all but lost her appetite to eat. I truly don’t believe she would have survived another week. 

After receiving the vet care she so desperately needed, Lucy has come alive and runs and plays like all the others and sits like a chipmunk when I have something she wants. Just having three legs has not slowed her down one bit! She is my miracle child! She has the twinkle back in her eyes that was amiss when we first brought her home.

  Now after a few months she is up to 51 pounds, gets a B12 shot once a week, has to have a pancreatic supplement added to her food twice a day as her pancreas will never work on it's own again and she also gets Tylosin twice a day.


She loves to "hunt" and believe me she is a go getter and full of life. Her will to live is something to be admired and when I thought there wasn’t any fight left in her, she would prove me wrong.

She is yet another reason I do what I do.

Update (09/2008) Lucy is one of my “heart” Clumbers. She got deep down in my heart the first time I ever laid eyes on her. Lucy is a fighter and if there were ever a Clumber that deserved a happy ending she is one.

Lucy came to me a little more than a skeleton and had the look of death. I knew she was sick but did not care and was willing to take her even if it meant putting her to sleep. If there was nothing I could do to “save” her at least I could give her a compassionate good bye. There were days that I thought I would have to make that decision.

That was a year ago and Lucy is not only healthy but she is full of life. She is making up for lost time and enjoying every minute of it. Lucy is another McLendon Land clumber that has proven that you can never go wrong by following your heart and taking a chance.

My three legged gal is a breath of fresh air and she gives us all a run for our money. She can keep up with any of the four legged Clumbers and has the stamina and strength of a bull. Given the chance, she would “hunt” from daylight to dark, stopping only long enough to get something to eat and drink.

My day begins with carrying Lucy downstairs then she along with six other Clumbers goes out for their morning walks. Lucy is always the last one back in as she does not want to miss out on any new smells. Eventually she makes her way back to the door to let me know she is ready for breakfast. Lucy has to have medication added to everything she eats as her pancreas no longer works but as long as she gets it, she does fine and will live the life that came close to being taken away from her.

Lucy shows me daily that nothing is impossible. She gets up each day raring to go and never gets discouraged over the challenges she may face and is never without a smile. She does not let anything stop her or get in her way and that alone gives me great pleasure.  

Update (12/2008) When I updated Lucy’s story in September, I was so sure that we had many, many more happy years left together. She had defied the odds and was doing so well. She was happy, healthy and full of life and I was so proud of how far she’d come.  

Little did I know that in just a few months, I’d be sharing that on Friday, Dec 26^th, we at McLendon Land lost our beloved Lucy Goosie Locket. She didn’t feel well on Christmas but didn’t really have any symptoms. I kept a close eye on her all day and thought that she probably just over worked her muscles and was sore. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. 

Lucy lived to “hunt” and she loved the woods, it is almost ironic that they took her from me. Lucy did what Clumbers do, she ate something she shouldn’t have and that is what took her away. She ate a stick and it punctured her intestine and she died from peritonitis. Lucy beat all the odds and she gave me one of the best years and half of my life but I wasn’t ready to say good-bye and the hurt lingers.

In spite of her handicap, Lucy was unstoppable. My Lucy Goosie Locket was not a quitter, she never gave up, and she gave life her all. This gal taught me more about faith, rescue, will and determination than any clumber I’ve rescued. I loved her with every ounce of my being and I lied awake, many nights praying that she would make it and she did.

I always knew she was an angel, she was the Queen of McLendon Land and while she was with me, Clumbers in Need flourished. If I had not been successful with saving Lucy, I know I would not have had the courage to continue, but I did save her and she was happy, she lived and she thrived. Lucy was the backbone of Clumbers in Need. 

I miss my sweet, beautiful gal but I know she knew that she was loved and admired for every day she was treated with love, respect, and the caring that she was denied earlier in her life. Each day was started with carrying her down the stairs and each night was ended with carrying her back up.  

Clumbers in Need entered 2009 with a heavy heart but as Lucy proved, quitting is never an option so we will move forward and when another wounded bird needs us, we will open our arms to them, for that is what Lucy would want us to do.

 In loving memory of Rachel Lucky (Lucy) Three

May 5, 2004 – December 26, 2008