Friends of the Farnival: Meet Alia and Lucy Roo

Lucy Roo

I’m so excited. Time again for a Friends of the Farnival feature. I found our new amiga on Instagram. I am terrible at posting updates on social media, but I admit one of my vices is exploring IG. I troll animal accounts like a stalker. I like to call it research. One day a few months ago, I ran across my current obsession, Lucy Roo, and I’ve been devoted ever since. If a few days pass without a Lucy post, I get anxious. Even my husband is obsessed with her. We can’t help it. That four-pound dog is one of the happiest creatures we’ve ever seen…even though she only has two legs.

Lucy’s badass human, Alia, rescued her from an animal sanctuary last year. They currently live in Ohio, but we’re hoping one day we can entice them down to Tennessee for a play date at the Farnival. So with no further ado, let me introduce Lucy Roo on two:

How old is Lucy Roo?

Lucy is about 1-2 years. Her birthday was guessed to be around September.

What do you know about her disability?

Lucy was born without her front legs. From what I understand, it was due to inbreeding. The breeders wanted to get rid of her (as most do with physical deformities.)

Why did you adopt Lucy Roo?                                                                                            

I wasn’t actually looking for a dog at all! My friend was the one looking to rescue a dog and sent me a video of Lucy (Roo, at that time) and she was just jumping and hopping up and down because she was so excited to get some attention. I had my heart set on her. At first, [the sanctuary was] very reluctant to adopt her to anyone, thinking that someone would want her for the attention of having a disabled dog and then later realize the challenges that come with it and give her up again. It took about a month to finally bring her home on June 16th 2014.

Lucy’s biggest challenge?

POTTY TRAINING! Still a work in progress.

How would you describe her personality?

That girl is always on the move. Missing 2 legs does not slow her down. She moves faster without her carts than with them. I wish I could capture all of her moments to share with everyone, but she depends on me for most things so helping her while videoing is usually impossible. She is very smart and gets along with other dogs very well. I love her funny little habits like playing with her food before she eats or “digging” herself a comfy bed. She’s very sweet with other people but she loves to growl and bite when she’s playing.

Let’s talk about her wheels. I understand she has three pairs.

We refer to them as the sports car, the luxury car, and the suv for off-roading  Once she gets going and she has a big open space, she can go pretty fast! But it’s easy for her to lose control on them, too. We’re still in the process of getting her used to them, but she could move in them right away. And she likes them when she has a lot of space around because she’s not good at maneuvering turns, yet.

Greatest Lucy story ever?

Lucy is always doing stuff to make us laugh, but some of my favorite [moments] are when she twirls around like she’s dancing, and when she digs with her little nubs. Some people have contacted me privately and told me of certain health issues or hardships they are dealing with and how Lucy inspires them or puts a smile on their faces. I love how much joy dogs can bring to humans and just the fact that sharing some of the small moments with Lucy can touch other people’s lives means a lot to me.

What’s her favorite thing?

Lucy loves any activity involving socks.