Lucy's Favorite Thing & A Blog Hop

It's been a long time since Lucy & I have participated in the Saturday Pet Blogger Hop... We can't wait to get out there and meet everyone.



There isn't much that Lucy loves more than an empty water bottle. It would seem that she'll do anything to get her little paws on one of these noise makers!

And when she does get her paws on an empty water bottle, it's pure bliss for the little boxer! I've tried everything to distract Lucy's attention from these bottles because I'm afraid she's going to get hurt on them. I've bought strange little covers for the water bottles, but Lucy just rips them off the bottles.

So, of course there is a plan B... I watch Lucy like a hawk and when I start to think that there's too much destruction to the water bottle, I give her a treat and sneak off with the bottle. After 20 minutes or so, my guilt from taking something that Lucy loves away from her, goes away...

Lucy & I have a bedtime ritual. I'll grab a fresh soup bone from the fridge, and Lucy & I will head upstairs. (Recently, we've added the grabbing of "Lucy's Heater" and dragging it up to the bedroom.)

Lucy will hop up on the bed and wait for me to give her the bone. If I don't give her the bone right away, Lucy will sit and wait for a couple of minutes. If that doesn't work, Lucy will lay down and give me the "Mooooom, comes on" look.

"Comes on, Mom! It's nots like you're gonna chew on dat bone. I sat. Now I'ms laying down. Don'ts I deserves dat bone? I'ms not gonna get any cuter dan dis, so if dis ain't workins, I don't know what else to do..."

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

The snow fell all day yesterday in Pittsburgh. By the time Lucy and I left the store, the roads were a bit messy but passable. Of course, by late evening, everything was a big mess. Lucy kept going to the door and ringing the bell, but wouldn't go anywhere once she felt the cold blast of air.

Lucy was perfectly content to sit inside and watch the snowfall last evening. And when her Daddy arrived home and plugged in "Lucy's Heater", she became even more content to stay indoors and keep warm.

Lucy's well trained "hooman" decided that perhaps her little boxer just wasn't comfortable enough and decided to add a blanket to make Lucy just a little bit more comfortable!

I'm pretty sure that Lucy approved, because she didn't move for hours. She was perfectly content snoozing at her "hooman's" feet with the heater blowing right on her.

Comfort Is Very Important

In my little boxer's world, nothing is more important than being comfortable. And Lucy's smart enough to know, that if the spot her human has just vacated was good enough for the human, than it's probably a pretty great place to curl up!

Lucy's Human is starting to learn that if she wants to keep her warm and cozy spot in the bed, she probably shouldn't get up for a snack or something to drink unless she plans on battling a boxer for the warmest, coziest spot in the bed!

Frankly, I'm shocked she didn't pull the pillow down so that she could rest her head on one of my wonderful king sized pillows. I'm sure she just didn't have enough time.

Oh, Lucy! You're so lucky that I love you dearly!

Okay, I Guess I'll Go Out...

...but I don't have to like it, Ma!

I don't quite understand Lucy's disapproval of the cold. Some days, she doesn't seem to mind it one bit, and other days, my boxer digs her heels in and refuses to leave the warmth of the house.

A week or so ago, Lucy's Daddy brought home a heater from work and plugged it in by the couch. When I got home from work, Lucy was zonked out in front of the heater taking a nap. The other night, I got down on the floor with her and stuck my freezing cold hands in front of the heater... You should have seen the look I got. It was as if Lucy was saying to me "Hey, that's my heat... go find your own!"

I'm pretty sure my boxer has common sense, because she eventually figures out that if she's got to be outside, she might as well make the best of it and she'll run off and find a toy to play with.

Lucy and I have been doing a lot of work on the fetch game. She loves playing tug of war, more than she likes to fetch. So, it becomes a game of cat and mouse as I attempt to get the toy of the moment out of Lucy's grip. I've discovered that if I pretend that I'm not interested, she'll eventually drop the toy, and sit waiting for me to toss it out into the yard.

Lucy definitely seems to be at an age (she'll be one year old next month!) where she is very interested in listening and learning, much more so than she has been in the past. It's like my little boxer is a sponge, just waiting for my next command. She learns so quick it's shocking! (Just like the situation with the camera, she knows exactly what's coming when she hears that baby fire up!)

But, along with a very noticeable desire to learn, Lucy's mischievous side is also making a lot of appearances. It seems that Lucy has figured out that making her human giggle is a very good thing, and when she gets into something that she's not supposed to be in, her "bad" human has a habit of giggling. Lucy knows she's in trouble, and her little bottom ends up wiggling as if to say "I'm soooo sorry, Mom!"

Our First Post Of The New Year... My Oh My!

My New Year's Resolution, or at least one of them, was to get back in the habit of blogging. I had good intentions, but as you may have all noticed, I'm not doing so well. My little boxer is still running from the camera, which is frustrating as heck. She does the darnedest things, and I keep grabbing the camera. As soon as Lucy hears the sound of my camera turning on- she's outta there!

It's been so cold here that we've had to resort to a lot of "indoor playtime" which gets us very unapproving looks from Lucy's Daddy as we're making lots of noise and generally tearing up the house! "Oops, sorry honey!"

One of Lucy and I's favorite games to play in the house is fetch up and down the stairs. I like it because when Lucy runs up and down the stairs, she tires quickly and I don't seem to suffer as many bruises as when we're playing tug o war on the ground!

I'm pretty sure that Lucy misses her outdoor playtime, because she'll go to the door and ring the bell to go outside, but when I get there and open the door to let her out and she gets hit with the cold, she turns around and comes back into the house.

The other night, I caught Lucy, toy in mouth, staring wistfully out across the yard.

"Do you want to go outside and play, Lucy?"

As soon as I opened the door and the cold air hit Lucy in the face, she was off to the living room.

I am pretty sure that Lucy is going to have no trouble adjusting to being a Florida dog. What do you think?