I LOVE me some Lucy!

Two years ago today, Lucy came into our lives.  Mark and I were newly married and had been mulling over the idea to get Molly a companion, since she showed signs of loneliness.  As mentioned here, Mark caught me sniffling over one of those ASPCA commercials and totally caved.

A week and a few days later, Molly had a pet and we had a little...situation on our hands.

To be fair to Lucy, our perception was skewed; Molly was pretty much the perfect dog from the day we got her.  She made it reaaaallllly easy to look like good puppy owners. We taught her a couple tricks, but other than that, she was an angel from the get-go.  So when we got Lucy - a year old at that point and set in her ways - it was a bit of a rude awakening: WE WERE ACTUALLY GONNA HAVE TO "PARENT" THIS ONE.

I recall coming home on the fourth day of having Lucy, stepping in yet another dominantly-laid puddle of her urine, getting scratched to shreds by her once again, and immediately bursting into tears.  I wailed something along the lines of, "I...I don't liiiiike her....I'm not sure I can do this!!"  It was pretty pathetic.  Mark and I talked it over and decided we would give it until the end of the week - two days more, to be exact.

Not even kidding you, the next day, Lucy showed a tiny bit of improvement.  And so she stayed.

It wasn't easy breaking her of the bad habits.  Sadly, it was clear that whoever had owned her before she was rescued hadn't spent any time with her.  She didn't even know how to sit, she jumped up non-stop (causing actual bloodshed - most likely due to anxiety and a fear of not getting enough attention), she never smiled and was very possessive and dominant over Molly - the older, bigger, more-seasoned dog in the house.  I didn't know where to start, really.  I began to show her that she would only get attention if she acted a certain, behaved way.  Being the lover she is, that eventually began to pay off and she made great strides.

Two years later, I wouldn't hesitate to say that it's this gal who is the better-behaved dog of the two.  She is my sweet little love, the one who is always there to give a little nudge and let you know she's there.  She is smiley, gentle and kind, doesn't jump or scratch, and she listens so, so well. I'm very proud of how far she's come and am so glad we gave her the chance to prove that we had what it took as a team to get past the growing pains.

I guess you could say it was Lucy that gave me the confidence to know I could be a good, dedicated mommy.  She is worth every scratch endured and every tear shed, without a doubt.  Spend just two minutes with this little lamb and you will know just what I mean.  It's impossible not to fall in love with her.

P.S. Tonight, Mark and I took Lucy & Molly to 'Cones and Bones' to get ice cream, followed by a trip to PetSmart so that Lucy could pick out a new birthday toy.  Here is a picture of her waiting to get her ice cream.  Is that a happy face or is that a happy face?

I wish you all could have seen how content she was on the way home - she kept putting her head on my shoulder from the back seat and nuzzling me, smiling the whole time.  It was too cute for words and made me so happy.  She has played non-stop with her new toy - an...ant-eater, I think, that makes a HOOONNNNNNNK sound every time she squeezes it.  Which is a lot.  Hey, guess I better get used to the noisy toys now, huh? ;o)