New Roomie!

I'm still breathing. I haven't fallen off the planet. Just so you know and in case you were wondering.

Since the exodus of Brother and Hank, Sam has been rather bored. I always knew I was going to get a second dog, but I waited for the situation to fall in my lap. I looked on Petfinder and nothing seemed to compel me. A coworker was going to give me her boxer, but her sons found out and quickly organized a protest, which was successful. I figured that would happen...there's something about boys and their dogs.

So, it was the circular at work that an ad caught my eye. Free puppies. Mom was a golden retriever. Dad was, who knows. I sent an email to the owner, and a week later, she got back to me. One five month old puppy left.

The next day, I met the owner halfway (she came from the west). In her truck, there was a shivering black puppy. Her first car ride ever, she was scared shitless. Having brought Sam, we introduced the two, and there was no bloodshed. So, I took her home.

Mom named her Lucy.

Because she was from a farm, and had basically been an outdoor dog since birth, she was covered in ticks, smelled like a cow turd, and extremely shy to people. I immediately bathed her, pulled most of the seed ticks off, and she spent the night in a new kennel.

I didn't bother her for the first couple days. She mostly followed Sam around, but ran away from me. With time, she figured out what her name was. Understood that I was friendly. The housebreaking and the crate training are coming along slowly. One night, she managed to take a big crap in her kennel and roll around in it. The smell permeated the house when I got home from work. That morning, I sprayed her off with the garden hose and used a whole can of Febreeze on the house.

Lucy apparently doesn't like my decorating, because she moves things around the house. I'll find things from the living room moved to the bathroom. Stuff from my bedroom moved to my office. Food and water bowl moved to the bathroom. She particularly loves to scatter my dirty laundry all over the house.

She also likes to sneak on the couch and make herself at home when I'm not looking..

I took her to the vet yesterday, and she weighs 2lbs less than Sam. I told the vet that I didn't know what the breed of the father was. Judging by some of her characteristics (like dual dewclaws in the back), the vet figured her dad to be a Newfoundland. As in LARGE-ASSED DOG!!

Great.

After a week of having her, she has warmed up to me. She doesn't run from me, unless she has something in her mouth that she knows she shouldn't have. Sam is now playing with her. She's a sweet girl, and will fit into the family just fine.