ode to lucy

as i quickly approach the 38 week mark (tomorrow), i'm also quickly realizing how much life is going to change once we have baby girl.  of those big changes that will happen, i am also realizing how much lucy's life is going to change.  somehow, though i will always adore her, i don't think she will be the center of our lives (or my blog) anymore.  fly boy and i are both wishfully thinking that nothing will really change.  having a baby will not mean that lucy gets any less attention, right?.  ha.

so before the big debut of baby girl, i thought i would have at least one more post dedicated to little miss lucy.

a perk of living in florida...using our rocking chairs all winter long.

i can't help but laugh at lucy's side tongue.

another result of living in florida...needing a hair cut in january.  i think she lost 2 or 3lbs in hair.

she adores fly boy.  it's a little ridiculous.  and i don't get at all jealous.

oh lucy, how your life is about to change.

the many faces of lucy

new friends.

all day friday felt like saturday.
fly boy had veteran's day off, and we spent the morning having a doggie play date with another golden retriever.  this was lucy's first experience with a younger dog.

usually when we have had puppy play dates the encounter is fairly predictable...

1. lucy bounces around in excitement.
2. lucy jumps all over the other dog whining and grunting "play with me"
3. with-in the first two minutes of meeting the new dog, lucy is flipped over on her back in submission.

this one was entirely different.
the other puppy, addy, is only 6 months old.  though not too much bigger, lucy was obviously the "older" dog.  it actually took her a good 30 minutes to get acclimated to being the "dominant" (if you can even call it that) dog.  eventually she loved it.

 

i think lucy has found a new friend in florida.

lil' lucy turns one!

milestones.

lucy has had a few over the last year...
becoming housebroken
passing obedience school
digging her way to china at my parents house (and now in our backyard)
...and now her 1st birthday day!

of course fly boy and i wanted to celebrate her with her.

but first a few pics from lucy's first year...

doggie daycare

disclaimer: i realize lots of my posts have been about my dog.  don't judge.  fly boy has been out flying for the last couple of weeks. he's back now though, so hopefully i'll have more material than just lil' lucy.  this is not a blog solely about dogs.  i promise.

last weekend while fly boy was hanging out in the sandbox, i decided to head home to syracuse.  i love living in delaware and being able to just pop down to roanoke or up to syracuse for the weekend.  it's the best.  there was a slight glitch in my plans though.  i have an hour commute to work everyday.  an hour north.  as in an hour towards syracuse.  i don't get off until 7pm, and really didn't want to drive an hour south to pick up lucy, just to turn around and drive right back.  it was a problem.

solution: take lucy with me to work and drop her off at doggie day care.

i researched a few doggie day cares in the area, and narrowed my search down to two options.
option 1: cheaper.  by $2.  they were also only 0.3 miles from work. 
option 2: has nicer web site.  has web-cams in every room so you can watch your dog.
as i looked more into the sites, i found that option 1 charges you $1/minute you are late dropping your dog off or picking your dog up.  fail.  option 2 would allow me to drop lucy off anytime during the day, AND after i went through the "interview," found that even if i was late picking lucy up at night, it would be just fine.  score.

so lucy spent her first afternoon at doggie day care last friday.  i was nervous.  lucy was excited.  when i dropped her off, i thought they might let me go back with her, watch her interact with the dogs, make sure hew as ok, like any concerned parent would want.  they didn't.  lucy disappeared behind the back door, and i was left standing in the foyer. alone.  (sidenote: i know lucy is a dog, not a child. i just thought they would do something for your first visit.  apparently not.)  when i came to pick lucy up, i asked how she did, they said fine.  that was it.  i was expecting a little more. i didn't get any other feedback.

but all my concerns aside, lucy LOVED it.  everyone loved lucy.  and she slept the entire drive from delaware to syracuse.  thank you dogtopia.  you have saved me 4 hours of driving anytime i want to go home for the weekend.

ps: lucy is feeling much better after her "surgery." she has perked up, even spent some time chasing her tail this morning.

lucy & molly

the night we picked up lucy, we drove up to syracuse.  christmas eve.  lucy got introduced to my aunt's dogs, but really slept for most of the dinner.  when we got home late that night, lucy met molly, my parents' very red golden retriever.  it was an instant friendship.

lucy & molly christmas 2010

 

march 2011

 

best. friends. forever.

april 2011

when lucy meets other dogs, she always flips over on her back to show that she is NOT the dominant dog.  except with molly.  since the day we brought lucy to my parents' house, lucy has thought that she is top dog.  mind you, she was all of 5 lbs compared to molly's 65 lbs.  lucy quickly discovered that she could hide under chairs or stools where molly couldn't reach her, bark and paw at molly.  molly was not amused.  but lucy clearly adored molly.

the next time lucy and i made the trek to syracuse, i was traveling down to florida with my nana for a week.  lucy stayed with molly.  when i got back, i saw this spot on molly's head (you can see it in some of the pictures.)  my mom had taken molly to the vet to make sure everything was alright.  she was fine.  it was just a stress spot.  lucy apparently stresses molly out.

sure enough with our last visit to syracuse this past weekend, molly had two more stress spots on her back by the end of the two days.  i'm hoping that as lucy gets older (and less of brat around molly) this will stop.  even if she is stressed, molly doesn't show it when lucy is there. 

so here's to you lucy & molly, and many more years of friendship.

just a walk in the [dog] park

after our day trip up to princeton, lucy had a "play date" with her bffs from obedience school, moose and cede.  we decided to go to the local do park to let the dogs stretch their legs out.

the pack

lucy and moose

again

moose

cooling off.

family picture for fly boy

bffs.