Puppy Park

For the first time since we brought Lucy home in May, I took her to our local dog park on Friday afternoon. She. Loved. It. There were three other small-ish dogs there so she was actually the biggest. Fortunately I have either an incredibly confident or incredibly oblivious dog. None of the other dogs really wanted to play with her but could not have seemed to care less. She chased after them, played with their owners, and ran around on her own.

Getting acclimated

 

Waiting for someone to play with her.

The park is pretty big with open space, trees, bushes, etc. It was a blast to watch her have freedom to run wherever she wanted.

Lucy’s version of running.

She did try really, really hard though to make friends.

This dog, like the other two, wanted nothing to do with Lucy and all her energy.

It didn’t seem to bother her, though. She just alternated between trying to find playmates and sniffing all the new smells of the park.

Looking for crap to eat.

The three other dogs left a little while after she got there and Lucy was really confused as to why they were leaving.

Watching her “buddies” leave.

Fortunately for Lucy we went back the next day (where she proceeded to bug the crap out of an older black Labrador) and I think we’ll be going back a lot when the weather is good – Lucy was one pooped puppy on Friday night!

 

Puppy Class: Week Seven

Last night we had our very last puppy class! As usual, Lucy was ecstatic to be there; she really did love the last couple of weeks!

Ready for class to start!

We were the first ones there so of course Lucy had to check out every dog who came into class after her.

Dying to stay Hi to everyone.

We started out working on a few older commands and added in a few newer ones. For some reason Lucy had a limited attention span last night so she spent a lot of time looking around the room and NOT paying attention to me.

Watching every other dog do their tricks while refusing to actually do work herself.

The instructor came over and worked with Lucy; she even had a hard time focusing for him but he since he’s a professional and all, he was a bit more successful than I was in getting her to pay attention and actually do something on command.

“I will do anything for food.”

Lucy isn’t exactly the cleanest dog at class. She drools on my hands, leaves crumbs all over the place and then drools all over the floor trying to pick up those crumbs.

Evidence of Lucy’s mess (i.e. drool-and-crumb mix)

After working on a few new commands, we moved onto a competition! Each dog went one-by-one and was timed on the same series of commands. The five-pound Maltese took more than three minutes and the Boston Terrier did it in a speedy 1:10! I was very, very nervous for Lucy’s turn (she was last); she hadn’t exactly been a model student that day (she spent part of the “stay” drill lying on her side ready to take a nap).

Anyway, we did it in two minutes flat! We were second…out of three. But still, not last! And Lucy’s prize was a massive bone!

Fascinated with her prize!

The class was definitely worth it; I had fun, Lucy had fun and we learned a lot. Now I just have to work on getting her to listen to me while not holding a treat in my hand…

Glamour shot

Lucy vs. The Tutu

I made the executive decision that Lucy would wear a tutu for Halloween. A full-on costume would be wasted on Lucy but I thought a tutu would be easy, basic, simple…plus it would prevent people from calling her a boy, at least for one day.

Well, I was wrong. Strike one: buying a tutu from Petsmart that didn’t even go halfway around her waist. Talk about a distorted image of how small I  really think Lucy is!

So, I did the unbelievable and actually ordered a dog tutu online. Who does that?

Anyway, strike two: Lucy is very confused by the tutu.

Blurry, but clearly confused by the tutu

Strike three: She can reach around and eat the tulle. Not good.

After 10 minutes, this is the ONLY picture I got where she managed to keep it on, not try to run away from it or eat it.

Not amused at all.

Costume fail.

Seven Months

Lucy’s seventh-month birthday is right around the corner. For comparison, this is Lucy at four weeks old

Wee little Lucy!

And a now 40-pound, almost seventh-month old Lucy!

Porker

 

Rough Weekend

Lucy had quite the exciting (and tiring) weekend. It was Homecoming Weekend at Susquehanna which meant Marty and I were both busy on Friday night and pretty much all of Saturday. Friday night we abandoned Lucy to attend the Hall of Fame Banquet but boy did we more than make up for leaving her alone all night Friday.

Saturday morning Marty’s team hosted its annual Alumni Run so before I headed to work for the day I stopped by to watch a little bit and to ultimately drop Lucy off with Marty for the morning.

I tried to control her for the 30 or so minutes I was there but boy is she strong! She was so, so excited to see people and run around that it was hard to keep her out of the way of everyone who was actually there to run, not see her! I then left her in the care of Marty and his team and from all the stories I heard, she was quite the hit and also quite the menace. At one point the softball team kidnapped her to run around with them before their alumni game. After the race was over, Lucy also apparently managed to steal herself a ham sandwich and potato chips. Well-rounded lunch, I guess.

When I finally got home later that evening, this is what Lucy looked like:

I’m tired and I can’t get up

That was pretty much how she spent the rest of Saturday and her lack of energy carried over into Sunday morning. Upon coming downstairs after taking a shower on Sunday morning, she had moved, but barely.

Too much partying on Saturday? (and no, this was not a posed shot!)

She rallied a bit by Sunday afternoon.

Still on the couch but actually sitting up for a change.

She started to get a bit antsy and fidgety on the couch and crawled all over Marty.

“I fart in your general direction.”

And finally decided she’d had enough of the paparazzi.

Those fangs are indeed quite threatening. Except when you realize they’re attached to a 40-pound fat, wrinkly dog.