Lucy was very fascinated this evening with a nature show about penguins on t.v.
Well, we're not "throwing" it back that far, only about a month or so. Just looked at this picture on my phone from Lucy's first day with us. I think this picture was taken about three hours after she was with us. Her and Milo are super content, as was I. Lucy was helping me with the blog today. :)
She wanted me to thank everyone for the many comments and questions on this blog and for the many views on her YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAsrpXjuEcU We are excited about all of the interest for Lucy and hope that she has received some adoption applications. Don't forget, if you would like to be considered for a meet and greet, you need to fill out a detailed adoption application from DDR. They do all of the paperwork and arranging of meetings- I just get to love the pups until they find a home. :) Lucy is back at our home this Sunday. She had a meet and greet with a nice family yesterday and stayed the night for a trial run. The family reported that she was a super sweet dog and did well with their little dog. However, we learned that Lucy and the cat did not get along well, so moving forward, we know a house with a cat may not be the best fit for Lucy. We are very appreciative to the family for giving Lucy a chance (and sending her home with a fun toy) and we are grateful that we now know more about Lucy to help her find a home that will be the perfect fit for her and her humans. In our short time with Lucy, she has made big progress with commands. She knew "sit "and we have really been focusing on "stay" and " leave it". For stay, I have her sit while I slowly walk away. I then can say "come" and then she will come to me. We have increased the distance where I can be in another room out of her sight line and she still stays. For leave it, I wanted to train her to leave alone an object. I started by holding treats right in front of her face and having her leave it. When she makes eye contact with me, she can have the treat. I also repeated this by having treats in the floor next to her. These two commands have made meal time less crazy- as she gets very excited by food. Tomorrow Lucy has a meet and greet!!! We are so excited for her. Enjoying some last snuggles while we have this sweet baby. In this bitterly cold weather, we have been hibernating inside. Lucy continues to be a champ at snuggles with her human and furball companions.
Today was Milo's 4th birthday, so we headed to the pet store to celebrate. Lucy did very nicely and enjoyed sniffing all of the bags of dog food. When she saw a new person in the aisle, she would let out a loud bark or two, just to make sure the people knew she was there. After her typical alarm barks, she went back to casually sniffing the inventory. She sat very nicely for the cashier to give her a treat. When we returned home, we had to sing happy birthday to Milo. Although we couldn't get either dog to wear the festive birthday hat, we still had a nice evening together. I think the highlight of Lucy's night was playing with Milo's new tug rope (pictured below).
Welcome 2015! This is the year Lucy will find her furever home.
This sweet lady has been with us for about a week and here is what we know so far. Walking: Lucy does great on a leash. She is believed to be a hound mix which is evident if she sees a squirrel on our walk, as she will give an extra tug on the leash. She likes to sniff around, yet she often has slack on the leash as we walk. Temperament: Overall, Lucy is a very playful, sweet, cuddly girl. Crate: Lucy is put in the crate when we leave the house. She goes in without a fuss. We usually leave her a hard bone to chew. When we return, she stands up and gives a good stretch, making us think she has just woken up from a nice nap. She has no separation anxiety that we can see. Other dogs: Lucy is currently living with our dog, Milo, a male boxer. They get along very well. Both have high energy levels, and know how to nap, so they have been doing great together. Lucy also likes to run along the fence with the neighbor's little dog. Last night she met my mom's dog, Frankie, an older beagle who is very submissive. Lucy wanted to play much more rough with Frankie and needed to be monitored a bit, as Frankie isn't assertive enough to let another dog know that she needs a break. Toys: Lucy loves toys and really enjoys tug toys and anything she can gnaw on. She does great with nylabones, big ropes, and some kong products, but she will need to monitored with some toys. Some rubbery items (such as tennis balls and some kong products) she has been able to gnaw pieces off of. Stuffed animal toys may make your home look like it snowed. :) The good news is that she doesn't ingest toys or broken bits of toys. She knows the difference between dog toys and household items, so none of our personal property (slippers, socks, etc...) have been chewed. People: Lucy loves to snuggle and does well meeting new people. She jumps a little and may bark when she encounters a new person, but she does not seem to have any aggression. We have not seen her around children, however, with her sweet demeanor, I think she would be fine in a home with children. She may just need to be monitored around very small children when she gets excited. Food: Lucy is currently eating Innova brand food, about 1.5 to 2 cups per meal (breakfast and dinner). She does get excited around meal time, so we have been practicing her having to sit calmly, make eye contact, and wait for permission to begin eating. We even practice taking away her food bowl mid-meal and have observed no food aggression. Sleeping: As mentioned, Lucy is DYNAMITE at snuggling on the couch. She has been such a good girl that we do not even crate her at night. She sleeps on a dog bed at the foot of our bed. You'll know she's awake when you hear her tail thumping. :) Housebroken: 100% potty trained! Woohoo!!! Commands: Lucy knows the command "sit" both verbal and with a hand motion. The hand motion for sit she has been taught is a palm facing upward, then bringing all four fingers up toward the ceiling. We are working on the command "stay". Fashion: She looks adorable in her purple winter coat. :) Any questions, please leave me a comment. |