| MEET: LUCY (II) |
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| STATE: MA AGE: 2 yrs DOB: WEIGHT: 46 lbs SEX: Female NEUT/UTD: Yes/Yes COAT COLOR: Red Fawn DOCKED TAIL: Yes CROPPED EARS: No CHILDREN UNDER 4: Yes CHILDREN OVER 4: Yes SEPARATION ANXIETY: No OTHER DOGS: Yes CATS: Yes CRATE TRAINED: Yes HOUSE TRAINED: Yes LEASH TRAINED: Yes OBEDIENCE TRAINED: ? MICROCHIPPED: Yes ADOPTION FEE: $320 (includes $20 microchip fee) |
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| UPDATE 8/18/12 - I just wanted to update my information from this spring. Lucy developed another polyp and is recovering from surgery for a second time. She spent several hours vomiting a couple of Saturdays ago. When it didn't stop, I brought her to the hospital. They treated her symptoms but were concerned that she had developed bloody stools again.
I brought Maxine to the hospital because I never know how long I'll be there. She was pitiful. She sat, staring at the door that Lucy had walked through and whined. The only time she stopped is someone would come over to pet her. Then, she'd get all wiggly and lovable. As soon as her new friend left, she'd go back to crying for Lucy. Just a little too much drama for me. I brought Lucy back the following Monday for a diagnostic procedure that involved scoping her digestive system. When the doctor discovered another polyp, we decided to remove it with surgery and do the diagnostic work while she was out for the surgery. She's about a week away from her post-operative visit and she's dong fine. I wish that I had bought insurance for my girls when I adopted them. This last episode cost more than $3800. The doctor still doesn't seem to be able to tell me much. I'll keep Lucy on a low residue diet to see if that helps her delicate stomach and just hope that she doesn't develop more polyps. The girls are about to become aunts. My son and daughter-in-law are going to pick up their Boston Terrier puppy today. Lucy and Max will meet him (Oliver) next week end. I'm looking forward to see how they will behave with Oli. UPDATE 4/13/12 - My girls are wonderful. All 3 of us are happy that we'll be spending more time walking outdoors. Lucy and Max can travel for several miles without slowing down. I'm sorry to report that I that Lucy's rectal tumor has probably returned. She had surgery only a couple of months after I got her. That tumor was not cancerous. We have a hospital appointment next week and we are hoping for the best. She has no symptoms other than rectal bleeding and some discomfort when she does poo-pee girls. I'll let you know how things work out. As I'm sitting on the couch typing, Maxine is sleeping with her head resting on my left arm and Lucy is curled up sleeping under mt right arm. A nice boxer symmetry. I think I'll end here. I'm a little worried and don't feel very chatty. UPDATE 5/31/11 - The Ladies are doing just fine. A couple of months ago, Lucy had surgery to remove a large tumor from her rectum. I'm happy to report that it was benign. She lost some weight during this time and has kept it off. She's so energetic! She pops like pop corn when I get home from work. The ordeal was difficult for Maxine, her daughter. She spent the days that Lucy was in the hospital moping around the house issuing deep, sad sighs. We have a wonderful veterinary hospital nearby that took very good care of Lucy but it costs thousands of dollars! That was a surprise. Anyway, she's her usual self again - a bit of a bully who always gets the toy she wants, the best spot on the couch, etc. Max seems happy to oblige her. We're back to our long, morning walks. We leave at about 4:30 and walk for about two miles before breakfast. The ladies are going to have an adventure this week end. My son is getting married out in the western part of Massachusetts. Originally, I had planned to bring the dogs with me but the more I thought about this the sillier it seemed. They would have been left alone, crated in an unfamiliar room for much of the time. I finally decided to take them to a kennel for 3 days. They'll get a "spa treatment" - bath, nails, ears, and other parts - as they relax. The people who run the kennel assure me that they've had many rescue dogs who done just fine. Happy to report that we are all still very happy with each other. UPDATE 1/22/11 - I'm just back from one of Lucy's new games. She likes to interact (on her terms, of course) so she makes up little games at every opportunity. This morning, I dropped a head of garlic on the floor. I quickly picked up the head and returned to pick up the small paper-like pieces of skin that had fallen off but Lucy got there first. She sniffed and snorted and the garlic paper jumped ahead several inches. She cocked her head, thinking maybe. I moved to pick up the garlic paper from its new location. Just as I