While I have been finishing up training with Lucky and dealing with the hundreds of unexpected issues that have popped up the last three days, Lucy has been able to relax. 🙂 There has been no real formal training, but she has continued to be held at a higher standard. She is still required to sit in her crate and wait for permission to exit, and the same is true for the back door when going out and coming in. Lucy’s time in the crate is spent lying down and sleeping – this shows a calm state of mind. When she is out of the crate and has time in the house, she is allowed to go drink water, say hi to family member, and then she is in the place command for the rest of the time – usually sleeping. In the last three days, I have not noticed growling or bad attitude from her towards Raina.
Lucy has also gotten quite a bit of outside time. We try to do fun things with her, like playing fetch and jogging with her. Up until Friday, her activity and excitement levels have only lasted less than 5 minutes. We might throw the ball 3 times, then she’s tired of it. I can get her to run a little with me, but it is less than a minute. She hates bubbles. But Friday we found something that she absolutely loves.
My daughter brought her bicycle into the back yard and started riding. Lucy gave a little bark and ran up to her. I’ll admit that I was a little concerned. I had Faith stop the bike and talk to her. After sniffing her and realizing who she was, Lucy was thrilled to just jog beside Faith as she rode her bike. She never tired of it. She was physically tired, but mentally she wanted to jog alongside the bike all day long. This is the most exercise she has had since arriving. Needless to say, she slept like a rock when she came back in.
Lucy is doing pretty well with the bigger dogs. Shoshi and Marvel have had enough time with her that they sneak up behind her and sniff often. When they are out in the yard playing, especially when one of them is lying on their back, Lucy goes to check out what is going on. She will normally sniff the one that is lying down and walk away. If they meet passing on the porch steps, they may sniff each other nose to nose, but that’s as far as it goes.
She absolutely loves Goober. It is really quite a funny thing to watch. From day one, Goober has been very careful and respectful of Lucy. (I have never seen him like that with any other dog.) If Lucy sees Goober playing with the other dogs, she gets playful and tries to convince him to play with her. This worries him quite a bit. It reminds me a lot of the Dragon and Donkey on the movie Shrek, and is really pretty cute. I may try to get video of this later.
I have noticed Lucy’s appetite has increased. I feel she is at a healthy weight now, and feeding her more has not added to it. Wednesday was her two week mark of being on the Nzymes, so her dosage was reduced to the normal recommended daily amount (half of what she was taking the first two weeks). I have noticed Lucy has been itching her ears quite a bit, so I decided to take a look. They had begun to get gooey again, so I brought the ACV (apple cider vinegar) out again. I have a feeling this is going to be a regular occurance for a few months until her insides get healthy.
Her leg, on the other hand, is trying to heal. The bottom half of it is growing hair again, but she has created a sore on the top half. I am constantly telling her no when it comes to licking and itching, but overall, her skin and coat look so much better.
After doing some research, I have decided that it would be a good idea to add vitamin C to her daily supplements. This will help a lot with her ears and the skin problems. I will try to find what I’m looking for at one of the health food stores this week. If I can’t find it, I will order it online.
(You will find two videos below.)