Happy New Baby!

Happy New Year! It looks like we've got a new baby in the family. She is right now on the floor by my feet playing with an empty 2-liter bottle, banging it around and chewing on the cap, occasionally looking up at me with those big brown eyes... I guess she's forgiven me for taking her to get her vaccinations.

She's perhaps 10 months old, and she already weighs about 35 pounds. She's a bit on the skinny side, and still has feet that are a smidge too big for the rest of her.

Meet Lucy:


A couple of weeks ago, I was at my parents' house taking care of the cockatiels when my dad came in to tell me about a young border collie that had been hanging around. He said someone had painted her green on one side. It was right before Christmas, and I was already over my stress limit, so I held up my hand and said, "That's very sad, Dad, but I don't want to hear it. Lalalalalalalalalala." I know, very hard-hearted of me, but there are dozens of families that actually live in that neighborhood that could easily take her in. We already have an aging Chihuahua.

Well, on New Year's Day, we were putzing around after dinner when someone said that the green border collie was outside. I stayed where I was, ignoring my kids' 'Awwww's and 'She's so sweet's...until my curiosity got the better of me.

The dog did indeed have mint-green latex paint in her fur. We asked around and learned that she'd been hanging around for several weeks, and that the neighbors had been feeding her very occasionally. She's incredibly sweet-tempered, and a beautiful dog, so it was tough to resist the kid's pleading. We brought her back to our house for a trial run, intending to make Found Dog posters if we observed any indication that she'd ever had a home.

After four stressful days, I can say with confidence that she's never had a good home. I don't think she'd ever had a bath (she was that dirty), she'd apparently had a run-in with a skunk long enough ago for the dry scent to wear off (but boy was it apparent when we got her wet!), and she tested positive for the heartworm parasite even though she's not even a year old. And she has an eye infection. Wherever she came from, it was not a loving home.

She's not housebroken yet, either. But she seems to be an intelligent dog, and she very much wants to be a good girl, so I'm sure that won't last long. She has tried to use ChiChi as a chew-toy a few times, which does concern us, but I'm working with both dogs to show the puppy that the little dog is off-limits. If that behavior continues, we may have to find another home for Lucy.

Here's a slightly blurry (nearly-dead camera battery) picture of ChiChi:


Here's a pic of the two of them (again kinda blurry, but note the size difference) playing with Tiki, one of two Pomeranians that lives behind us.


We'll see how she does. She's a much bigger dog than we've had, so that alone is requiring some adjustments (like remembering to put the toilet lids down). Adrienne was perhaps 20 pounds after old age fattened her up. Lucy will probably grow an inch or two and gain another 10-15 pounds in the next year.

I am thankful for the blessing of devoted friends, including the four-legged variety.

And blessings to you! May you live all the days of your life!