reached down, it jumped ahead to a different spot. Lucy had come up from behind and snorted again on the dry, little paper. The game was on. I followed the paper around the kitchen trying to remove it from the floor. Each attempt was foiled by Lucy's snort. Maxine sat on the small rug in the kitchen and watched the antics. Finally, I sent the girls to their crate so I could pick up this small piece of garlic paper. Lucky that today is Saturday and I have time to chase garlic skins around the kitchen to amuse the ladies. Lucy has a set of games she plays with Max. One of her favorites is “It's All Mine”. She will of collect all of their tennis balls, toys, and any other mouth-sized item that's not nailed down and put her stash in Max's crate. Then she parks herself in the entrance of the crate. From this spot she watches as Max paces back and forth in front of her own crate. If she passes too close, Queen Lucy will harrumph – not quite a grow but clearly a warning. Eventually, Max comes to me with her “Mom, Lucy's not sharing the toys” look. I recover some of the toys for Max. As soon as I turn away, Lucy gathers the items from Max and returns to guarding her stash. Lucy enjoys this game more than Max does. Lucy has the upper hand in games of the mind but Max is the winner of physical games. Max's favorite move is to pull one of Lucy's rear legs until she falls on her bottom. I like to imagine there's a little payback involved but that's probably not the case. Max is a sweetheart and doesn't hold a grudge. Max always has a sweet, even temperament except when we're out walking on the leash and encounter other dogs. Lucy becomes very tense and this seems to be Max's cue to go crazy. The result of this crazy has been for her to attack Lucy, the nearest dog. We have been working with Bette Yip, a highly regarded local trainer, on analyzing and solving this problem in private sessions. We have seen that there is not a problem when Lucy is not present. Interesting isn't it. Over the past couple of months, the girls have improved immensely. Most of the training has been to enhance my awareness of what triggers these episodes. In fact, Max is going to her first doggie play group tomorrow afternoon. I think she'll enjoy it. I hope that Lucy will be able to go to these play groups soon. I'm planning to introduce them to the other dogs separately before I bring them together. I need better control their unpredictable dynamic before I do this. Needless to say, the girls keep me busy. They also keep me very happy. I'm as happy to come home to see them as they are to see me after a day of work. UPDATE 11/1/10 - Lucy & Maxine graduated from their obedience training. They can sit, stay, and get down very nicely especially if they know a treat is involved. I'm planning to find someone to work with them on interacting with other dogs. They seem to mirror the behavior that they encounter whether it s friendly or not. I want them to learn to ignore yappy little dogs rather than to respond aggressively. Both dogs run with the Doggie Jogger once a week. They really look forward to his visits. We are hoping to introduce other dogs for these runs. They are also happy to join me on my slower walks. We make up in distance what we can't manage in speed. Both dogs have adjusted wonderfully. Max was very excited by Halloween and sat by the door waiting for our local visitors. I think she wanted to join them. Lucy dozed on the couch. They are delightful companions and I'm very lucky to have them. UPDATE 10/2/10 - Lucy and Maxine are together once again. It was quite a reunion of squealing, wriggling boxers jumping and dropping onto each other. We need a long walk to calm down. Long walks are their specialty. Our first Saturday, we walked along the paths of Minuteman National Park for 4 hours. Both girls ignore joggers running towards them or up from behind. The same is true for bicyclists and squeaky carriages. Nothing stops them – they just keep walking. They have begun their obedience training where they are quite a hit. Maxine will do anything for a food reward. Lucy is more circumspect. If the treat is very special and she wants to, she'll obey. If not, she won't. This difference between them is also evident when they encounter a new person. Maxine is ready to be everyone's best friend. Lucy, though friendly, is far more reserved in her response. She comes over an let you pet her but then she comes right back to me. Both girls are getting the rhythm of their new life. We're usually in the car on our way to a park by 5 AM. After a one hour walk, we come home for a meal and bathroom break. They spend a few 3 or 4 hours in their crates until I return for their midday visit to the back yard. They are out of their crates for the rest of the day by about mid-afternoon when it's time for another meal. They relax for a while before we go out for an evening walk, again for about an hour. Maxine adjusted to this schedule very easily. Lucy had a harder time understanding what the visits to the backyard were for. She had the freedom to use the backyard at her foster home on her own schedule. She's now getting the hang of it. We had our first visit to the vet yesterday. Our vet had a boxer of her own so she understands the breed from an owner's perspective. She said that both girls were in excellent shape. She also said that most rescue dogs don't come in looking so healthy and well-cared for. Thank you for taking such good care of them. 9/24/10 - Lucy has been adopted! 