Lucy scared a Turtle on Halloween

Lucy and I were walking down Tremont.  Plenty of kids were out for a faux halloween.  One of them was about six and he was wearing a turtle outfit.  He started grimacing at Lucy and air-punching her and she ran over to say hi.  He started balling.  Like he had never seen a dog before and she bit him for no reason.  She didn't even touch him.  I explained to him, "you were just air punching her and now you are crying...what happened?"  he keeps balling.  his mom smiles and doesn't seem to care.  they cross the street and I walk him and I can hear him still balling two blocks later.  that is what you get for messing with lucy - she says hi.

Cough cough

Lucy has a little cough, we think she got it from Duke.  To get her to take her pills, we put them in a little bit of peanut butter that she licks off Web's fingers then off the roof of her own mouth. 

Fetch

Lucy's gotten pretty good at fetch.  She doesn't always want to return the ball, but she likes playing.  She really likes to play fetch with herself in the house with a blue racquetball.

Socks

Lucy always seems to have a sock in her mouth, which she drags around the house, then violently shakes back and forth, "killing" it.  Today I found her stockpile, 5 single socks, under the bed next to her crate.  Gotcha!

Bank

Lucy loves the Citizens' Bank on Washington St...because they have biscuits.  They have a cute astroturf area for puppies and water too, but she loves the Milkbones.  Once, we went to the ATM on Sunday and she nearly had a conniption because she couldn't have a cookie since the bank was closed.  Today we passed the bank on the way to the park and when we got to the door she put in her most obedient SIT, in hopes we'd open the door for her. 

Lap

Lucy has become obsessed with my lap.  She follows me around and waits for me to sit down so she can curl up cozy in my lap.  So cute.

Hissssss

At a party at Sara's house, her unfriendly cat came up to Moose and hissed at her, teeth out.  Moose jumped right into play position - "yes! this dog wants to play with me!  I guess it's a weird looking dog, but let's play!!"

Stairs

Moose knows how to use the stairs now...one night we were all watching TV and suddenly we heard something upstairs...she had walked up the steps and put herself to bed.  'night Mom, 'night Dad, I'm tuckered out, going up to my crate!

Stairs

When Lucy first learned to walk up stairs, she got very excited.  One night on St. Botolph Street she decided to do all the stoops on the street...we must have spent 30 minutes up and down (and up and down) before Mommy and Daddy got tired.

Keen on Keens

Lucy's favorite toy, by far, is still Web's Keen water shoes.  She just loves to chew on them and thank goodness they are durable.  Second fave would be chewable keyring from Sharon.

Couch potato

Last night we had to do some disciplining.  Lucy is not allowed on the couches unless she is invited, and she was jumping on all day and at night.  We had to throw her off (gently) by her neck (like her mother would have) and she got hurt feeling and didn't really understand what was going on.  We felt terrible but know it's building a foundation she'll need for happily living with us for many years.

Shake and shimmy

I love when Lucy shakes her whole body to clean up - after one of us has held her or she's been playing in the dirt - and it's so vigorous that she knocks herself off the ground.

New Toy

Today I gave Lucy a new toy.  She did her usual with it: first, took it to her favorite spot in the house, the rug at the foot of our bed.  Then she ran into my office with it an vigorously shook it back and forth several times to ensure it was dead.  Good girl.

today

So we hear a bark in the other room - it's Lucy - having a major fight with my jeans on the floor.

So we hear some whining in the bathroom and I figure, hey, it's the water bowl we keep upstairs - it's empty.  But no, it was Lucy peering at the out-of-reach treats on the counter and wishing.  Yes, she got one.

And tonight she watched Jersey Shore with Auntie Jena while we were out.  Girls' night!!

Basketball

Lucy HATES the basketball we have.  She likes all sorts of other balls but the basketball is her enemy.  She snarls and barks at it.  Kind of like the Dustbuster!

Duke of Upton

Lucy's new friend is Duke, the mini-Dachshund who lives upstairs.  She loves to play with him and will whine and hang out by the door if she smells him leaving the building for a walk.  When we let them play together, she knows he is a young and small puppy and will be much gentler than with her other friends.

Catching Up

It has been a long time since we wrote last - Lucy is doing great...here are some of my favorite anecdotes:

Brad and Leslie's Wedding:
Lucy got to go to Brad's wedding.  During the ceremony she was inside but during the party she got to attend with us.  She socialized with everyone, danced on the dance floor with Web and even got pulled on stage with the band.  She wasn't even afraid during most of the fireworks, until the finale.  Everyone loved hanging out with her and she had a great time running laps during the weekend with Web and playing with her cousin Scout.

Puppy Kindergarten:
Lucy has had a great time going to Puppy Kindergarten.  She plays with Lola and Luke, and new friends Loki the Boston Terrier and Sadie the Wheaton Terrier.  Only Louie the Hound scares her with his size and playful nature.  She likes cheese from a string cheese log during training.  She even got to try the agility course one week!

