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Post Info TOPIC: Lucy
dinomartino


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Lucy
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Hi all

Lucy came to live with Jade & I (on a temporary basis this time. No, really...) on Monday night and is starting to settle in well. At present she is lying on the floor next to us, wrapped up in a fleecy coat and guffing away happily....

Dave has already posted a coupe of pics in the Foster Dogs section but I will add some more here soon when I get time so you can see what a pretty girl she is. She has lost a lot of hair and so Jade had a special fleecy harness made for her today (thanks to Avril for donating her time) as the standard one was rubbing her raw. She does pull a bit on lead when she is excited but I think that she will walk to heel with a little work. The hair loss may be due to stress as our vet found no trace of mites or fleas and she seems to have a light stubble growing in again. She is starting to fill out a bit with three meals a day but is still very bony.

She is less stressed now so we are starting to get a better idea of her character. She certainly seems to have plenty of it! She is quite affectionate and is a little clingy at the moment but that is understandable given her recent history. Already she is starting to be a lot calmer when we leave or return to the house and I imagine that she will be back to normal in another couple of days. She does like the sound of her own voice and seems to be amazed when we don't understand what she wants (play / food / walk / food / attention / did I mention food?) and meet her demands. It would be nice to think that the food thing is due to her being so underweight but she has the expertise of an experienced counter surfer and yesterday managed to get 5 bags of dog sausage out of a cupboard while I was on the phone...

Yesterday we had her out with our three dogs at Newhailes, a large fenced park on the outskirts of Edinburgh, where we met a bunch of friendly dogs and had the opportunity to safely let her off lead for a short while. She has been bursting to get a run and seems a lot calmer now that she has that out of her system... She behaved very well off lead, running with her new friends and recalling nicely.

So far we think that she is probably not a dog for an inexperienced handler but she would reward someone with the time to invest in her with loads of personality and a very affectionate nature. She is very bright and quick to pick up new skills. The fact that she is food obsessed really helps with her training! We don't know yet what her prey drive is like but she definitely has the sighthound's thousand-yard-stare. She is good when meeting dogs of all sizes so far but can be mouthy when excited and she doesn't have much dog etiquette. There have been a couple of incidents with our two bitches where she crossed the line and was told off but escalated the situation rather than backing off so I think that she is quite ambitious...She is, as far as our vet can tell, un-neutered but has been microchipped. Despite looking and acting like am adolescent her chip puts her at 6 years old!

OK. Must work now but I'll get the pics up soon.

Dino

Added 22nd October:
She is good as gold now. It looks like most of her foibles were the result of stress. Please see below for glowing reports!

-- Edited by dinomartino at 12:06, 2005-10-22

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Vee


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Its wonderful to hear Lucys settling into her new Foster Home very well. Look forward to seeing some pics!

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dinomartino


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As promised, a couple of piccies attached. Let me know if they are not showing up (see Rookie status...)

-- Edited by dinomartino at 12:12, 2005-10-21

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bluesmumanddad


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Oh she is beautiful and looks as though she has bags of character waiting to come out! Looking forwards to reading about her exploits.

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Manda
neeroz


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Like the 'in action' piccie (cheeky pic), mad lugs are the best! (No self respectin dog show be withoot thum).


Photos definetly show she's got personality...........



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Siouxsie


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I was delighted to hear about Lucy finding a foster home. Looking forward to hearing about her progress.

Siouxsie


The photos are wonderful.

-- Edited by Siouxsie at 12:32, 2005-10-21

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Siouxsie
dinomartino


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Just back from our walk (not much work getting done here after all!) and Lucy behaved very well again. She met loads of strange dogs from a Jack Russel to a Standard poodle and was polite and friendly and calm. Running dogs are very exciting to her and she was a little frustrated when she was on lead and the other dogs were playing but we got her off lead again in a couple of safe spots and she ran around mad. She got to race with our big grey Malcolm and one of our lurchers, Indy and also ran around with a bigger group of dogs later. She kept us at the centre and ran and ran with a big grin and came back when called every time. She's a cracking dog and recruited lots of fans in the park. I will be surprised if she doesn't find a proper home soon as everyone she meets falls for her!

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Carol


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I'm not surprised that everyone falls for her...she has that cute little sparkle of mischief in her eyes!  Absolutely gorgeous.

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emma


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Lucy looks so full of life, a real character I'm sure such a fun dog will find a home soon.


Well done in taking her in.


Em,Tig and Chad X



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Teresa


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what a sweetie she is !!

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Lesley


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She looks an absolute sweetie!  A huge WELL DONE for fostering her.


I look forward to hearing more about her as she settles in. 



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Lesley
Christine Young


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Delighted that Lucy has settled in with you so well. She sounds as if she's having a great time and making lots of friends. Well done for giving her the home she so desperately needed and for giving her the chance to let her personality shine through.


Christine



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dinomartino


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Christine Young wrote:
Well done for giving her the home she so desperately needed and for giving her the chance to let her personality shine through.
Christine


er, that's FOSTER home, Christine!

It seems that Lucy was just full of pent up energy as she has been good as gold since her big run yesterday. In fact, apart from being a bit barky when excited (and a food thief given the opportunity), I would say that she is pretty much vice-free now. She is affectionate and attentive, very biddable and is starting to be happier about being left alone for short periods. She sleeps right through the night with just one of our dogs for company and can spend five minutes alone quite happily now. We even got to have a long lie in this morning! So far she has not been destructive, although there is the mysterious dissapearance of a box of tissues to clear up... Someone please adopt this girl before I fall for her completely!

