I Love Lucy (2)

This is Lucy.  When I first met her she was 12 weeks old and almost entirely black.  She had the cutest face I'd ever seen, black with a widow's peak and blond eyebrows.  She also weighed around 8 pounds. 


Today, she is beautiful.  All the black she had as a pup has slowly morphed onto her back--the rest of her is either a cream color or a light gold.  As you can see, she has a Shepherd face (and pretty much a Shepherd's body), thanks to her father, who is a big black Shepherd.  Her mom, on the other hand is a Yellow Lab, so that accounts for her golden color and the ears that are a strange cross between Shepherd ears that want to stand straight up and Lab ears that want to lie down.  She weighs in at around 85 lbs and thinks she is a  lap dog.


The thing is...I LOVE this dog.  She doesn't ask for much.  If I'm sick, she's my constant companion, either curled up on the bed keeping me company or just hanging in close to make sure I'm okay. 


She is quiet, only choosing to bark if someone rings the doorbell (either in reality or on TV). 


She loves doggie treats and frozen chicken tenders (popcicles).  Playing ball is great fun and she loves to grab a sock and take off with it, begging to be chased. 


Lucy would love to be a cat-chaser.  We have a GAZILLION cats around here, not helped by the fact that our neighbors feed every stray in sight.  These are big, tough feral cats who aren't generally scared of much and not very tame, but she can make them RUN. 


What I plan to do is train her to be a therapy dog, and after summer vacations and craziness is over, I will begin to do some serious training with her to bring her up to speed for certification.


She is very patient...I don't walk her nearly as often as I should, and even less since I sprained my ankle a couple of weeks ago. 


She is so happy to see me when I come home.  Her ears go back and she sits with her tail wagging waiting to be petted.  When Rick comes home, it's an entirely different story.  She usually barks when she hears him pull into the garage and then falls all over herself trying to get him to pay attention to her once he comes in.


I think that God gave us dogs to teach us some life lessons.  I've heard the "Dog Whisperer", Cesar Milan say that we get dogs so we can learn from them--they often mirror our personalities back to us and not just our good traits. 


Lucy is always happy to see me.  It doesn't matter how long I've been gone or what kind of day she's had, she is just thrilled when I come home. When I was contemplating getting a dog, a friend said, "Everyone deserves to have someone that loves them unconditionally."  Lucy does.


 When Lucy has misbehaved, she is quick to apologize, coming over with her head down, looking for reassurance.  She never wants to stay upset or dwell on it, she just wants to move on. 

She is intensely loyal.

I should take a couple of pages from her book.