Training in General:
Lucy is mostly housebroken now, even at friends' housees like TJ & Aimee's and Web's parents'.   She comes to my desk and stares at me and barks when she needs to go out!!  She sits and goes "down" on command, also stays and comes to her name when she is called.  The biting and chewing has gone down by a lot.  She did great at the groomer, got a little face haircut, trimmed nails, and a bath - the groomer said she was great and she was incredibly "chatty" when I picked her up all full of babbles and comments for me.  The groomer blew out her hair which looked funny but I was glad that she was clean!!

Teeth:
Today she lost a second tooth that we noticed!

Dog Park:
Lucy has started going to the dog park - she loves to chase her racquetball but doesn't fetch (i.e., return).  She likes to play with the other puppies in the little dog area, and she loves running around laps with either one of us.  She also likes to come to us when we call during her play time for a treat!  She also throws a little fit outside the doggie bakery when we don't go in.  Cute.

Eating:
Lucy likes her "chow crunchers" pretty much.  She is not an excited eater but will generally eat about 3/4 cup/day .  She's up to 8+ lbs and growing.  She LOVES ice cubes as her favorite treat.  She likes carrots, sweet potato, and cheese as well.  She grabs her treat, whatever it is, and runs under the dining room table to munch.

Time with Mommy:
Every time Web goes away, Lucy has a major health calamity.  The worst one was a few weeks ago where she threw up in her crate while I was getting a manicure, then threw up all over the house...poor baby didn't know what to do with herself and even woke up in the middle of the night with diarhea.  Fortunately she woke up hungry and happy and all better - no way to know what was wrong, very relieved that she was ok and that I had developed some intuition as to what to do.

Dogs Welcome

I am not a lifelong dog-lover.  My dad was bitten by a German Shepherd when I was a kid and I was scared of dogs until about five years ago.

Now that I have one, I try to balance how much we think she's the greatest with how to teach her to interact with a public who may or may not like dogs.

This weekend we had two great dog experiences - one was when we went to Picco's for pizza.  We sat outside and after the server brought our waters, he asked if Lucy wanted a glass of water too.  (Of course she did!)

Then yesterday we went to the Apple Store.  I sat outside with Lucy while Web went to get a replacement set of headphones.  The store manager came up to him to let him know that Lucy was more than welcome to come in - they were dog-friendly. 

More on Lucy

Lucy's growing fast.  She is over 5 lbs now, 25% increase from when we got her.  She went to the vet and got some shots and the vet says everything else about her is very healthy!! 

We don't want to forget the cute things she does as a puppy.  Like she is not heavy enough to create friction on our hardwood floors - so she slips out when she tries to sit still.  And she likes to drink from a Dixie cup in the bathroom.  And loves to hang out at the foot of our bed. 

Lucy's growing!

Lucy is growing quickly!  She can go on a long walk now (1 mile today!), and responds to Sit along with Come and Lucy.  She is pretty good with the housebreaking unless Mom and Dad mess up her schedule.  She seems to like her crate more and more, although she doesn't ever walk into it herself.  Last night when we came home from dinner we heard her howling, but we think it's just because she heard us talking outside the bedroom window.

Lucy is still very happy to play with anyone who stops to talk to her, kids and grownups.  She is friends with Lola, the Frenchie next door, and Scout - her cavapoo cousin who visited this weekend.  Also Tess, the lab on the corner.  Even the biggest dogs don't scare her. 

Tomorrow Jen the dog walker comes to take Lucy out for the first time.

Lucy Has Arrived!

Lucy has come home!  She is adorable and friendly.  She is also a handful and a lot of work.   She came home Saturday, so it's been about 5 days.

Here's what we know so far:

We made a mistake with her crate the first night by not showing it to her and not putting it in our bedroom.   She doesn't mind going in now but still cries if someone leaves the room.  We have not left her alone yet.  When she is in the crate, she presses her body up against the grate in the front - I think about it as her trying to go through a pasta machine! 

When she sleeps, she dreams, or at least she twitches and moves a lot.

Lucy likes carrots and not dog treats.  Maybe she is reading Michael Pollan!

Lucy is a biter - we need to learn to train her better on that.

Lucy knows where to pee, most of the time.  We take her out often and she uses the little garden in front of our house.

What she does not know is where to poo - that is still something we are working on.

She went from barely eating and drinking to doing just fine with both now. 

Sometimes she likes to go for a walk, but it take a million hours because she stops to talk to every person who goes by.  She isn't too interested in other dogs - yet.  She is ok around toddlers who want to play pretty rough.

When she hears a noise, she stops moving and 'points', lifting one of her front paws and sitting entirely straight up.  She hates buses and airplanes because they are very loud.

Almost Ready!

We are almost ready for Lucy to come home!  I can't believe it is this Saturday.

We heard from Lydia that Lucy asked to go out to pee today - we are such proud parents!  She also learned how to walk up and down the stairs first in her litter.  Today she had her first set of vaccines and flea/tick prevention.  Apparently all the puppies did great at the vet. 

We have a crate all ready for her along with lots of balls and toys and blankets and a gate so she doesn't get confused with our spiral staircase. 

Trip to Pick our Puppy!

