Puppy Love

Lucy Kennedy is brimming with love for her family’s new rescue dog Riley. The busy mum of three has her hands full, juggling work demands with home schooling and getting to know the latest member of the household, she tells Carissa Casey. 

Lucy Kennedy is walking the dog, picking up her youngest daughter from Creche, entertaining her other daughter and doing an interview with Woman’s Way. She was up early to do her Radio Nova show at 6am, started home schooling her oldest children at around 9am and plans to get back to lessons when she finishes the walk/school-run/interview. Just where does she get her energy?

“I have tons of energy but I collapse at night-time, face first on the bed, like I’ve fallen from a height. I wake up happy and I’m on the go all day. Then by 6pm I’m in my pjs winding things down, making dinner and by 9pm I’m in bed. I get good kips. I think that’s the secret to success - going to bed early and getting a good kip,” she says. 

She certainly needs her sleep. Aside from the day-to-day challenge of managing three small kids and a radio show, she has just sent off her third children’s book to the publishers and is getting ready to start filming a new Virgin Media documentary. The family has recently moved in to a new house which requires renovation. And then there’s Riley, the rescue puppy, which led to her being appointed Aldi’s first pet ambassador. “I love that a big brand is getting behind a small little rescue dog. It’s a lovely message. People often think a rescue dog means a damaged dog. That’s just not the case. We’re working together to promote rescue dogs and build a community of pet lovers.”

Lucy has been involved with various dog charities for more than ten years and always planned to go down the rescue route at some stage. “We had Jess (her youngest child) four years ago and, with a small baby, I thought it wasn’t good timing. Then we were renting a house which meant it wasn’t a good time either.”

With the new house (back in Dun Laoghaire where Lucy grew up) the family decided it was time to start looking. Lucy spotted a pregnant Labrador mix at Milo’s Dog Rescue. “We were like Dads pacing around the Coombe, waiting to hear when she was having her babies. Then when they arrived we all burst out crying. It was so wonderful seeing pictures of the babies and wondering which one would be ours.”

“You don’t really choose your dog, they choose you,” says Lucy.

Riley arrived in the Kennedy household at ten weeks already potty trained but that didn’t mean her arrival wasn’t challenging. “The second night she was at our house I cried. It’s like having a new born again. She was like all puppies, snapping at the air. I thought ‘Oh my god, she’s going to bite someone or something’. I felt on edge, questioning myself all the time, like a new mother.”

“Getting a new puppy is a massive commitment. All my friends with dogs told me it was a huge commitment. Then on day two, it finally registered. It was a bigger feeling of responsibility than I expected.”

A few days later Lucy adapted and Riley became her best friend but the experience has made her even more passionate about getting would-be puppy owners to think carefully. “It’s not for everyone. The cute little puppy stage lasts about four weeks. Then you have a dog, an animal who needs you, loves you, does massive poos everywhere, chews everything, barks at everything, chases his or her own tail. Right now Riley is a teenager. She’s still getting to know us. If that’s the only message I can get across to people, that the puppy phase is so short, that it’s work, that you need to be ready.”

By now, Lucy has picked up daughter number two from creche and the family are heading back home. In the background her two little girls are having a heated disagreement. “Hear that?” says Lucy. “Riley is walking here happily, she’s such a saint!”

She’s a passionate walker so Riley is getting plenty of exercise. “I just walk around the block and breathe. I also talk to myself when I’m walking. I’m like the crazy lady with the dog. I actually talk to myself, talk through my problems and my worries. I think walking is so good for mental health. I used to practise yoga once a week but unfortunately we’ve been unable to do that but as soon as we open up I’ll get back to it. I’m one of these people that talks incessantly. I talk for a living. Yoga’s the only time when I’m not allowed to keep talking. I love that. I find it very relaxing and I’m able to switch off.”

Like many, she finds the current lockdown the toughest of all. “The first lockdown was fine, I was almost in to it. I had my zoom calls with friends and zoom parties. I fancied the idea of getting to know myself, having time with the family, sunbathing in the summer, starting my book. But this lockdown, I’ve honestly found it so hard. It’s just been a completely different experience. It’s been very intense. I think everyone is just fed up. People are more grumpy. Everyone is frazzled and frayed. We don’t when life will resume. We’re not being able to plan.” 

“It’s amazing the amount of people who find their mental health is being genuinely affected. People are really struggling. There’s a different feel to this lockdown. Home schooling isn’t helping, it’s like all the pressures of life are confined under one roof.”

She readily admits home schooling has been a struggle for her. “My advice to parents is to marry a teacher,” she says, with that trademark wit we’ve come to love. The two older kids are heading back to school soon which will come as a huge relief she says. “I’m delighted for them. Small people need small people. It’ll be so nice to get some semblance of normality back in their lives.”

Having Riley has proved a great distraction for the whole family. “The kids have learned so much from this whole experience – patience, love, understanding, everything! They understand that Riley’s circumstances were different, that we didn’t buy her. I think that’s a beautiful message for them to get.”

She’s keen to point out that she’s not against people buying from a reputable breeder. “I’m not a fan of people buying online because you can’t tell how the animals are being treated but there are plenty of reputable breeders out there. Each to their own. I’ve said to the kids, don’t become one of these people who are always asking ‘where did you get your dog?’”

Aside from a few night time accidents when she first arrived, Riley has behaved impeccably (or so proud Mammy Lucy says). “She hasn’t barked yet. I don’t know whether that’s because she hasn’t found her bark or our house it so noisy. She hasn’t chewed any furniture. I don’t know where half the socks in the house are though. I think most of them are in her bed.”

“Life is so stressful but she’s always happy. She’s consistently pleased to see us. Dogs bring so much love into a family.”

Lucy is mildly asthmatic since she was a child but, luckily, Riley doesn’t moult. “She’s part spaniel. I moult more than Riley. I can’t go near cats, horses, feathers, dust, anything like that. But I can lie on her and I have. I’ve fallen asleep on her tummy. When I was getting ready for her to arrive, I bought a hair hoover, so I could brush and hoover her at the same time. Now she’s lying on the couch and in and out of every room. We’re so besotted she can do what she wants. If she wanted to drive my car I’d say, ‘okay, quickly, around the block’, says Lucy.

With so much going on in her life, she has an amazing ability to stay calm. “It’s quite high pressure, when you’re doing live tv, you have your heart literally in your ears. I think I’m trained now. I’m used to working in a very calm way under extreme pressure. I generally don’t let anything in. I stick to myself,” she says.

“Also, I think I’m a good person. I’m family orientated. I have close friends. I like quite a boring life. I think as well I’m happy and that helps. I’m so lucky. I’m very in love with my husband, we’re together 23 years, have three babies and a little puppy. I think the fact that I’m content, gives me peace of mind and that keeps me relaxed and easy going.”

Lucy will be doing a live question and answer session with pet behaviour specialist Alex Petrelli on Instagram at 7pm on 24 March. People are encouraged to send in any dog-related questions.

Visit @lucykennedytv