Update on Lucy - Grendel's Pal

I thought it was about time to give you an update on Lucy, our little rescue from Pasco.

She's just about a year old now ...

We worked really hard with her - we took her to training class when she arrived, and we've tried to be as consistent as possible.

We also had to teach Lucy how to live with Grendel, our elderly Frenchie. Over the last couple of months, she's been great. She learned not to take his food but only to clean up after anything he'd spilled, and she was always willing to warm him up after we carried him out in the cold to pee.

Sadly, we lost Grendel recently - but we're glad that we brought Lucy home when we did. It gave us a full 6 months to adjust her to Grendel, and it allowed us to see them play together a bit before the end. I've included a picture of her and Grendel a few days before he died, with her warming him up on the couch.

Lucy's proven to be a really smart dog. She's lazy too, and would like nothing better than to lay around all day. But when we walk, we always work on training exercises, and lately we've been working on tricks:  jumping, climbing, and walking narrow ledges. She's a natural rock climber, and is absolutely fearless - something that's still a little scary. We took her on her first hike recently and loaded her with a full pack, hoping it would slow her down a little. It did, and she didn't fight it really at all. I've included a picture of her fully dressed for the hike.

She's got a great friend, too. His name is Mars and he's a Staffordshire Bull Terrier (I think), pure pit and 75 - 80lbs. He looks a lot like Lucy, and they play weekly in our backyard. They wrestle and chase one another, and have become great friends. Neither ever shows aggression, and we've never had to separate them. As a result, we took Lucy to the dog park this weekend for her first off-leash adventure. She was so fast we could hardly keep up with her. All she really did was run circles around the other dogs charging at the water every now and then. We'll try that again soon.

In a few weeks, we take our annual trip to the coast, and we're really looking forward to getting Lucy on the beach. She's been exposed to sand at the playground, but miles of beach and water should be tons of fun. We'll have along another dog she knows and who's really good off-leash, so we're hoping he can teach her a thing or two. Given her speed, we're a little apprehensive about unleashing her, but she's always come on command and she responds very well to her emergency recall word (BACON!). But that's just over-worried parents.

Lucy's completely attached and, I think, loves her new life.

Jenny ,Todd & Lucy

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