Lucy - 7 year old merle female with natural ears. Lucy has lived outside by herself all her life. She came up from Georgia when her owners divorced. Her dad moved to the area and brought Lucy with him. He ended up renting a basement and couldn't keep Lucy, so she went to a friend. The friend couldn't keep her either, so she went to the friend's mother and then to the animal shelter. Lucy takes 10-15 minutes to warm up to you and after that it's all leans and Velcro. She seems to take to women faster than men, but Jeff got his share of leans when she got used to him. She is not house broken or crate trained. She is used to the shelter staff and they can pick her feet up, look at her teeth, give her big, tight hugs, but she doesn't seem to be a kisser. She walks well on the gentle leader and enjoys her daily walks with the shelter staff and volunteers. Lucy came to MAGDRL in November 2004. (5)
Update 9/26/06 - After an incident in her foster home with a small dog, Lucy is back in a kennel. She will not be placed with cats or small dogs. She should not be placed with dogs less than 90 lbs and we recommend older dog savvy teens and adults only.
Update 2/9/07 - Lucy continues to make progress while away for "socialization" at CCK&T. While I do still have a soft muzzle on her when out in play group, she has definitely relaxed and is learning how to interact w/ dogs again. She actually is exhibiting a desire to play with some of the dogs. At first, she would charge them and then "jump" them. Now, she runs towards them and appears to want to run and chase with the other dogs. Her overly dominant behavior is much more toned down now and she no longer tries to crane her neck over the other dogs shoulders. Her eyes and entire body have "softened" as she is realizing she is not being threatened. Lucy can hang out in the office with me without the muzzle while Angel and Travis lounge on their beds. She appears disinterested in them once she sees who they are. She is quite the cuddle bug and thrives on attention from humans. I believe she would be a wonderful, loving companion in the right household.
Update 4/19/07 - Lucy is making great progress here in the house and looks wonderful. With a new, premium diet her coat is filling in and getting softer every day. She has lost enough weight for people who visit me regularly to notice how much looser her skin is as well as her new physique in general. As each day passes and our trust relationship builds, she is just a happy, loving dog. She tends to prefer female humans over males and thus she would be a fabulous companion dog for a female living alone perhaps. Living alone myself, I actually feel safer having her in the house with me. She is so playful and quite smart. She knows sit, stay and lay down. She patiently waits for me to give her permission to eat her food, will wait to go down the stairs if I tell her to stay, and sits immediately when she sees a treat. In a home with someone who is sensitive and understanding to her needs, she would continue to blossom. She returns all the love that she receives ten fold.
Update 8/12/07 - Lucy is very trustworthy in the house. She'll get herself to a couch and spend most of her alone time there. She absolutely LOVES her daily walks and sometimes won't want to come downstairs lest she see me grab for the leash, then it's everything I can do to keep from getting trampled from the 125 lbs coming down at me--she's THAT excited. I can walk her without a gentle leader/halti and she is relatively responsive to being pulled back to a heel, however the leaders just make it easier and prevent any instances where she finds something SO good that she has to dart over to sniff it. With the leader a walk is quite nice with her. She also seems to be making improvements in meeting people. Meeting people has to be on her terms and she cannot be forced into uncomfortable situations or have it done in a confrontational way. Our trust is built up enough now that she is more comfortable with me and strangers I may bring over. She recognizes my comfort level better. Overall, she has definitely improved!
Update 1/21/08 - She is totally trustworthy in the house and has her good manners about eating. She just loves attention and has been building trust over time. She is perfectly capable of trusting new people with LOTS of time and patience. As long as you can be patient and wait for her to really trust you and learn to get more comfortable with each passing day then she'd be lots of fun. She's older but still quite energetic and FUN! She loves walks and toys and just being near you.
Update 7/24/08 - Lucy continues to do really well in her foster home. She has finally decided to trust the man (after 8 months) in the house and is doing really well with him. She makes improvements and she no longer has to be gated when visitors come by, but that is after 1.5 years of building trust with the foster mom. Unfortunately it would probably take a good amount of time for a new person to take that lead role and come to the same improvements. So, adopters would have to have serious patience and understanding to help her bring out her true personality.