Sheryl and I visited the breeder, Lydia, yesterday to pick our puppy.  She lives in Great Barrington, NH.  It is about 1.5 hrs from Boston.  We ended up running late, after stopping by the Saab dealership, but Lydia was nice about it.

Surprisingly I was really nervous on the drive up.  I guess the "pressure" of making a bad decision was getting to me.  Sheryl reminded me how much research we had done and how many great things we have heard about ALL the cockapoos we have heard about.  Talking about it and being reminded of this eased my fears but I was still tightly wound.

Turns out she is pregnant.  Lydia that is.  This means that Lydia and Keebler were pregnant at the same time!  Keebler had lost a few pounds and was back to the fetching grind.  She was a little confused by our arrival at first but throwing the ball a few times assuaged her concerns.

There were 4 girls and 3 boys.  Three of the girls were blonde and one was black.  Going in...our leading picks were Lotus and Porsche.  Sheryl loved the photo of Lotus standing in the food and she seemed a good personality fit for us.  Friendly and social.  Porsche was bigger and a little more introspective it seemed.  We thought we might like that too.

I felt bad for the boys because we were really focused on the girls.  It was tough at first to figure out who was who.  They were a big ball of puppy squirming around one another.  By the time we figured out who they were...Lotus had figured out who we were.  She ran right over to Sheryl!  Then she came to visit me too.  But she really liked Sheryl!

I guess Lydia really liked Bentley and Joe really liked Audi.  Bentley was cute but a boy.  Audi was the alpha and we weren't looking for that kind of edge.  Porsche was a fair blonde but a bit reserved for my liking.  Lotus was cute and very social.  Mini was on the smaller side and thus not on our short list.  That sums up the girls.

We picked Lotus.  Or as Sheryl would say...Lotus picked us!  She was friendly, affectionate, curious, and cute.  She came right over to us and we really liked that.  She passed every little test we could do with picking up, nuzzling, cuddling, petting, etc.  She was relaxed and good natured throughout.  We both agreed on her and are psyched to bring her home!

But I will say...they were all cute!  And none of them "failed" any of our tests!  Some were more curious or affectionate than others...and size and gender definitely factored in for us...but they were all sweet!  I think anyone of them could have been a great addition for us.

Lucy Lotus Pilcher comes home in early May.  Between now and then we will need to figure out crates, collars, leashes, etc. as well as puppy classes and all that.  Plenty to do!  But plenty of time.  And it feels like Christmas!  I am so excited!

Choosing Lucy

Today we went up to Lydia's house to meet all the puppies and choose the one who will come home with us in May. While they were all sweet and personable, Lotus came right up to us to poke around, cuddle, and then check out the lawn. She's strawberry blond with white patches on her face and a pink nose. We can't wait for her to come home. I couldn't believe how small she is - probably could fit in one of my sneakers with room to spare. Probably will make it easier for me to adjust to having a dog since she's so tiny right now.

Another family was there deciding between Audi and Mini ... and we heard that there are 3 other people already choosing a puppy from this litter. I'm sure they will all find great homes - they are really lovable.

Mar 23, 2010 7:36am

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Keebler's Puppies Sleeping

There are 7 puppies.  3 boys.  4 girls.  3 of the 4 girls are butterscotch and one is black.  I am partial to black and Sheryl is partial to butterscotch.  We are both partial to nice, sweet, fun, energetic, and social.  That...then gender...then size...then color...are the variables at this point.  We will be happy no matter what (I hope!) but trying to do what we can to find the right pup for our home!!

See more pics here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032543&id=1113446834&l=3785eafb93

Keebler!

This is Keebler.  She is Lucy's mom.  She doesn't always wear that hat.  The puppies didn't come out that way either.

Lucy's Cousin: Scout

Scout is going to be Lucy's cousin!  She lives with Brad and Leslie in NYC.  She is a Cavapoo.  That is a mix of Cavalier King Charles and Poodle.  She is lively, fun, affectionate, smart, and small.  We hope Lucy is as fun as Scout!

First entry

Sheryl and I are getting a dog!! We think we are going to name her Lucy. She is most likely a girl. She is definitely a cockapoo. She was born in very late February and we will be picking her up the first weekend of May.

We are VERY EXCITED!! We spent a lot of time reading about breeds and stalking dogs at Peter's Park and we think that a nice, social, female cockapoo will be the ideal addition to our family. There were lots of great choices and we definitely agonized. But once we made up our mind we got to focus on finding a breeder.

Lydia Groen is the breeder. She and her husband Joe live in New Hampshire. They have had 3 litters with this mom before and this is the last one. Lucy's mom's name is Keebler. She is a 20lb. cocker spaniel. She is a little shy at first but VERY sweet and LOVES to fetch! Can you believe it?? (Hopefully lucy will too. My two secret (well not super secret) hopes are that she loves to fetch and swim. What a fun companion she would be!!)

I thought to create this blog because I was creating a list of all the things we need to buy which made me think of all the fun we are going to have! Trials and tribulations too, I am sure, but it will all be for the best.