Lucy will be getting her cat test this afternoon. Fingers crossed!

Another cheeky pic is attached for those who like their dogs with character!


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Carol


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Fantastic photo!!


She looks like a right bundle of fun.



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Santas Little Helper


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She's beautiful. Well done for taking her on (as a FOSTER dog!!)

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Nicki


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Love the pics, what a lovely girl she is. Well done for fostering her.


nicki and janie.x



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denbri


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What a cheeky monkey she looks just want to give loads of hugs n kissesfrom bovril and co




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Vee


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She is an absoloutly beautiful dog and you should be very,very proud of her.



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dinomartino


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Woohoo! Lucy is cat safe! Sharon let us meet her long-suffering stooge cat this evening and gave Lucy 10 out of 10.

Very poor picture attached of Lucy meeting her new furry friend. Next time I'll ask for a white cat so we can get some contrast... Lucy tried to lick the cat's face through the muzzle. What a sweetie! She got her muzzle off soon after and was friendly but not excited by the cat, just kept the low easy tail wag like she does when meeting other dogs and was still interested in the other things going on. She also got to meet Sharon's lovely pack of whippets and lurcher and behaved impeccably.

Time for the nightly scramble for a spot by the fire. Don't fancy my chances on a night like this...

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bluesmumanddad


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What a star Lucy is and well done Sharon and her cat for cat testing another hound.

I'm sure you will find a bit more space in front of the fire soon as Lucy will not be with you very long at all

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Lesley


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That is a great pic - well done Lucy for exercising restraint.


We are still working on Skipper - perhaps I should bring him over to visit a more assertive cat!



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Lesley
dinomartino


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Lucy had a lovely walk again today and met some new dogs. She made everyone play with her and ran around grinning like a maniac. Very funny but a bit heart-in-mouth on the turns.... She does get a bit mouthy when excited and gave Malcolm's bum a nip today when she caught up with him but no harm done. We might have to think about muzzling her just in case until she calms down a bit. She is really fast and pretty manoevrable so she is well matched with a big greyhound and the retrievers didn't stand a chance.... She is already starting to muscle up and I reckon she will be a stunner when she has her hair back and has filled out a bit.

We left her off lead in some more challenging places today and she came back when called even though she was a bit more distracted by the whole bunny smell at dusk scenario... Sadly she responds best to a high pitched voice so my macho credentials are right out the window. I might have to grow a mustache...

I left her alone today for about 15 minutes, in the hall on her own with two of our dogs in the next room. Drove around for a while and when I came back she was happy to see me but not overly excited or stressed by it. Considering her recent history I think that is a great result.


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Lesley


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A moustache won't help your macho credentials . . . . . . . you obviously don't remember The Village People!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

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Lesley
dinomartino


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the Village People? What could be more macho than a policeman, a construction worker, a GI, a cowboy, a native american and a man with leather chaps, leather hat and a walrus mousta.... oh. I see what you mean...

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dinomartino


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Not much to report today. Took the pack for a very exciting walk around woods and farmland. On lead. Two dogs each so a thorough upper body workout enjoyed by both Jade & myself... Still haven't managed to stir up a hare or deer (not a bad thing today on a surface of wet leaves over mud. Would have been ploughing the track with my face if we had seeen one. Whoa, boy!) so not sure what Lucy's prey drive is like. She certainly didn't seem to be as excited as our lot by the smells and is starting to walk quite nicely on lead except when she is excited or separated from the pack. We did walk past a couple of fields of horses and Lucy didn't seem bothered about them. Jade will take Lucy to meet her horse soon to see what she is like close up.

Lucy is very sharp and can do all the basic stuff. So far she does Sit, Down, both Paws, Wait, Come, Up (into the car), release command "OK" and Out. Loads of other stuff which I suspect is mostly tone of voice. Still working on Off (see photo). She is so people (food?) oriented that her default response when we call her (or our dogs) is to come to us. She responds pretty well to variations on OI!! etc. Her favourite game is tuggy and she gets pretty enthusiastic (might be a couple of terrier genes kicking around there) but we were working on the Give command today and she was brilliant at giving the toy back after a couple of tries. Did I mention that she is a brilliant little dog?

I was interested to see Dave's impartial stance re Zak's potential adoption by Katrina. And I can't help noticing that Lucy isn't listed on the adoption pages yet. Do I sense a conspiracy? I know that we caved in last time, Dave, but we really don't have room for any more!

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Siouxsie


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Ok lets see same as Katrina with Zak. Lucy does match your sofa wonderfully, see same idea, don't need to change your decor.

Siouxsie

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Siouxsie
dinomartino


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I already have 3 beige dogs that don't clash with the furniture, Siouxie. Not enough reason to get another!

OK Lucy is now on the web site so I'll have to cut Dave some slack.... I'll put my earlier suspicions down to paranoia....

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Christine Young


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Lucy sounds lovely, Dinomartino! She certainly seems to charm everyone who meets her with her cheeky face.


Had to laugh at the thought of you ploughing the mud with your face if the dogs scented a rabbit or deer. Now that would just ruin your newly grown moustache, wouldn't it?


Looking forward to hearing more about Lucy. She's a real wee character!


Christine



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Santas Little Helper


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Hmmm, isn't Vee looking for a catsafe grey???

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BOWGANG


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Well done with all the work you've done with Lucy. Don't think it will be long before she finds her forever home as she's absolutely stunning!


Shirley



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