9/14/10 - I can't say enough how wonderful it's been having Lucy stay with us. I can't stop bragging about her. From the time she walked in the front door she adapted to our routine immediately. She has not had any accidents in the house and she uses the dog door just fine, she followed my crew out on the first day and never missed a beat. She loves to go for a walk and is great on the leash. She does not need to be crated, I haven't seen any bad habits at all, she is so tiny that I don't think she can counter surf anyway. She also now eats with everyone and there haven't been any issues at all with food, I haven't crated her to eat since that first night, she must have just been a little stressed with all the changes and the long drive. She LOVES to chase a tennis ball and she means business, the others try to get to it before her but they very rarely make it and she will bring it right back to you every time and wait patiently for you to throw it again. I love to see her get excited about the ball, I dont' think she has done too much playing in her old life, so when I see how much she loves to run after the ball and how proud she is that she gets it every time, it makes me smile. I still haven't seen her express much interest in toys, her people are her main interest, she follows me everywhere and when I'm not there she follows my husband or one of the kids or grammie she just wants to be where you are. Well, I guess to sum things up, I would say she is perfect in every way! 9/12/10 - We picked Lucy up from a shelter yesterday, the moment she saw us she was all wiggles she is the most petite little girl with the sweetest disposition, you can't help but fall in love with her. She did great in the car and we were in the car for about 3.5 hours we took a stretch break and she jumped right back in. She is the perfect house guest, so respectful of everything she just wants to please and she will not leave my side. She adores people, when a person walks in the room if they acknowledge her, she just about wiggles her little nub right off and will go over for a pat. I gave her a bath last night because in the shelter she was living with a lot of cats and I am alergic, so I had to get the dander off her fur I was so itchy. She was very good in the bath, she didn't "love" it of course, but she didn't fight it at all, her coat is now so shiney, soft and the most beautiful mahogany color she is just beautiful. Since she is so petite, I have to warn you, it is just about impossible not to baby her, she has been in the shelter for so long and she just looks at you with those loving eyes and there's nothing you wouldn't do for her. Lucy doesn't mind the crate at all, when she was exploring the house she came upon the crate and jumped right in and sat down. I do feed her inside the crate and she does get protective of her food when the other dogs go sniffing around the crate. If they just walk by she is fine and she is fine with them going into the crate with her when there is no food involved. I would say, as of now, that is her only issue and that's an easy one not too many dogs like their food messed with. She hasn't really played with toys since she's been here, so I don't know if she is possessive with them but my boy plays with toys around her and although she is curious she just watches him. I will keep an eye on that to see if there is any toy aggression as she gets more comfortable here. She has absolutely no aggression with people going near her or her food at feeding time, I am able to put my hand right into the crate and touch the bowl and even take it out if she is not eating it. I know that she is not 100% herself yet but she is now starting to jump in on all the boxer nonsense that goes on here, she wrestled with my two this morning out in the yard. She gets along great with all of them. 9/10/10 - Lucy comes to us from a local shelter. She has been spayed and is up to date on her shots. She had heartworm, but completed treatments a few months ago. She'll be settling in with her foster family and we'll have more to share as they get to know each other |
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