Lucy's first bath

We took Lucy out to her grandparents' back deck, filled up a plastic baby pool with water and introduced her to it. She was hesitant at first, but we waited and gave her some treats. She reluctantly craned her neck over the edge to get the treats that we had tossed in. Finally, we picked her up and put her in the water. Don't worry, it was only a few inches deep.

We gently wet her fur with water using 2 small watering buckets and massaged the dog shampoo in her fur. She didn't look that happy, but was calm and stayed still. I kept praising her and gave her treats when I could. Here's Lucy all lathered up with doggie shampoo:


Once we were done, we didn't hose her off, for fear the water pressure would be too strong and scare her. Instead, we gently washed off the suds with the watering buckets. Once out of the "bath", Lucy was dried by a few shakes and few rubs with a towel. Her fur looked brighter and she smelled so much better. Her white fur looked so much whiter.


I was trying to really be in the moment and focus on how she looked and felt, but this big black labrador came prancing by the backyard and Lucy almost jumped from the deck to go chase it. So much for her savoring her first bath. I got a few snapshots of the bath time.



Lucy earning a much deserved treat for her good behavior at bathtime:

Lucy's favorite (and almost indestructible dog toy)

Lucy's pink spot on her forehead.

Lucy has this pink area on her forehead. I noticed it about 10 days ago and figured it was some sort of allergy. I then observed her more carefully to see if she were uncomfortable or itchy. However I realized that she was not scratching it, so it was probabaly not an allergy. Thankfully I decided to take her to the vet, especially after the lady with the German Shepherd commented on it and how it was so close to her eye. She was right - it was something. The Vet said that it was an infestation of mites that she might have picked up in the garden in one of her digging escapades. She instructed us to give her drops on her tongue 3 times a day. I also got a 3 day package of granules something to put on her food to ensure that she does not have any remaining ring worms. She had ring worms when I adopted her back in April, despite having received a clean bill of health from the aspca.

Anyhow, Lucy is overall very healthy and happy. I love her expressions and the twinkle in her eye. This week was very exciting for her and for me as well as my nephew Alexander was visiting. He is just in love with Lucy. It's "Hello lucy!" when I stop by my parent's house to visit, not "Hello Marissa!" But that's okay with me. Lucy loves the attention. She loves playing fetch with him and even wrestling a little. I have consistently reminded him that "Lucy is not a large dog like Katie" (their German Shepherd) and to "not grab her by the collar".... I took a few great snapshots of Alexander with Lucy. Here are 2 cute pics:

2nd dog training video clip

Okay, I can't help it, so here goes. I'm going to upload the 2nd "dog training" clip of Lucy. This time Stuart was the director and I was in the role of "trainer":

Lucy's 4th of July weekend!

Lucy spent July 4th weekend at her Omi & Opi's house. I was visiting my sister and helped her & her daughter set up their own Dogster page for their German Shepherd, Katie. Lucy has a page there too. It's a cute site for kids and my niece really enjoyed setting up Katie's profile. Join the Dogster community

Of course, we got to see some fireworks too.
In the mean-time, the "grand-parents" were delighted to have Lucy as their "guest". Papi emailed me an adorable summary of Lucy's 4th of July:

Dear Marissa,

I was reading the New York Times when Lucy came to me and jumped up and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I asked her to sit and she did.

As I turned the page of the news paper she took a bone and began to bounce it near me causing a lot of noise. She did this a few times and then jumped on me causing the newspaper to drop. SHE JUST WANTED ATTENTION and she won me over. I then played with her and after awhile he sat down on my feet and permitted me to read my paper.

A few minutes later she brought a small towel to me asking me to play again. Finally I stopped reading and played with Lucy.

Lucy received her first mail package of sample food addressed to Lucy yesterday send to our house, her second home.

That's today's scoop.

Papi

What his email doesn't mention is how Lucy dug a two foot deep hole in the backyard and when it rained, which it did a lot over the 4th of July weekend in North Carolina, Lucy got herself covered completely in mud from head to toe. I wish that they had taken a photo. There is one - taken with actual film - that only shows her paws like that. Perhaps I'll scan it in so I can upload it here. She looks like she's in 7th Heaven, with a slightly mischevious look. I was surprised that my mother wasn't upset about the garden incident. I think that she too is just charmed by Lucy like the rest of us.

Lucy's first run - June 27th 2008

Stuart was "dog-sitting" that day and took Lucy for her first run with him. He wrote to me:

I just got back from taking Lucy for a run - she immediately plopped on the floor when we got in and she is currently she is lying on the cool floor panting away. We went about 2 miles (some of it was her taking me for a run) and she had fun - her ears were back most of the time as if she was concentrating on keeping her feet on the trail - her tongue was dangling out of the side of her mouth for most of the run also.

After the run we walked for another 1/2 mile or so where she stopped to say hello to two little girls and watch the turtles & ducks with them. She was still alert enough to try to chase some squirrels;but one pull of the leash immediately took her attention back to the run. We did a little trail running where Lucy got to show her agility skills. We also got to put your doggie water bottle to use after the run as well.

Lucy says woof!

Lucy - dog tricks video