Lucy Johnson Sellers was helped across the rainbow bridge on June 6, 2025. She was 16 (probably?). She leaves behind her dog parents, Elizabeth and Russell, and little dog brother, Lennon.

Lucy - affectionately known as Lulu, Lulu girl, Luce Goose, Lucy Belle, and DooDoo - first met her mom in August 2012 at the now shuttered Bishop Animal Shelter in Bradenton, Florida. Known then as Mary Lou, she had been returned to the shelter by a previous family who dubbed her “too high-maintenance.” Lucy was many things, but she was never high maintenance.

For nearly 13 years, she remained by her mom’s side, keeping her company and making Elizabeth’s parents feel better about their daughter living alone far away. She’s called seven houses and three states home. She made many dog and human friends over the years. In fact, Lucy was the wingwoman in helping her mom make her first friend in Florida. Lucy may have made a few enemies, too. There was no one she hated more than a mail carrier or delivery driver - and she gave a few (love) bites to friends who volunteered to dog-sit. Lucy was a grumpy lady - in the best ways - and extremely protective of her space and her people. Through changing places, jobs, friendships and relationships, Lucy was her mom’s constant.

Then, in 2018, Lucy met the guy who would become her dad. Their first meeting was expectedly filled with barking and snarls, but soon she grew to ignore him and then snuggle him. When Lucy and her mom moved in with him, she had to remind him who was in charge - peeing on the floor on his side of the bed for a few weeks. Fortunately, that was only a phase.

For years, Lucy was mistakenly identified as a Cheagle (a mix between a Chihuahua and a Beagle), but the mystery of her background was solved with a doggy DNA test that revealed she was a true mutt, but mostly a Pithuahua. She surely had the spicy personality of a Chihuahua in the stout body of a pitbull.

One thing is for certain, Lucy was the bestest dog. She loved to lick feet, especially between your toes, and burrow under blankets. Her click-clacking nails could be heard from across the house. She wasn’t that big, but she could take up more than her fair share of the bed. Her strange hoarse yodel bark made everyone laugh - it was the cutest. Any toy with a squeaker hated to see her coming. She vehemently hated baths and nail trims. In her younger years, she was an escape artist - she could not be contained whether it was jumping baby gates, finding holes in fences or digging her way to freedom. She loved walks, but mostly peeing and sniffing along the way. Her claim to fame may have been when she angrily barked a full New Orleans city block at a neighbor who was just out walking his dog - the neighbor was actor John Goodman.

And boy, did Lucy love to eat?! Kibble, human food, cat poop - you name it! Some of her favorites were peanut butter, Sonic corndogs and Taco Bell cheesy roll-ups. Some of this led to her stinky, room-clearing, farts.

Lucy loved car rides, whether it was a short trip to the dog park, where she would show up the bigger dogs with her speed and agility, to long road trips. Perhaps surprising considering she fell out of a car window early on - Did she jump? Did her mom take a turn too quickly and fling her out? We’ll never know.

She slowed down in her final years. Her black face turned gray. She favored the floor to beds and couches of her youth. In the last year of her life, she was surprisingly welcoming to a new dog brother. She loved playing with Lennon and licking as deep into his ears as dogly possible. She’d give him baths and sweet kisses. And also try to sneak food from his bowl when he wasn’t looking.

Lucy spent her final days doing what she loved most: sleeping, eating and licking. She leaves behind a giant imprint (and lots of fur) on the lives of those around her. She taught her parents important lessons in unconditional love, patience and companionship. She will be deeply missed and fondly remembered. 

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