Lessons for Lucy

Yes, we needed a dog trainer to physically come to our house and teach us HOW to train Lucy. We could train any other dog...after all my little Bella was a piece of cake to train. To this day, she will "twirl" for her food. But Lucy is a whole 'nother story! She is thick-headed, stubborn, big and DUMB! When a cat darted right in front of her, she pulled me down and dragged me on my knees in the mud (don't worry, no one saw me…). Point being...we needed help!

The dog trainer has taught us and Lucy some great things. Lucy will sit and stay while I answer the door and then I give Lucy a treat and congratulate her for staying. I don't know how that is going to work when there is a real person at the door, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Also there is the "come here" command which we definitely need to teach her because last week when Lucy got out the side door in East Texas and started taunting the neighbors’ cows while I stood there like an idiot calling a dog who apparently forgot where her bread was buttered!!

We have a long road ahead of us, but I think we are finally on the right track. Even though we had "buyer’s remorse" for most of the past year, we love Lucy and she has bull-headed her way into our family. And not to mention the endless entertainment between her and Joss – Josslynne loves Lucy, from her "mmmm ma" kisses to getting a handful of goldfish and throwing it at Lucy (she wants to help feed her). Or my personal favorite, while making dinner last week, Joss took it upon herself to get Lucy's dog treats out of the pantry (who left the door open…?) and proceed to feed 1/2 the box to Lucy! She walked back and forth from the box to Lucy. By the time I looked up from cooking...half the box was gone and Lucy was chomping away. They have a very sweet camaraderie. They play with each other and fuss with each other, and yes I have had to separate them from each other! Bottom line is, we love Lucy and are happy to have her as a permanent part of the family (despite what Eric says and how many times we put her on probation, or her 2 strikes!!)